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An Interview with Pico Iyer, The Contemplative Traveler

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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, recently named as one of New York Times’ “100 Notable Books of 2023.”

My Flight from the Real

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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.

Whatever Way the Wind Blows

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So-called objective reality, Pico Iyer finds, is as fickle as the weather. Maybe that’s because it’s as much mind as matter.

My Private Cineplex

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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.

Truth in Fiction

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Pico Iyer loves reading spiritual books, but he’s found just as much good dharma in the books of three favorite novelists.

The Man Who Told the Future

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In the back streets of exotic Kathmandu, Pico Iyer and his friend Kristin hear a prophecy that shatters their youthful dreams. The Royal Astrologer knows them better than they know themselves.

Leonard Cohen Burns, and We Burn with Him

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“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.

Heart of the Dalai Lama

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heart of the dalai lama japan high school students pico iyer Lion's Roar shambhala sun BuddhismThe Dalai Lama with student speakers during a visit to a high school in Fukuoka, Japan. Photo by Taikan Usui.

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.

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