Excerpt from Se changer, changer le monde, (To change oneself, change the world) with Matthieu Ricard, Christophe André, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Pierre Rabhi, Éditions L’Iconoclaste. Changing the world, in my view, boils down to transforming oneself to better serve others. While avoiding changing the world in a destructive manner, devastating our environment, exploiting animals, and causing the extinction of many other species, it involves maintaining a responsible attitude at all levels. Changing oneself to better change the world means freeing oneself from mental toxins such as hatred, greed, jealo ..read more

Vanaresi, December 2010 « Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule. » Bouddha Shakyamouni In the tragic days we are living through, it is important to emphasize that one can feel a deep aversion towards barbarism and fanaticism and do everything possible to counteract them, without succumbing to hatred. One can feel boundless repulsion towards the deeds committed by an individual or a group of individuals, as well as an unfathomable sadness for the suffering they have caused, without giving in to the desire for revenge. It is commonly thought that r ..read more

By Matthieu Ricard on octobre 18th 2023 This text is an extract from Matthieu Ricard’s book Altruism, available here. I was talking recently with a nurse; like most of her colleagues, she is constantly confronted with the sufferings and problems of the patients she cares for. She told me that in the new training that health care personnel undergo, accent is placed on the “necessity of keeping an emotional distance from the patients,” who are now often called “clients,”to avoid the infamous burnout which affects so many health care workers. This woman, who was very warm and whose mere presence ..read more

Medical staff and social workers often find themselves in highly stressful and emotionally burdensome situations working long hours while dealing with difficult cases. So that they feel appreciated and supported, a show of gratitude – in thought, word and deed – is needed in order to nourish their motivation and give them courage while strengthening the bond with patients and with the civic community. For this gratitude to have meaning beyond words, it is important first to give them the means to carry out their mission of alleviating the suffering of others and to improve their working condi ..read more

Excerpt from Matthieu Ricard’s book, Altruism. Despite progress still to be made, Western countries are evolving more toward respect and increased acknowledgment of the role of women in society. With a few rare exceptions, war is planned, decided upon, and perpetrated by men, and 99.9% of soldiers who take part in combat are also men (even in countries like Israel, which recruit a large number of women, women are rarely on the front lines). Men are also the most intransigent during negotiations. Swanee Hunt, former American ambassador and activist against exploitation of women throughout the w ..read more

The holiday season is a time to celebrate the bonds that unite us with our loved ones and to demonstrate kindness.  These moment of sharing are essential and allow us to develop an altruistic state of mind, but they can often be conditioned by institutionalized over-consumption which diminishes the experience of true relationships, depletes planetary resources and undermines the social conditions of many. According to Qqf1, only 7% of the toys commercialized in France are made there. In the European Union, 85% of all toys sold come from China, as well as half of the goods deemed danger ..read more

In our current times, we are confronted with many short, medium, and long-term challenges and imperatives to which are superimposed three different types of interest – ours, those of our close ones, and those of all beings. One way to respond to these challenges could be to create a more cooperative and altruistic society, one which takes into consideration the interdependence of all things and the collective interest. Wonder, taken as awareness of the wildness in the world, would be one its pillars. Cultivating a relationship of humility with life, being fully aware of it, makes us more incl ..read more

The recently aired documentary, “Buddhism: The Law of Silence,” examines the alleged system abuses of Sogyal and the crimes committed in the 80s and 90s by the so-called Buddhist master Robert Spatz. These abuses and the suffering they caused, often to very young victims, are indeed abhorrent. The situation is rendered even more revolting because the abuses were inflicted by men claiming to follow a religion and philosophy that is based on wisdom, compassion, and the eradication of suffering. Buddhist communities are “human” communities and, like any community, some of the people involved can ..read more

Our sense of belonging to one planet, to a common humanity and to a conscious awareness shared with other species has been reinforced by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. A virus of nanometric size managed in a few weeks to bring part of the world to a standstill and impact the lives of more than 6 billion humans. Our interdependence has become more obvious than ever before, at the expense of the idea that humankind « extracted itself form nature » (as if we could extract ourselves from something we are intrinsically part of). The IPCC experts unanimously and strongly call on our leaders ..read more

Social bonding is an essential and vital need for humans, bringing benefits to both physical and mental health as many studies have shown. Yet, in the age of social networks (which sometimes become « anti-social ») and an unprecedented ease of communication , the number of people who are isolated keeps climbing, leading to greater distrust and alienation. The health crisis and social changes linked to individualism have in fact led to an erosion of trust and an increase in division and prejudice against those who do not share our opinions, beliefs and habits. Locked in our information bubbles ..read more