Is there something like worlds happiest man? Is it even possible?
Meet Mathieu Ricard
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2225634/Is-worlds-happiest-man-Brain-scans-reveal-French-monk-abnormally-large-capacity-joy-meditation.html
Scientists who study meditation did brain scans on Mathieu and found that his readings were off the charts! They couldn't believe that a human could have this kind of readings for feelings of well-being. Off course he is like Usain Bolt of meditation may be, He may be wired for happiness, but he says its all due to Meditation, specifically Loving kindness meditation.
Frankly Happiness is great to have, but its not my goal, I think curiosity and deciphering the mysteries of the world come before this for me ( believe it or not :P ) Also being a fan of Buddha and loving his teachings I tend to think that happiness is as transient as sadness. May be there is another reason , less lofty and more human - it is embarrassing for me to be pursuing happiness- I see it as sappy, corny pursuit, another very human reason why I would not go behind happiness is I fear disappointment. Then why am I impressed by the worlds happiest man? :-).
There are different kinds of meditation, 1000s of kinds, like there are 1000s of kinds of workouts, there are 1000s of kinds of workout for the mind. Which of these is the best? Just like we cannot say which workout is the best, we cannot say which meditation is the best.
Listening to this man I was convinced that one thing I need to add to my meditation practice is loving kindness meditation. May be I won't be the worlds happiest person, but may be we will be happier than todays Deepa? :-)
Googles own buddhist teacher, in his interview said a very nice thing. 2 things -
How to meditate? What is the shortest time for meditation? He said One Breath. Breath in - Breath out. Thats it. Thats the shortest meditation.
Then what is the shortest Loving kindness meditation, He said - just think of any person and wish them well - May be this person be Happy/ May this person be well. Thats it. Try it he says. Try it. It does feel good.
Loving kindness meditation is very simple - We first wish ourselves well, then we wish a very loved person well, then a stranger who is neutral, then we wish a person who we don't get along with well. Then we wish all the beings and the whole world well. This is like bench pressing our compassion muscles.
I am a very logical person, thinker, This needs to be balanced by some softness. Loving kindness also helps intellectual people to get out of their heads and thoughts and develop some empathy and some understanding. May be it will also give emotional backing to the good thoughts and turn intellectual knowledge into wisdom? :-)
Meet Mathieu Ricard
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2225634/Is-worlds-happiest-man-Brain-scans-reveal-French-monk-abnormally-large-capacity-joy-meditation.html
Scientists who study meditation did brain scans on Mathieu and found that his readings were off the charts! They couldn't believe that a human could have this kind of readings for feelings of well-being. Off course he is like Usain Bolt of meditation may be, He may be wired for happiness, but he says its all due to Meditation, specifically Loving kindness meditation.
Frankly Happiness is great to have, but its not my goal, I think curiosity and deciphering the mysteries of the world come before this for me ( believe it or not :P ) Also being a fan of Buddha and loving his teachings I tend to think that happiness is as transient as sadness. May be there is another reason , less lofty and more human - it is embarrassing for me to be pursuing happiness- I see it as sappy, corny pursuit, another very human reason why I would not go behind happiness is I fear disappointment. Then why am I impressed by the worlds happiest man? :-).
There are different kinds of meditation, 1000s of kinds, like there are 1000s of kinds of workouts, there are 1000s of kinds of workout for the mind. Which of these is the best? Just like we cannot say which workout is the best, we cannot say which meditation is the best.
Listening to this man I was convinced that one thing I need to add to my meditation practice is loving kindness meditation. May be I won't be the worlds happiest person, but may be we will be happier than todays Deepa? :-)
Googles own buddhist teacher, in his interview said a very nice thing. 2 things -
How to meditate? What is the shortest time for meditation? He said One Breath. Breath in - Breath out. Thats it. Thats the shortest meditation.
Then what is the shortest Loving kindness meditation, He said - just think of any person and wish them well - May be this person be Happy/ May this person be well. Thats it. Try it he says. Try it. It does feel good.
Loving kindness meditation is very simple - We first wish ourselves well, then we wish a very loved person well, then a stranger who is neutral, then we wish a person who we don't get along with well. Then we wish all the beings and the whole world well. This is like bench pressing our compassion muscles.
I am a very logical person, thinker, This needs to be balanced by some softness. Loving kindness also helps intellectual people to get out of their heads and thoughts and develop some empathy and some understanding. May be it will also give emotional backing to the good thoughts and turn intellectual knowledge into wisdom? :-)
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