Quotes from Matthieu Ricard

We define empathy here as the ability to enter into affective resonance with the other's feelings and to become cognitively aware of his situation. Empathy alerts us in particular to the nature and intensity of the sufferings experienced by the other. One could say that it catalyzes the transformation of altruistic love into compassion.

Algunos piensan que hay que sentirse a disgusto, que en la vida debe haber "días nulos" para apreciar mejor la riqueza de instantes de dicha y "beneficiarse de lo agradable del contraste". Pero ¿son sinceros los que afirman cansarse de una felicidad duradera? ¿De qué clase de felicidad hablan? ¿De la euforia que degenera en aburrimiento, de los placeres que decaen, de los goces que languidecen?.

Anyone who enjoys inner peace is no more broken by failure than he is inflated by success.

His listeners first became aware that their own understanding was deepening, and then, as they noticed this effect among their fellow practitioners, their contemplation naturally became deeper still. Those present later revealed that they had witnessed even birds and wild animals responding to Patrul, sitting quite still yet alert, as if absorbed in natural awareness.

le rapport entre bonté et bien-être s'explique par le fait que l'homme est un « animal social » et que, de sa naissance à sa mort, son existence et sa survie dépendent étroitement de l'entraide et de la bienveillance dont il bénéficiera et dont il fera preuve à son tour à l'égard d'autrui.

La bonté de l'homme est une flamme qu'on peut cacher, mais qu'on ne peut jamais éteindre

Understanding that the essential nature of consciousness is neutral permits us to understand that it is possible to change our mental universe. We can transform the content of our thoughts and experiences. The neutral and luminous background of our consciousness provides us with the space we need to observe mental events, rather than being at their mercy, and then to create the conditions necessary to transform them.

We expend a lot of effort to improve the external conditions of our lives, but in the end it is always the mind that creates our experience of the world and translates it into well-being or suffering. If we transform our way of perceiving things, we transform the quality of our lives. It is this kind of transformation that is brought about by the form of mind-training known as meditation.

If we transform our way of perceiving things, we transform the quality of our lives. It is this kind of transformation that is brought about by the form of mindtraining known as meditation.

Meditation helps us to familiarize ourselves with a clear and accurate way of seeing things and to cultivate wholesome qualities that remain dormant within us unless we make an effort to draw them out.

From a Buddhist point of view, every being has the potential for enlightenment just as surely, say the traditional texts, as every sesame seed contains oil.

Ces déclarations doivent décrire sans dissimulation les effets du tabac sur la santé des fumeurs et mentionner le fait que le tabagisme tue en moyenne plus de 1 200 Américains par jour, plus que les meurtres, le sida, le suicide, la drogue, l'alcool et les accidents de voiture réunis1382

le tabagisme tue près de 6 millions de personnes chaque année.

In one of his sermons, the Buddha described reality as a display of pearls—each pearl reflects all of the others, as well as the palace whose façade they decorate, and the entirety of the universe. This comes down to saying that all of reality is present in each of its parts. This image is a good illustration of interdependence, which states that no entity independent of the whole can exist anywhere in the universe.

Le tabac a provoqué 100 millions de morts au XXe siècle.

neuroplasticity', a term which takes into account the fact that the brain evolves continuously in relation to our experience, and that a particular training, such as learning a musical instrument or a sport, can bring about a profound change.

Pour celui qui a su extraire la quintessence de l'existence, la mort n'est pas une déchéance ultime, mais l'achèvement serein d'une vie bien vécue : une belle mort est l'aboutissement d'une belle vie.

we don't need to train our minds to improve our ability to get upset or jealous.

There's nothing odd about the fact that what we conceive corresponds to what we perceive .

In all of us is the design of the world, We have the ability to access and understand the universe. To become other forms. It's tea you drink now, in six hours it becomes you.

It is also important to consider the cognitive aspect of compassion, in other words understanding the different levels of suffering and its manifest or latent causes. We will be able thus to place ourselves in the service of others by helping them effectively while still preserving our inner strength, our kindness, and our inner peace.

L'utopie ne signifie pas l'irréalisable, mais l'irréalisé. L'utopie d'hier peut devenir la réalité d'aujourd'hui.

Renunciation essentially means simplifying one's mind, one's words, and one's activities, by letting go of what obstructs inner freedom. Constraint creates frustration; renunciation produces a real sense of joy.

On s'imagine a priori que la santé devrait influer considérablement sur le bonheur et qu'il est difficile d'être heureux quand on est frappé d'une maladie grave et contraint d'être hospitalisé. Mais il s'avère que ce n'est pas le cas, et que, même dans ces conditions, on retrouve vite le niveau de bonheur qui était le sien avant la maladie.