Learning from Silence

Iyer’s beautiful book is for anyone who feels drawn to the pull of monasticism, without adhering to any religion. Iyer masterfully and lyrically shows us how we may need to find a new home - one far more solemn, communal and silent than our present one - in order to return properly to ourselves – Alain de Botton, author of THE ARCHITECTURE OF HAPPINESSLuminous and exquisitely simple, it is astonishing how Iyer transports you into the joy of the mystery. And then, lit with love, he shows you how to find it everywhere – Jack KornfieldPico Iyer has been studying sincere practitioners from many religious traditions for a long time and has gathered some of what he’s learned in this book. I trust that reading this book may help many to lead lives of greater compassion and deeper peace of mind – His Holiness the Dalai LamaLearning From Silence is an exquisite book, a jewel, a treasure, and appearing at a time when silence can teach us to see more deeply, to love more surely – Joan HalifaxA beautifully written, meditative book … As I turned to this, I felt my blood pressure reducing, and I began to read in a different, slower, and more concentrated way. * Financial Times *In this delicately woven memoir, Iyer combines portraits of the people he has encountered during his stays with crystalline descriptions of the natural setting and philosophical ruminations on the purposes of retreat. * The New Yorker *Essential reading for anyone interested in the monastic tradition and those who follow it. * Kirkus, Starred Review *Brilliantly illuminates philosophical insights about the nature of the self, the world, and how silence serves as a conduit between the two, often in elegant, evocative prose … Stunning. * Publishers Weekly *

Pico Iyer is the acclaimed and bestselling author of more than a dozen books translated into twenty-three languages, most recently The Half Known Life- In Search of Paradise. His journalism regularly appear in Time, The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, the Financial Times, and more than 250 other periodicals worldwide. His TED talks have been viewed over eleven million times. He divides his time between Western Japan and Central California.