More Lessons from Silence & Fire

 Back in January I reflected in this blog on an article in the Globe and Mail newspaper by Pico Iyer. He is  an excellent travel writer who has become a deeply thoughtful voice for those who may be agnostics or non-theists who nonetheless appreciate the contemplative life. Years ago I wrote about his book The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere. 

The Globe article had the headline Hospitals for the Soul: What We'll Lose When Monasteries Disappear and it began with the "To get to the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, just past Georgia O’Keefe’s Ghost Ranch in northern New Mexico, you have to bump for 13 miles on barely paved tracks..." I have been to both these places so of course I was hooked and then intrigued by the prospect of his latest book Aflame: Learning From Silence. 

Patience paid off and our local library eventually got a copy which I just finished. It focussed more on his 34 year love affair with New Camaldoli Hermitage, a Benedictine monastery nestled in the Santa Lucia Mountains of Big Sur, California. This Roman Catholic order is more than a 1000 years old and observes an austere way of life yet enthusiastically engages in interfaith and ecumenical dialogue. The Hermitage is also welcoming of those who seek silence and solace who do not profess faith of any sort. Pico Iyer has visited this monastic community 100 times or more over half a lifetime.

I did not expect that the book would also be a reflection on the climate emergency, although the title might have tipped me off. In 1990 a California wildfire incinerated Iyer's home and everything in it, including notes for a book. He might have gone up in flames but for the heroic response of strangers. In the subsequent years he and his mother built another home and nearly lost it on a couple of occasions because of fire. The Hermitage has been evacuated several times for the same reason. Iyer's description of all this is subtle and yet forceful. In a way the book is a spiritual companion to Fire Weather by John Vaillant, leading us to appreciate the transitory nature of our stuff and life itself. 

This is certainly a worthwhile book if you've ever thought about spending time on retreat in a monastic community or considered entering into silence with intention. Few people have given over even 24 hours to this possibility and Iyer's books are warm and thoughtful invitations. 

Pico Iyer is a citizen of the world but he could be adopted as a Canadian, and not just because of the Globe article. He developed a friendship with Leonard Cohen who spent time as a Buddhist monk nearby. And he has written and spoken at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Cohen, Banff, and the Globe - give the man citizenship. 

                                                            A View from The Hermitage