The Art of Meditation
1st Feb 2010; 13:00
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RSA Keynote
Matthieu Ricard 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."
After training in biochemistry at the Institute Pasteur, Ricard left science behind to move to the Himalayas to become a Buddhist monk and 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.
Matthieu Ricard comes to the RSA on the occasion of a rare UK visit, to show how contemplative practice can contribute to a better understanding of our mental processes, and can foster compassion, altruism and greater pro-social behaviour.
Although meditation is a life-long process even for the wisest, Matthieu Ricard demonstrates that by practising it on a daily basis we can change our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
Chair: Richard Layard, Emeritus Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, and author of the best-selling Happiness: lessons from a new science
Suggested hashtag for Twitter users: #rsameditation
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