The Art of Stillness

Posted on 21 January 2017 by Pico Iyer

A follow up to Pico Iyer s essay The Joy of Quiet, The Art of Stillness considers the unexpected adventure of staying put and reveals a counterintuitive truth The ways we have to connect, the we seem desperate to unplug.Why might a lifelong traveler like Pico Iyer, who has journeyed from Easter Island to Ethiopia, Cuba to Kathmandu, think that sitting quietly in a room might be the ultimate adventure Because in our madly accelerating world, our lives are crowded, chaotic and noisy There s never been a greater need to slow down, tune out and give ourselves permission to be still.In The Art of Stillness a TED Books release Iyer investigate the lives of people who have made a life seeking stillness from Matthieu Ricard, a Frenchman with a PhD in molecular biology who left a promising scientific career to become a Tibetan monk, to revered singer songwriter Leonard Cohen, who traded the pleasures of the senses for several years of living the near silent life of meditation as a Zen monk Iyer also draws on his own experiences as a travel writer to explore why advances in technology are making us likely to retreat He reflects that this is perhaps the reason why many people even those with no religious commitment seem to be turning to yoga, or meditation, or seeking silent retreats These aren t New Age fads so much as ways to rediscover the wisdom of an earlier age Growing trends like observing an Internet Sabbath turning off online connections from Friday night to Monday morning highlight how increasingly desperate many of us are to unplug and bring stillness into our lives The Art of Stillness paints a picture of why so many from Marcel Proust to Mahatma Gandhi to Emily Dickinson have found richness in stillness Ultimately, Iyer shows that, in this age of constant movement and connectedness, perhaps staying in one place is a exciting prospect, and a greater necessity than ever before.In 2013, Pico Iyer gave a blockbuster TED Talk This lyrical and inspiring book expands on a new idea, offering a way forward for all those feeling affected by the frenetic pace of our modern world. Free Download [ The Art of Stillness ] by [ Pico Iyer ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr This book wasn t what I expected Rather than a book about the art and science of meditation or mindfulness, it was a book about how the author or famous people the author knew or had read about REACT to these things It s partly autobiographical, partly biographical, partly a koan to be meditated on, and yet it managed to flit from one of these to the other so quickly that there was no sense of grip, no feeling that anything meaningful had been discussed in any detail The book, at heart, just This book wasn t what I expected Rather than a book about the art and science of meditation or mindfulness, it was a book about how the author or famous people the author knew or had read about REACT to these things It s partly autobiographical, partly biographical, partly a koan to be meditated on, and yet it managed to flit from one of these to the other so quickly that there was no sense of grip, no feeling that anything meaningful had been discussed in any detail The book, at heart, just talks, dancing about a central theme without delving deep anywhere It doesn t describe how to be still, just advocates it and says how freeing and wonderful it is I felt like the dots were not connected The book seemed to advocate that one just needed to go someplace quiet a...Iyer approaches stillness from a Buddhist perspectiveAnd it s only by going nowhere by sitting still or letting my mind relax that I find that the thoughts that come to me unbidden are far fresher andimaginative than the ones I consciously seek outpg 62.It s not a world that most people are accustomed to experiencing, a space of being rather than an active doing But, as Iyer so succinctly illustrates, it s a realm that our fast paced and technology addicted world desperately needs Iyer approaches stillness from a Buddhist perspectiveAnd it s only by going nowhere by sitting still or letting my mind relax that I find that the thoughts that come to me unbidden are far fresher andimaginative than the ones I consciously seek outpg 62.It s not a world that most people are accustomed to experiencing, a space of being rather than an active doing But, as Iyer so succinctly illustrates, it s a realm that our fast paced and technology addicted world desperately needs.To venture into this emptiness is a restful and required experience for the health of the mind as much as inspired action is necessary for the experience of a fulfilling life.I think that our culture has forgotten the power of stillness and the beauty of balancing our male and female energies This book is an excellent reminder to appreciate both.For those folks out there who haven t heard Pico Iyer s TED talk on this topic, I would recommend that you watch it first, then read this.I read this and then I lis...I found an Arabic Proverb that I loved It is Open your mouth only if what you are going to say isbeautiful than silence Then a week later I found The Art of Stillness by Pico Iyer I love this whole idea The subtitle is adventures in going nowhere I ve always loved sitting in the backyard looking at what looks like nothing But in actuality, tons of things are happening birds are...Guess what TED Talks now makes TED books Unbeknownst to me, this was one of them I knew when I picked it up at the library It was tiny It was only 66 pages It could be read, like a short story, in one sitting or, in my case, one lying on the floor.As far as meditation stillness quiet books go, this one s a lightweight In that sense, the literal matches the figurative Still, it s an easy and smooth read, and no fan of contemplative reads is going to leave it unfinished Plus, it gave a Guess what TED Talks now makes TED books Unbeknownst to me, this was one of them I knew when I picked it up at the library It was tiny It was only 66 pages It could be read, like a short story, in one sitting or, in my case, one lying on the floor.As far as meditation stillness quiet books go, this one s a lightweight In that sense, the literal matches the figurative Still, it s an easy and smooth read, and no fan of contemplative reads is going to leave it unfinished Plus, it gave a few leads for books and quotes and even music.Let s start with music It mentions how Iye...When I began to read Pico Iyer s The Art of Stillness I read it like any other book sitting in a chair in front of my computer However, the book didn t seem to do anything for me as it felt like I just read a string of words, sentences and paragraphs which have been put together.But this couldn t be the case as the book had promised to take me somewhere or increase my knowledge From what I ve read about the author, I d anticipated getting muchIf the book isn t the problem, then the p When I began to read Pico Iyer s The Art of Stillness I read it like any other book sitting in a chair in front of my computer However, the book didn t seem to do anything for me as it felt like I just read a string of words, sentences and paragraphs which have been put together.But this couldn t be the case as the book had promised to take me somewhere or increase my knowledge From what I ve read about the author, I d anticipated getting muchIf the book isn t the problem, then the problem rested with me Sitting totally still...Quite a superficial book, only 70 pages long, with many seemingly irrelevant photographs and not enough evidence that the author had really experienced stillness, silence, solitude I did find a number of quotes from others to ponder William James The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another Matthieu Ricard For me a flight is just a brief retreat in the sky Blaise Pascal All the unhappiness of men arises from one simple fact that they Quite a superficial book, only 70 pages long, with many seemingly irrelevant photographs and not enough evidence that the author had really experienced stillness, silence, solitude I did fin...Notes toward my own art of stillness A word is worth one coin silence, two Chinese Proverb If I ever go looking for my heart s desire again, I won t look any further than my own backyard Because if it isn t there, I never really lost it to begin with Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz.Recently I read Paradise Lost, an almost wordless version drawn by Pablo Auladell In an interview he is asked What has ...I hadn t found many piece of wisdom in this book One particular one that stood out to me was the fact that just because there are clouds, doesn t mean the blue sky is gone One has to be patient and wait for the clouds to dissipate I think the best quote is from the back cover At some point, all the horizontal trips in the world stop compensating for the need to go deep, into somewhere challenging and unexpected movement makes most sense when grounded in stillness In an age of speed, I beg I hadn t found many piece of wisdom in this book One particular one that stood out to me was the fact that just because there are clouds, doesn t mean the blue sky is gone One has to be patient and wait for the clouds to dissip...The concept of TED books is a great idea because many a times a TED talk does not seem deep enough, mostly due to the brevity of time Did not like this book much because Iyer s writing style is quite obscure There were many points where I just did not get the point he was trying to put across In essence, I took two things from the book 1 Being happy in the present moment is not about being aware, but about being selective The idea is to focus on aspects that would increase one s happiness a The concept of TED books is a great idea because many a times a TED talk does n...Loved this little book about meditation and being quiet to renew oneself One line from the author sums it up for me Going nowhere, as Leonard Cohen would emphasize to me, isn t about turning your back on the world it s about stepping away now and then so that you can see the worldclearly, and love itdeeply Just after I read this book, I took a few days alone at an old CCC cabin...

English
21 January 2017

Pico Iyer