Scientists at the University of Wisconsin have been studying the brain of Matthieu Ricard , doctor of molecular biology, Buddhist monk at the Shechen Tennyi Dargyeling monastery in Nepal, and personal advisor for years. of the Dalai Lama, as well as his translator. And they are absolutely fascinated with the mind of this French from 74 years.
The researchers subjected Ricard’s brain to constant nuclear MRIs lasting up to three hours.
They connected him to the head until 256 sensors to detect your level of stress, irritability, anger, pleasure, satisfaction and dozens of other different sensations. And they did the same with hundreds of volunteers.
The results obtained measured the level of happiness of each participant on a scale that ranged from 0.3 (very unhappy) to -0, 3 (very happy).
Matthieu Ricard achieved nothing less than -0, 45, surpassing not only all other participants but the limits provided for in the study.
From then on, he was declared “the happiest man in the world.”
Ricard —son by the well-known French philosopher Jean-François Revel and the painter Yahne Le Toumelin – he has written a delightful book with his friends the philosopher Alexandre Jollien and the psychiatrist Christophe André that has been best-selling in France and now comes out in Spanish under the title “Long Live Liberty!” (Editorial Arpa).
A book in which the three authors explain how to overcome fears, traumas, prejudices and addictions that haunt us. In short: how to overcome the obstacles that prevent us from being happy.
We talked to Ricard about all that and more.
It was declared “the happiest man in the world”. How do you feel about that title?
Think for five seconds: how can anyone know the happiness level of 7. 000 millions of human beings? It doesn’t make sense, certainly not from a scientific point of view.
It all started with an article in a British newspaper that, based on research conducted in Richard Davidson’s neuroscience laboratory in Wisconsin, showed that people like me who have been meditating for a long time (there were 15 among those who participated in the study) showed when meditating a magnitude of activation in certain areas of the brain about compassion (not happiness! ) higher than has ever been detected in neuroscience before.
So it’s more like the ‘world’s biggest joke’, but it keeps coming back again and again.
What is happiness for you?
Happiness is not simply an endless succession of pleasant sensations, which seems more like a recipe for exhaustion.
It is rather an optimal way of being that results from the cultivation of many fundamental qualities such as altruism, compassion, inner freedom, resilience, balance emotional, inner balance, inner peace and others.
Unlike pleasure, all these qualities are abilities that can be cultivated through practice and training of our mind.
Do you consider yourself a happy man?
Well, even if I’m not the “happiest person in the world”, for the reasons I just explained, I can’t say I’m unhappy either.
I have had a wonderful life, thanks to meeting wise men and women, my spiritual teachers.
I am also well because I am easily satisfied with very little. I donated all the proceeds from my books and photographs to humanitarian causes.
Ago 20 years I founded a humanitarian organization, Karuna-Shechen, which now helps more than 300. 10 people every year in the field of health, education and social services, mainly in India, Nepal and Tibet, but soon also in France. And that is a great reason for satisfaction.
Thanks to my spiritual practice, I personally enjoy every moment of life and try to be at the service of others.
And what is the secret of happiness?
Altruism and compassion.
The search for selfish happiness does not work, it is a situation in which everyone loses. You make your own life miserable while making everyone else’s life miserable.
Conversely, altruism is a win-win situation.
The goal is to bring happiness to others and remedy their suffering and, as an added benefit, one feels great happiness by being kind and benevolent.
You are celibate, you have not had sex since you were 30, and he has no money, all he earns he donates to works of charity. Sex and money are the two most prominent signs of modern culture. What’s wrong with them?
There is nothing wrong. It is not desire as such and wealth that cause suffering, but our attachment to them.
The moment clinging, clinging and obsession set in, you can be sure the torment will come from.
Clinging is the problem, we become addicted to them.
Now a question for the biologist : Is sadness something we create in our brain or is it society that makes us unhappy?
Well, several studies have shown that a distracted mind is not a happy mind, that a ruminating mind is not a happy mind, and neither is the feeling of exacerbated self-importance. leads to happiness.
Is it possible to be happy in today’s world without being a Buddhist monk?
Of course! It would be a shame if happiness were limited to Buddhists and even more so to being a monk!
Anyone can be the happiest woman or man in the world (not in a competitive way! ) simply by being kind, compassionate, open to others, and easily satisfied with external conditions.
Have you always been a happy person or did it take you a long way to be?
Friends who knew me when I was a teenager (some are still alive) say I was a grumpy young man.
So I guess I made a little progress, although I still have a long way to go.
Is happiness a genetic gift, something you are born with, or is it something that can be learned?
We all have various natural tendencies, related to our genetic heritage. But that can be greatly changed.
We know through epigenetics studies that genes can be expressed or not, depending on external conditions.
We also know through brain studies that we can change through training, thanks to brain neuroplasticity.
And we know through contemplative traditions that if we practice long time the basic human qualities that I mentioned, altruism above all, we can definitely change for the future.
Does “ happiest man in the world “ ?
Of course, it is absolutely normal and desirable to be sad in the face of a massacre, injustice, discrimination, abuse, social injustice, poverty in the midst of abundance, blind exploitation of animals, etc.
But this sadness should lead to compassionate action to do something about the various related sufferings.
Sadness is not despair, it is compatible with genuine flourishing.
Your photos: sadness, one of the most human expressions that exist In his latest book, “Viva la l freedom ”, reflects on how to achieve inner freedom. What is inner freedom?
Inner freedom is being free from mental traits, musings and mental projections that eventually translate into frustration and suffering.
If we do not achieve inner freedom Does it mean that we are slaves? Slaves to what?
“Slave” is perhaps an important word, but when we are completely dominated by hatred, compulsive desire, persistent jealousy and arrogant pride, somehow we are slaves of our own mental fabrications.
In that case, our mind is far from free and blindly follows its attractions and repulsions, attributing to them a kind of solid existence: we believe that something is inherently desirable or someone inherently detestable, which is never the case.
Can everyone achieve inner freedom?
Why not? After all, this is our own mind.
Our control of external conditions is limited, ephemeral, and often illusory, but we can work with our own mind while dealing with it from morning until night.
Our mind can be our best friend or our worst enemy; it is the mind that translates external circumstances into happiness or misery.
So if we can train this spoiled child that is the mind a little and master it a little, it will be of great help to free ourselves from our habitual tendencies and automatic thoughts and thus be happier.
What is the biggest obstacle to achieve inner freedom?
There are many obstacles, including being addicted to suffering, blindly following all of our afflictive states of mind, and failing to recognize the potential for transformation that lies within all of us.
But the main obstacle is mental confusion, lack of discernment and wisdom.
If only I could give advice to achieve inner freedom, what would it be?
There is no single tip. It takes time and perseverance, but it is the most inspiring adventure in life.
U One thing is for sure: we must get rid of selfishness and cultivate kindness, benevolence and compassion.
Is our brain designed to achieve inner freedom? And if so , why is it so difficult to get it?
Our brain is not designed one way or another.
Thanks to the plasticity of the brain, it becomes what we get used to: if we get angry all the time, the corresponding networks will be reinforced in the mind.
If we cultivate altruism and emotional balance, the corresponding brain network will be reinforced .
All neuroscientific studies have shown that cultivating attention, compassion and freeing ourselves from obsessive thoughts produces both functional and structural changes in the brain.
Monsieur Ricard, you are a molecular biologist and a Buddhist monk. What have you learned from biology and Buddhism to achieve inner freedom?
Great topic indeed.
Science taught me a taste for a rigorous approach to reality, the opposite to blind belief.
Science freed me from believing in all kinds of crazy things, as it happens more and more these days.
to Buddhism, it gives me the keys to an inner freedom that can be achieved through a lifetime of practice.
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