Matthieu Ricard, PhD, is a French Buddhist monk, author, translator, humanitarian, and photographer. He’s best known for his work on happiness, altruism, veganism, and the link between ancient wisdom and science.
CLEAR ALL
Suspicion often creates what it suspects.
3
Stay a verb—don’t become a noun.
4
One of the deepest purposes of all art is to marry what is with what can be.
We already have everything we need. There is no need for self-improvement. We are one blink of an eye away from being fully awake.
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We must not confuse letting go of past injuries with feeling an obligation to let the injurers back into our life. The freedom of forgiveness often includes a firm boundary and loving distance from those who have harmed us.
Forgiveness is not just a selfish pursuit of personal satisfaction or righteousness. It actually alleviates the amount of suffering in the world.
The greatest satisfaction comes not from chasing pleasure and avoiding pain, but from the radical acceptance of life as it is, without fighting and clinging to passing desires.
2
Avoidance will make you feel less vulnerable in the short run, but it will never make you less afraid.
We are not victims of our genes, but masters of our fates, able to create lives overflowing with peace, happiness, and love.
1
Questioning ourselves for being ‘oversensitive’ is a common way that women, in particular, disqualify our legitimate anger and hurt. . . . The fact that some of us feel more vulnerable than others in a particular context does not mean we are weak or lesser in any way.