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
Excessive use of external motivation can slow and even stop your journey to mastery.
When we do not put our primary emotional energy into solving our own problems, we take on other people’s problems as our own.
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Anger is a tool for change when it challenges us to become more of an expert on the self and less of an expert on others.
Learning any new skill involves relatively brief spurts of progress, each of which is followed by a slight decline to a plateau somewhat higher in most cases than that which preceded it . . . the upward spurts vary; the plateaus have their own dips and rises along the way. . . .
What we call ‘mastery’ can be defined as that mysterious process through which what is at first difficult or even impossible becomes easy and pleasurable through diligent, patient, long-term practice.
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Indecision leads to inaction, which leads to low energy, depression, despair.
Ultimately, nothing in this life is ‘commonplace,’ nothing is ‘in between.’ The threads that join your every act, your every thought, are infinite. All paths of mastery eventually merge. [Each person has a] vantage point that offers a truth of its own.
I have come to the conclusion that human beings are born with an innate capacity to triumph over trauma. I believe not only that trauma is curable, but that the healing process can be a catalyst for profound awakening—a portal opening to emotional and genuine spiritual transformation.
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Avoidance will make you feel less vulnerable in the short run, but it will never make you less afraid.
Resolve to do the things you find to be difficult. That’s what confident people do. They tackle those things that are scary and they get addicted to doing it.