In 1990, writer Pico Iyer watched as a wildfire destroyed his mother's Santa Barbara home, where he also lived. In Aflame, he recounts the devastation of the fire — and the peace he found living in a Benedictine monastery.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross. When we first booked today's interview weeks ago, we had no idea how timely it would be and for such a tragic reason. My guest, Pico Ayer, has written a new memoir about what he's experienced and learned in the more than 30 years that he's been going on retreats in a Benedictine monastery to practice silence and for contemplation.
to get both out of himself and the world, and deeper in. But the book begins with fire, and fire is a theme throughout. The monastery is surrounded by 900 acres of trees, and on one side, the ocean. It's in California's Big Sur, one of the most beautiful places in the U.S. On the first page, a monk is describing to Iyer a wildfire that came close to burning down the monastery.
It wasn't the first time, and it wasn't the last time. At one point, the road was blocked and there was no way out. A little later in the book, we learn that Iyer's family home in Santa Barbara, where they had lived for about a quarter century, where he was living at the time with his mother, that burned to the ground. At the time, that fire was part of the worst fire in California history.
He was at home, alone with his mother's cat, when he was suddenly surrounded by flames five stories high and had no way out. After three hours of terror, he was rescued by a Good Samaritan traveling around in a water truck with a hose. He and his mother lost everything, but he survived and the cat survived. His memoir is titled A Flame, Learning from Silence.
A Flame is about the flame of passion and commitment in the monastic life, even for visitors on a retreat like him. And it's about the destructive, deadly flames of fire. Ira is best known for his travel writing and for reporting and reflecting on the cultures and religions of the world.
His previous book, The Half-Known Life in Search of Paradise, found him traveling around the world to discover what different cultures and religions perceive as paradise. Iyer has known the Dalai Lama for decades and is the author of an earlier book about him. He spent a lot of time in monasteries but remains secular. His mother was a professor of comparative religion.
He was born and grew up in England where his parents moved from India to study. When his parents moved to the U.S., he remained in an English boarding school. He received degrees from Oxford and Harvard. We recorded our interview Monday. Pico Ayer, welcome back to Fresh Air. It's a pleasure to have you back on the show.
This is a very moving book and a really fascinating book because of your experiences at the monastery.
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