Last Updated on February 17, 2024 by pg@petergamma.org
Matthieu Ricard’s perspective on mediation is different than Richard Davidson’s perspective. We became interested in Matthieu Ricard through the following video, where Ricard talks about a scientific study in which he participated as a test subject and co-author of a PNAS paper:
https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.0407401101
We then have read Matthieu Ricard’s book «Happiness», «Meditation» and «Brain Science and Meditation, together with brain scientist Wolf Singer». And only later on we have heard about Richard Davidson’s book «Altered Traits»:
But the perspective on meditation of Matthieu Ricard is different than the perspective of Richard Davidson. Richard Davidson explains us about the effect of a daily meditation practice of 20 minutes:
On the other hand, Matthieu Ricard was a student of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, who meditated for 13 years in solitary retreat, until he wanted to stay there for the rest of his life:
Matthieu Ricard also wrote a book about his teacher Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche:
«Journey to Enlightenment: The Life of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche»
Matthieu Ricard received his PhD. degree in molecular genetics from the Pasteur Institute in 1972. He then decided to forsake his scientific career and instead practice Tibetan Buddhism, living mainly in the Himalayas. That is why the perspective of Matthieu Ricard on meditation is a different than the perspective of Richard Davidson.