Starred review from August 27, 2018
D’Ors, a Spanish Catholic priest and novelist with 11 books published in Spain, debuts in English with this tranquil exploration of his introduction to meditation practice. “Until I decided to practice meditation with all the rigor I could,” he writes, “I can say that I did not properly know who I was.” In 49 short chapters—many just a paragraph—d’Ors studies the influence that regular meditation, and an acclimation to silence and stillness, have had on his mind, his body, and his way of living. “Pure observation is transformative,” he writes, quoting from Simone Weil. Silence, d’Ors continually tells readers, is necessary for human development and curative for the human condition. “No one really knows what the human being’s conscience is, because no one has traveled all of its domains,” he writes. “Some have gone very far in their explorations; many remained at the doorway; most don’t know that such a territory exists.” In accessible language reminiscent of Thomas Merton, d’Ors’s enchanting book, a bestseller in Spain, channels his Catholic spiritual heritage into a persuasive meditation guide for Western readers.