Learning from silence

Good evening
In the busyness of today’s world, moments of true peace can be increasingly elusive. Even on holiday we fill our days with to-do lists and noise, rarely stopping to just be as we seek experience after experience. But for writer Pico Iyer, retreating to the silence of a monastery high above the Pacific in California “feels like the greatest adventure of all”.
Over the last three decades, Iyer has returned to the New Camaldoli hermitage, overlooking Big Sur, more than 100 times. While not religious, he says nowhere he has visited in all his years of travelling the globe has been as transformational. “A true trip is one that sends you home a different person from the one who left – more directed, more joyful, more calm – and nowhere has this effect on me as does this simple monastery.”
Spending a few days in silence felt like “radiant liberation”, allowing all the mind chatter to dissolve, along with hopes and frustrations. Simply taking long walks, sitting watching the sun on the water and diving into the silence leads to a clarity little else provides. And with monastic institutions and retreat-houses everywhere around the globe, it’s something that we can tap into, no matter where we are in the world.
Although the “sense of calm and joy” that he finds after three days in silence doesn’t last long, knowing that it’s always available is a comfort. “The memory, the prospect reminds me that I’m never far from home,” he writes.
If you feel inspired to delve deeper into silence, check out our feature on 10 monastic stays . From frugal retreats to luxury escapes, they’re sure to wash troubles away.