We are like birds that have lived too long in a cage to which we return even when we get the chance to ?y away.
We have grown so accustomed to our mental habits that we can barely imagine what
Archive du blog pour Matthieu Ricard
A few words from the French Philosopher Alexandre Jollien, during our recent dialogue in Lausanne
‟Between the ages of 3 and 17, I lived in an institution for handicapped people and I came to understand the meaning of life, that it was joy […]. Its source was in the meeting of another.”
‟I have a
Outer and inner conditions
When we are thrown into confusion by inner troubles, we have no idea how to soothe them and instinctively turn outward. We try cobbling together makeshift solutions and looking for outer conditions that are supposed to make us happy. By
Flying over the Irrawaddy Delta
Late afternoon, flying over the Irrawaddy River Delta (Burma), on a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok to Kathmandu.
To compensate for the atmospheric veil created by the altitude, I increased a bit the contrast and saturation.
Canon Mark 3 Ds,
Altruism Forum
In April, 2010, we will begin a forum dedicated to the promotion of a more altruistic society.
In this day and age we face many challenges. In particular, it is especially difficult to reconcile three different time scales: the short-term
On Abandonment
It is good to abandon what is superfluous, futile, and useless as quickly as possible and not cling to these from force of habit. If I go hiking in the mountain, and midway I find that my packsack is half-filled
Centennial Celebrations of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s birth
The year 2010 marks the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910—1991), one of the most remarkable spiritual teachers of our time. On this special occasion, Khyentse Rinpoche’s grand son and spiritual heir, Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche is
Better to Help than to Blame.
Blaming someone is an unjustified simplification of a complex human situation. We may disapprove of the actions or the behavior of someone, but that person himself is not ‟useless” or ‟evil.” No one is intrinsically ‟this” or ‟that” within their
An interesting Opinion Poll on Values
In December some members of the Davos World Economic Forum in collaboration with Facebook conducted a poll on ‟values”. The poll was conducted with over 130,000 participants largely through the Internet. Eighty percent of the people polled were under 30
Davos Sound Byte-2
At the Davos World Economic Forum, I also participated in a session on ‟Lessons from the Past to Redesign Future Values” with Jody Williams. She received the Nobel Peace Price in 1997 for relentlessly and successfully campaigning for a United