My criticism of the book is more about my expectations than the book itself. I expected a treatise on the importance of stillness/meditation. Instead, Iyer's The Art of Stillness felt too much like a name dropping memoir. It's a memoir, it's a bit of travel writing, and too little real discussion of stillness. I didn't enjoy this book, though I imagine those who are new to meditation might find this an easily digestible start. I resonated with the parts of the, very short, work that were about h...

Succinct and pleasant read.Leonard Cohen: "What else would I be doing? Finding new drugs, buying more expensive wine? I don't know. This seems to me the most luxurious and sumptuous response to the emptiness of my own existence."William James, American psychologist: The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another." It's the perspective we choose - not the places we visit -- that ultimately tells us where we stand. Every time I take a trip, the experience acqu...

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

I found an Arabic Proverb that I loved. It is "Open your mouth only if what you are going to say is more beautiful 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 singing, clouds are moving, squirrels are frolicking etc. Maybe this books just gives permission for i

Iyer approaches stillness from a Buddhist perspective. "And 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 and more imaginative than the ones I consciously seek out." pg 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...

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

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 most influenced and inspired your vision? The masters of silence and invisibility. My friend Jenn,...

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 instances 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 happines...

Pico Iyer hung out with Leonard Cohen in a monastery! Pico Iyer is here to tell you that meditation and quiet are important, especially in today's wacky, busy world. Pico Iyer has traveled almost everywhere in the world. Pico Iyer has checked out from society and chosen a quiet life--except for when he is traveling the world, giving TED talks, talking to Google HQ about his writings, and hanging out with Leonard Cohen. Pico Iyer shares some aphorisms. Pico Iyer says he doesn't claim to have any

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...

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 much more. If the book isn’t the problem, then the p...

Many years ago I read Pico Iyer's "Video Night in Kathmandu" which is full of verve and nerve, beauty and filth. That is why I read this book even though it resembles Alain de Botton popular philosophy series. It can be read in one sitting, taxing very little of one's mental faculties, as it flew through smoothly with stories and autobiographical details. If this gives a reader some incentive to pause for a moment to reflect, it may have merited its existence. However, it is in the same genre of...

In an age of speed, nothing can be more invigorating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing can feelmore luxorious than paying attention. In an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still. Iyer composes a thoughtful essay-turned-book, ranging from his time with Leonard Cohen to Mathieu Ricard. The book doesn't delve deep and contained some really beautiful quotes, like the one above. This is a subject that I am very interested in, so in many ways, I wanted

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...

Pico Iyer is well known as a world traveler and I listened to him often on NPR discussing some of his adventures. I was delighted to learn that he actually wrote a book on “The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere.’’ It is a book about how to “take care of his loved ones, do his job, and hold on to some direction in a madly accelerating world.”While the book is short (almost purposely done so) it packs a powerful message that going nowhere can be a most excellent adventure and generate

3.5 stars. Thoughtful look at being still and meditating, with unexpected Leonard Cohen.

What a perfect little book to precede another trip to my newly acquired caravan. My very own monastic retreat, or the place the author refers to as 'Nowhere'. I found last time I was there, I took too many bad habits from home, so I had been thinking about doing this differently this time. Leaving the phone in the car, and choosing a time to check it every second day. Same for the computer. What's the point of going somewhere else and doing the exact same things I would have done at home? This b...

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 world more clearly, and love it more deeply."Just after I read this book, I took a few days alone at an old CCC cabin at Devil's Den State Park about an hour away from my home to "be still and go nowhere." It was lovely!...

Given the book's brevity, this is an interesting read. It contains some useful thoughts on the importance of quiet and space in one's life, in the midst of our tendency towards frenetic busyness and noise. With the dramatic increase of the availability of information in our age, in light of the technological revolution, what we need is quiet and the clarity of mind to properly sift that information. The photos in this book are beautiful as well, nicely complementing the ideas of the text. Still,...

A short, contemplative read to prepare for 2022. A reminder to start meditating again.