Pico Iyer is the author of fifteen books, most recently
Autumn Light and A Beginner’s Guide to Japan, twinned works on living with uncertainty and impermanence.
Pico Iyer is the author of fifteen books, most recently
Autumn Light and A Beginner’s Guide to Japan, twinned works on living with uncertainty and impermanence.
For writer Pico Iyer, travel is a spiritual experience that shakes up our usual certainties and connects us to a richer, vaster world. Iyer talks with editor-in-chief Melvin McLeod about his new book, "The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise," and his eclectic contemplative practice.
Travel broadens the mind and opens the heart. Three personal stories of transformational travel in Thailand, Ethiopia, and Yemen.
Pico Iyer thought he would find what is truly real by going off to a monastery, but he was really fleeing it. Dropping his spiritual romaticism, he found it in ordinary life.
So-called objective reality, Pico Iyer finds, is as fickle as the weather. Maybe that’s because it’s as much mind as matter.
The writer's job, says Pico Iyer, is to watch his moods and thoughts, as captivating yet passing as the seasons, and decide which are worth sharing.
Pico Iyer loves reading spiritual books, but he’s found just as much good dharma in the books of three favorite novelists.
“God is a fire,” said Nikos Kazantzakis. “He burns and we burn with Him.” Art, passion, and Zen are fires too—burning the self, leaving behind only ashes and essence.
In this exclusive and heartfelt essay, Pico Iyer reveals the simple human secret that makes the Dalai Lama the most beloved spiritual figure in the world.
When a friend is dealt a heavy emotional blow, Pico Iyer suggests to her that silence and stillness might be the best medicine.
Pico Iyer's name is likely familiar to you; he's been a frequent contributor to Lion's Roar, writing about the Dalai Lama, music, travel.
Pico Iyer on the Dalai Lama’s unerring ability to home in on those who most need his love.
The Dalai Lama draws lessons for all of us from his own experience dealing with difficult times. A conversation with Mary Robinson, Pico Iyer.
Pico Iyer on a haiku by Kobayashi Issa.
For all their material success, says Pico Iyer, many Japanese feel alienated and spiritually starved. They responded hungrily to the Dalai Lama’s teachings on his recent tour of Japan.
Pico Iyer considers Leonard Cohen—the ladies’ man, the balladeer, the Zen poet, and the essence of cool with a new love giving voice to his songs of parting and old age.
Like falling in love, travel throws us into a state of delight, uncertainty and self-discovery. Like lovers, travelers both give and receive.
Over a long and brilliant career, the poet and singer has lived many lives already, from essence of hip to celebrated lover to serious Zen man.