Habits of Happiness - Mattthieu Ricard

Simplifying one’s life to extract its quintessence is the most rewarding of all the pursuits I have undertaken. It doesn’t mean giving up what is truly beneficial, but finding out what really matters and what brings lasting fulfillment, joy, serenity, and, above all, the irreplaceable boon of altruistic love. It means transforming oneself to better transform the world.
Matthieu Ricard

Matthieu Ricard left science behind to move to the Himalayas and become a Buddhist monk to pursue happiness, both at a basic human level and as a subject of inquiry. Achieving happiness, he has come to believe, requires the same kind of effort and mind training that any other serious pursuit involves. Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill is his latest book on happiness, where he addresses that pursuit - by strengthening of the inner conditions that lead to genuine happiness.
Next to this, Matthieu Ricard is also one of my favorite photographers, publishing books like The Buddhist Himalayas, Tibet: An Inner Journey, and Monk Dancers of Tibet. Here you'll find a slide show with some of his stunning photos, including both the incredible Tibet scenery, as well as the monks that live there.

In this beautiful TED talk, he combines both his photography with his view on achieving happiness. One of the additonal beauties of this speech is the fact that you can actually sense his serenity. The serenity which is, according to Matthieu Ricard, one of the key elements to achieving that state of happiness.
Matthieu Ricard, French translator and right-hand man for the Dalai Lama, has been the subject of intensive clinical tests at the University of Wisconsin, as a result of which he is frequently described as the happiest man in the world. (Robert Chalmers, The Independent).
(Via TEDBlog)

Comments

[Keith Blanchard]

After reading this review about mind training, strengthing inner conditions and genuine happiness, I was reminded of a book I just read: "The Street Kid's Guide To Having It All" by John Assaraf. In it John shares the techniques one can use to reach the Golding Ring of true happiness. This a must to help one develop the state of being one needs to see that through. Great book!
If you are interested in a preview, follow this link.
http://www.johnassaraf.com/blog/2007/10/31/your-powerful-brain/

Keith Blanchard
Author of The Divine Principle

[Ellen]

Hi Keith,

my sincere apologies for this delayed reaction.. I really value comments (and responding to them!) but due to illness I seem to have missed out on yours.. I'm truly sorry..

Thank you for great book advice and preview link! I'm really fond of reading, and appreciate advice on books like this one!
I'll definitely look into this one,
thanks again!

Ellen

[redtube]

It is the best what i saw, 4ever !!!

[Omnioo]

To be willing to die for an ideal is to set a rather high price on conjecture.

[Omniho]

The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well.

[Negoyi]

You see things and you say, "Why?" But I see things that never were; and I say, "Why not?"

[Krameg]

Passion governs, and she never governs wisely.