Monday, December 03, 2012

Less is More

About a month or so before, the Daily Mail and the NY Daily News featured interesting articles about the world's happiest man. Having read them, at the recommendation of a very good friend, i felt it necessary to make a post of the excerpts (verbatim) from either articles, which i have detailed below. During the read, which i thoroughly enjoyed, and was greatly energized about, it wasn't lost on me that the path to true happiness is indeed a process of dematerialization in the personal space, with the message that less is more, truly!

"A French genetic scientist may seem like an unusual person to hold the title - but Matthieu Ricard is the world's happiest man, according to researchers. The 66-year-old turned his back on Parisian intellectual life 40 years ago and moved to India to study Buddhism. He is now a close confidante of the Dalai Lama and respected western scholar of religion.

The son of philosopher Jean-Francois Revel and abstract watercolour painter Yahne Le Toumelin, became something of a celebrity after writing 'The Monk And The Philosopher' with his father. This was a dialogue on the meaning of life. His other works include "Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill" and several collections of photographs of the landscape, people and spiritual masters of the HimalayasRicard donates all proceeds of his books to 110 humanitarian projects which have built schools for 21,000 children and provide healthcare for 100,000 patients a year.

He addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos at the height of the financial crisis in 2009 to tell gathered heads of state and business leaders it was time to give up greed in favor of "enlightened altruism."

A prominent monk in Kathmandu's Shechen Monastery, Ricard divides his year between isolated meditation, scientific research and accompanying the Dalai Lama as his adviser on trips to French-speaking countries and science conferences. Ricard sees living a good life, and showing compassion, not as a religious edict revealed from on high, but as a practical route to happiness."

It can't get more inspiring than this, can it?

12 comments:

  1. Absolutely! The pleasure of living life the way one sees it!

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  2. Less is more is a philosophy that the increasingly capitalist society is not going to appreciate any sooner. But when people look back at their life (later on), I am sure they will appreciate the wisdom contained in those three words.

    Destination Infinity

    Good to know about a different, but happy personality!

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    1. Spot on, DI. It is this philosophy that has a large part of the world in conflict, isn't it? And, as you rightly said, it is only in hindsight that we learn!

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  3. lets hope the practical route is taken =by many, because that will make the world a lovely place ot live in


    Bikram's

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    1. Indeed, Bikram. If this were only to be our mantra, the world would be such a beautiful place. Difficult, but possible!

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  4. i completely agree with this, i also believe in "waste not, want not...." i think happiness is also a choice, i like to choose it as much as i can... :))

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    1. Glad that you find a connect, BC. Also, love your philosophy "waste not, want not." Brilliant, that one!

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  5. Seems like an amazing personality! His lifestyle or choice of living inspiring... thanks for letting us know this happiest man.

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    1. He certainly is, Jeevan, an amazing personality! Am glad you find this inspiring.

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