The Happiest Man in the World
Mediation and happiness
Matthieu Ricard is officially the “happiest person in the world”. Neuroscientists in the US have declared Ricard, the French translator of the Dalai Lama, to be the happiest man they have ever tested.
As a young man he gave up a privileged life in Paris and the promise of a distinguished career as a genetic scientist to train as a Buddhist Monk in India. He has now brought the scientific rigour of his early life to collaborating in research into how the brain can function better through meditation and happiness.
In this Heart and Soul interview he talks insightfully and openly to Emily Kasriel about his decision to become a monk, what happiness is and how we can all achieve it.
Matthieu Ricard talks with Emily Kasriel about meditation and happiness (26:01 mins)
Heart and Soul, January 2008, BBC World Service