world's happiest man? Brain scans reveal French monk has 'abnormally large capacity'

-Brain scans reveal Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard has largest capacity for happiness ever recorded
-Meditation 'completely changes your brain and therefore changes what you are', says 66-year-old
-He says you can do it too by learning how to let your thoughts drift


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...ge-capacity-joy-meditation.html#ixzz2lsTvS9k4

 

I love meditating!! It's so essential to life. People who don't meditate are on a fast track highway to death. I'm convinced it can cure and prevent major illness. My mom taught me meditation when I was little, to avoid headaches and emotional struggles. She used to lay a cloth over my eyes as I laid down, and speak to me in a soothing tone. She would have me imagine I was in a field with beautiful rolling hills, the breeze would blow my pains away.

I've actually helped many people get rid of terrible migraines this way too. I have them isolate the pain in their head (locate it) and then imagine they are pulling it slowly out with their fingertips and letting it float away.

 

Also, a part of meditation is you have to surrender and once you reach this state of happiness and peace -- you have to avoid negative thoughts and people.

 

That is excellent you can help them cos migraines really hurt.
I have a yogic breath technique and my healing hands go to the pain by themselves but it doesn't always work for me. I will remember your floating away technique.
Tibetan incense can be helpful too. It is all organic. No perfumes or wooden stick in it.

 

It could also be a case of selection - maybe he was drawn towards being a monk and meditating often because he had more of a capacity to be in that state?

Or it could be a bit of selection and a bit of causation, which seems to usually be the case with things like this.

 

My wife used to practice something like this. She called it aura mending. Not sure if it works but it does sound simple enough.

As to the monk...his method does not surprize me. I have learned over a few years of practice to channel my emotions into high moods. Akin to smoking a joint or some such. The idea that he has ample capacity for "happiness" is beautiful.

 

When you consider his parents, a philosopher and an artist, it does follow that he inherited a physiological make-up that predisposes him to such endeavors.

Then couple that with the growing knowledge concerning neuroplasticity and I can easily see how he attained the level in meditative practices he has.

Some pretty amazing things can be accomplished via meditation.
I had a friend once (hard to believe, I know) from the Philippines who's father was a master of five styles of martial arts and very, very advanced/accomplished in the more metaphysical areas of yogic practices. He apparently was able to light and extinguish candles from across a room, levitate, was seen in multiple places at the same time, even was buried for a day, etc, etc.
My friend was not that accomplished, at least not in the extreme metaphysical sense, although he did do some pretty bizarre shit.
One night we were sitting around smoking and he just started to stare at me very intensely for about a minute, then proceeded to tell me exactly what was going through my mind at the moment. Freaked me the fuck out.

The martial arts shit he could do was no less amazing, for example; putting his arm into wet sand at the beach almost to the shoulder...with three punches. or doing five back flips in the sand and landing in almost the exact same position each time to the point that there was only one set of clear footprints left behind. Shit like that.
He said his father started teaching/training him when he was four years old and I met him when he was 25.

Man, I got a lot of crazy stories about that guy. :2thumbsup:

 

This is pretty awesome stuff. I love stories like this. Kind of reminds me of the Tibetan Monks who practice Tummo and an sit in snow in their underwear and steam dry hit towels on their backs, among other things.

 

It's amazing what being in these advanced states of awareness can bring us.

While they are amazing, it is all things we ourselves could accomplish if we were to dedicate ourselves to freeing the mind of mental and emotional conditioning that doesn't serve us and let go of the limitations that society sets upon us.

 

Nice read - I read Matthieu Ricard's book "The monk and the Philosopher" about 10 years ago. It was discussions between him and his dad (the philosopher). His dad could not understand his son's decision to become a monk. It was interesting to see how linear his Dad was. Not that I completely agreed with everything on both sides.

IN any case, it is cool to read about how much meditation can help improve "brain health" and happiness.

 

This is pretty cool!

 

I saw this story. Love it. People are learning to use their mind in different ways; I've always believed it made a difference, love the proof!

 

I too have helped people relax and get over head pain. While at an informal party recently, a friend had a headache. I have a face-touch-technique that I used on them, they became so relaxed it actually put them to sleep! It was amusing, as there was a party going on all around him while he slept peacefully on the sofa.

 

For some of us battling depression, meditation is the only solace from the inner pain.

 

not even pseudoscience

 

This is a very good article. Thank you for putting this here.

 

Thanks for posting.