Matthieu Ricard

He then decided to forsake his scientific career and instead practice Tibetan Buddhism, living mainly in the Himalayas. Ricard is a board member of the Mind and Life Institute. He received the French National Order of Merit for his humanitarian work in the East with Karuna-Shechen, the non-profit organization he co-founded in 2000 with Rabjam Rinpoche. Since 1989, he has acted as the French interpreter for the 14th Dalai Lama. Since 2010, he has been travelling and giving a series of talks with and assisting in teachings by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, the incarnation of Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

Born in Aix-les-Bains, Savoie, France, he is the son of the late Jean-François Revel (born Jean-François Ricard), a renowned French philosopher. His mother is the lyrical abstractionist painter and Tibetan Buddhist nun Yahne Le Toumelin. Matthieu Ricard grew up among the personalities and ideas of French intellectual circles. Ricard worked for a PhD degree in molecular genetics at the Pasteur Institute under French Nobel Laureate François Jacob. After completing his doctoral thesis in 1972, Ricard decided to forsake his scientific career and concentrate on the practice of Tibetan Buddhism. Ricard then went to India where he lived in the Himalayas studying with the Kangyur Rinpoche and some other teachers of that tradition. He became a close student and friend of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche until Rinpoche's death in 1991. Since then, Ricard has dedicated his activities to fulfilling Khyentse Rinpoche's vision. Ricard has been called the "happiest person in the world". Matthieu Ricard was a volunteer subject in a study performed at the University of Wisconsin–Madison on happiness, scoring significantly above the average of hundreds of volunteers. Ricard, however, has called the label "absurd" and untrue. He co-authored a study on the brains of long-term meditators, including himself, who had undergone a minimum of three years in retreat. Ricard is a board member of the Mind and Life Institute, which is devoted to meetings and collaborative research between scientists, Buddhist scholars and meditators, his contributions have appeared in Destructive Emotions (edited by Daniel Goleman) and other books of essays. He is engaged in research on the effect of mind training on the brain, in various institutions, including Madison-Wisconsin, Princeton and Berkeley universities in the United States, the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany, the University of Liège in Belgium, and at the Inserm centres of Lyon and Caen in France. Ricard spent four years in the Dordogne, caring for his mother, Yahne, who died 2023 in her hundredth year; he felt very fortunate to be able to care for her during this time.

Ricard's photographs of the spiritual masters, the landscape, and the people of the Himalayas have appeared in numerous books and magazines. Henri Cartier-Bresson has said of his work, "Matthieu's camera and his spiritual life make one, and from this springs these images, fleeting and eternal." He is the author and photographer of Tibet, An Inner Journey and Monk Dancers of Tibet, in collaboration with Danielle Föllmi and also Buddhist Himalayas, Journey to Enlightenment and Motionless Journey: From a Hermitage in the Himalayas. He is the translator of numerous Buddhist texts, including The Life of Shabkar. The dialogue with his father, Jean-Francois Revel, The Monk and the Philosopher, was a best seller in Europe and was translated into 21 languages, and The Quantum and the Lotus (coauthored with Trinh Xuan Thuan) reflects his long-standing interest in science and Buddhism. His 2003 book Plaidoyer pour the bonheur (published in English in 2006 as Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill) explores the meaning and fulfillment of happiness and was a major best-seller in France. In June 2015, the English translation of Altruism: The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World was published and excerpted as the cover story of Spirituality & Health Magazine. Ricard is the also the author of Caring Economics: Conversations on Altruism and Compassion, Between Scientists, Economists, and the Dalai Lama (forthcoming 2015).

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1996). The Excellent Path to Enlightenment: Oral Teachings on the Root Text of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. New York City: Snow Lion. ISBN 978-1-55939-064-4. Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol; Ricard, Matthieu; Padmakara Translation Group (2001). The Life of Shabkar: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin. New York City: Snow Lion. ISBN 978-1-55939-154-2. Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol; Ricard, Matthieu (2002). Rainbows Appear: Tibetan Poems of Shabkar. New York City: Shambhala. ISBN 978-1-57062-982-2. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche; Padampa Sangye; Padmakara Translation Group (2006). The Hundred Verses of Advice: Tibetan Buddhist Teachings on What Matters Most. New York City: Shambhala. ISBN 978-1-59030-341-2. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche; Padmakara Translation Group (2007). The Heart of Compassion: The Thirty-seven Verses on the Practice of a Bodhisattva. New York City: Shambhala. ISBN 978-1-59030-457-0. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (2012). Guru Yoga According to the Preliminary Practice of Longchen Nyingtik. New York City: Shambhala. Ricard, Matthieu; Mipham, Jamgon (2013). On the Path to Enlightenment. New York City: Shambhala. Ricard, Matthieu (2016). Enlightened Vagabond, The Life and Teachings of Patrul Rinpoche. New York City: Shambhala Publications.

Hirota, Yukinori; Ricard, Matthieu (October 1973). "Process of Cellular Division in Escherichia coli: Physiological Study on Thermosensitive Mutants Defective in Cell Division". Journal of Bacteriology. 116 (1): 314–322. doi:10.1128/JB.116.1.314-322.1973. PMC 246424. PMID 4583216. Ricard, M., On the relevance of a contemplative science. Buddhism and Science: Breaking New Grounds, 2003, 261–279. Lutz, A.; Greischar, L. L.; Rawlings, N. B.; Ricard, M.; Davidson, R. J. (2004). "Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 101 (46): 16369–16373. Bibcode:2004PNAS..10116369L. doi:10.1073/pnas.0407401101. PMC 526201. PMID 15534199. Ekman, P., Davidson, R. J., Ricard, M. & Wallace, B. A., Buddhist and psychological perspectives on emotions and well-Being. Current Directions in Psychological Science 14, 2005, 59–63. Dambrun, Michael (2017). "Self-centeredness and selflessness: Happiness correlates and mediating psychological processes". PeerJ. 5 e3306. doi:10.7717/peerj.3306. PMC 5429736. PMID 28507820. Ricard, Matthieu (20 July 2011). "The Dalai Lama: Happiness through wisdom and compassion". International Journal of Wellbeing. 1 (2): 274–290. doi:10.5502/ijw.v1i2.9. Archived from the original on 29 October 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2018. (in French) Dambrun, M., & Ricard, M., La transcendance de soi et the bonheur: une mise à l'épreuve du modèle du bonheur basé sur the soi centré-décentré. Les Cahiers Internationaux de Psychologie Sociale, 2012/1, no. 93, p. 89–102. Levenson, R. W.; Ekman, P.; Ricard, M. (2012). "Meditation and the Startle Response: A Case Study". Emotion. 12 (3): 650–658. doi:10.1037/a0027472. PMC 3742737. PMID 22506498. Klimecki, O. M.; Leiberg, S.; Ricard, M.; Singer, T. (2013). "Differential pattern of functional brain plasticity after compassion and empathy training". Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. 9 (6): 873–879. doi:10.1093/scan/nst060. PMC 4040103. PMID 23576808. Ricard, M., Lutz, A., & Davidson, R. J., Mind of the meditator. Scientific American, 2014, 311(5), 38–45. McCall, C.; Steinbeis, N.; Ricard, M.; Singer, T. (2014). "Compassion meditators show less anger, less punishment, and more compensation of victims in response to fairness violations". Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. 8: 424. doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00424. PMC 4260514. PMID 25538589. Ahuvia, A., Thin, N., Haybron, D., Biswas-Diener, R., Ricard, M., & Timsit, J., Happiness: An Interactionist Perspective. International Journal of Wellbeing, 2015, 5(1). Chételat, Gaël; Mézenge, Florence; Tomadesso, Clémence; Landeau, Brigitte; Arenaza-Urquijo, Eider; Rauchs, Géraldine; André, Claire; De Flores, Robin; Egret, Stéphanie; Gonneaud, Julie; Poisnel, Géraldine; Chocat, Anne; Quillard, Anne; Desgranges, Béatrice; Bloch, Jean-Gérard; Ricard, Matthieu; Lutz, Antoine (2017). "Reduced age-associated brain changes in expert meditators: A multimodal neuroimaging pilot study". Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 10160. Bibcode:2017NatSR...710160C. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-07764-x. PMC 5578985. PMID 28860449. Engen, Haakon G.; Bernhardt, Boris C.; Skottnik, Leon; Ricard, Matthieu; Singer, Tania (2018). "Structural changes in socio-affective networks: Multi-modal MRI findings in long-term meditation practitioners". Neuropsychologia. 116 (Pt A): 26–33. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.08.024. PMID 28842274. S2CID 24193477.