Like the moon on the water, in a way. When you confront a Zen master, what you're really seeing are not his limitations but yours. Pico Iyer More Quotes by Pico Iyer More Quotes From Pico Iyer It so often happens that somebody says 'change your life' and you repaint your car rather than re-wire the engine. Pico Iyer changing-your-life wire car The Dalai Lama says Tibet and the modern world can engage in a conversation; perhaps Tibet has something to share with the rest of us based on its researches into mind, and we have a lot that we can share with Tibet. Pico Iyer research mind world I think that mass communications as well as mass travel have made the whole world available to us in ways that they haven't been. As with any kind of freedom, the more of it that one has the greater the need for limit and restraint. But I think that it's a nice challenge to be saddled with. Pico Iyer communication nice thinking So it is that Lonely Places attract as many lonely people as they produce, and the loneliness we see in them is partly in ourselves. Pico Iyer lonely loneliness people Going nowhere isn’t about turning your back on the world; it’s about stepping away now and then so that you can see the world more clearly and love it more deeply. Pico Iyer turning-your-back and-love world In terms of technology and science, tomorrow does know more than yesterday; but when it comes to emotions, living with uncertainty, terror, I'm not sure we know any more than Shakespeare did, or the Buddha. And the power of new things - the iPhone or Facebook - is so strong and intoxicating that we sometimes forget that none of them can fundamentally change our relation to ourselves and to what matters. Pico Iyer technology strong yesterday Nothing makes me feel better - calmer, clearer and happier - than being in one place, absorbed in a book, a conversation, a piece of music. It's actually something deeper than mere happiness: it's joy, which the monk David Steindl-Rast describes as 'that kind of happiness that doesn't depend on what happens. Pico Iyer feel-better motivational book We have more and more ways to communicate, as Thoreau noted, but less and less to say. Pico Iyer communicate way We can better see what we don't have. The other man's grass is always greener and now we can actually go and visit his grass much more and feel the absence of green in our own lives. Pico Iyer green absence men [The Dalai Lama ] says Western traditions can teach Tibetans a lot about social action, and he thinks some Christians are very good at that. Pico Iyer christian action thinking Finding a sanctuary, a place apart from time, is not so different from finding a faith. Pico Iyer findings sanctuary different I think America the symbol and America the notion are still very different from America the nation. What's touching and almost regenerative is that whatever is happening in the reality of America, where there is a murder rate worse than Lebanon's and where there is so much homelessness and poverty, still America will be a shorthand throughout the world for everything that is young and modern and free. Pico Iyer reality america thinking Movement is only as good as the sense of stillness that you can bring to it to put it into perspective. Pico Iyer perspective stillness movement Because I don't belong entirely to Britain or the U.S. or India or Japan, I build my foundations in some way deeper than mere passports, and more in the light of where I'm going than of "where I come from." Pico Iyer japan light way I think that America is an ideal place for the privileged homeless, who are used to different cultures. It's easiest and most accommodating because it is a country of exiles and immigrants and newcomers. There are no walls, in that sense. There is always the sense that traditions are being made as we speak. So you can slot yourself in. If you are living at a distance in society, this is one of the most congenial societies to live in. Pico Iyer wall distance country If you'd asked me some years ago, I would have said [Dalai Lama] is an extraordinarily compassionate, clear-sighted, calm human being. But now, I'm more convinced than ever that his political positions as well as his spiritual positions arise out of such precise and realistic thinking that they're extremely sound. Pico Iyer spiritual years thinking The reason I love travel is not just because it transports you in every sense, but because it confronts you with emotional and moral challenges that you would never have to confront at home. So I like going out in search of moral and emotional adventure which throws me back upon myself and forces me to reconsider my assumptions and the things I took for granted. It sends me back a different person. Pico Iyer emotional home adventure I think [Dalai Lama]is far and away the most solid, deep-thinking, far-sighted politician I've met, and I've been a journalist for 26 years for Time magazine, so I've met a lot of politicians. Pico Iyer magazines years thinking More than any religious figure that I can think of, Dalai Lama goes out of his way to attend interfaith conferences; religious harmony is one of his urgent priorities in life. Pico Iyer priorities-in-life religious thinking A holy day, after all, is a day for considering everything you otherwise think too little about. Pico Iyer holy-days littles thinking
