The Truth About Paradise (It's Not What You Think) | Pico Iyer
Good Life Project
Jonathan Fields / Acast
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 6 February 2023
⏱️ 68 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What if paradise was real? But, instead of searching and traveling a journey to the far ends of the earth to find it, you could touch it at any moment, in any place, no matter how amazing or awful the setting or circumstance.
And what if paradise or peace is something completely different than this all-perfect place or feeling a lot of us believe it to be? What if that feeling we so yearn to experience, is here and now, dead center in our lives of complexity and paradox? And, we just had to know what to do to feel it?
Today's guest, Pico Iyer, has spent much of his life searching, living, and listening for insight and answers to life's big questions. A full-time writer and essayist since 1982, Pico's insightfulness and quest for meaning have led him to places and people all across the world. From Iran to North Korea, from the Dalai Lama’s Himalayas to the ghostly temples of Japan. He has shared his travels and lessons learned in his 15 books on subjects ranging from the Dalai Lama to globalism and the Cuban Revolution to Islamic mysticism.
In our conversation, Pico and I dive deeper into his story and the events in his life that have led him to some powerful revelations that he shares in his latest book, The Half-Known Life: In Search of Paradise. We talk about some key ideas that make up a good life of peace, happiness and meaning. Pico opens up about the losses, opportunities, and, often, paradoxical feelings and experiences that helped him find paradise here on Earth.
You can find Pico at: Website
If you LOVED this episode you’ll also love the conversations we had with Robert Thurman about meaning, Buddhism, and life.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | My father was a professional philosopher and I never forget as a little boy when I was two years old. |
| 0:05.2 | We had this little radio and outward crackle every night. The report of this young God king fleeing |
| 0:11.2 | over the highest mountains on earth being pursued by circling planes. So even I as a little kid was |
| 0:17.3 | transfixed and as soon as the Dalai Lama arrived in exile in India, my father sailed all the way |
| 0:23.4 | back to India from England to engagement conversation. And so my father established that connection in 1960 |
| 0:29.8 | as soon as the world could really speak to the Dalai Lama. And at the end of the conversation, |
| 0:34.0 | he said to the Dalai Lama, oh you know I've got this little three-year-old kid back in England |
| 0:38.1 | who really took an interest in your flight and plight. And the Dalai Lama with his gift for making |
| 0:43.2 | connection with everybody found a photograph of himself when he was four years old already on |
| 0:48.4 | the lion throne in Lassa already a spiritual leader of 14 million people and politically the soon of |
| 0:54.4 | six million and sent it to me. So from the age of three, I had this photograph of the Dalai Lama as a |
| 1:00.1 | four-year-old on my desk and every now and then when I was feeling sorry for myself, the world is |
| 1:05.6 | difficult for a little boy. I only had to look at this picture of a little boy who is ruling six |
| 1:10.0 | million people and I was freed of my concerns. So bit of a weird question for you, what if paradise |
| 1:20.5 | was real? But instead of searching and traveling on some journey to the far ends of the Earth to find it, |
| 1:27.9 | you could actually touch it at any moment in any place no matter how amazing or awful the setting |
| 1:33.5 | or circumstance. And what if paradise or peace is something completely different than this |
| 1:39.6 | all perfect place or feeling that a lot of us believe it to be? I mean what if that feeling that |
| 1:44.0 | we so yearn to experience is here and now dead center in our lives of complexity and paradox |
| 1:49.8 | and we just had to know what to do to access it. Well today's guest, Pico Iyer has spent much of |
| 1:55.9 | his life searching and living and listening for insight and answers to big questions like what is |
| 2:01.1 | home, what really matters in life and how does one achieve inner and outer peace? Spending much of |
... |
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