136 GQ.COM.AUFEBRUARY 2017
Sex–ortheurgetohaveit–was,
accordingtoRicard,likeabuzzingmosquito
–easilyignored.(Monksarecelibate.Andsex
fallsintothatcategoryofa“mechanicalquest
for sensual pleasures” that ends in crippling
“obsession and, ultimately, disenchantment”.
Infact,thereisaBuddhistsaying–“Forthe
lover,abeautifulwoman/manisanobjectof
desire;forthehermit,adistraction; for the
wolf, a good meal.”)
“Idon’tunderstandpeoplewithso
muchstuffitfillstheirgarage,”said
Ricard.Ithindered“genuineflourishing”.
Inoddedknowingly–whatwaswiththose
unflourishing people? Because, damn, if
he wasn’t describing our junky garage.
“Comparisonisthekillerofhappiness.
Wedon’tcompareourselveswithBillGates
butwithourneighbours.”True,subtly–or
not-so-subtly–wewerealwaystallyingthe
cars in the neighbour’s driveway, the latest
renovation,orafriend’sMediterraneanjaunt.
Andthatexercisewasoneoffutility,lifting
usfromthemomentinwhichwewereliving,
andforcingustocovetamomentinwhich
we weren’t. Which raised another digital
dilemma – the constant intrusion/onslaught
of delectable images of consumption and
their celebration by friends and neighbours.
“Goodforthem,”hesaid,“butwhydoyou
needit?”Butdidn’tweallcravecomfortin
theend?Didn’thehimselfflybusinessclass
tohisvariousconferences?Hiseyesgrew
wide.“Well,ofcourse,”hesaid.“Iftheyoffer
it,Itakeit.SometimesI’mtravellingoutand
backtoaplacelikeChile,intwoorthree
days.IrememberthatonceIwasaskedto
movetofirstclass,andIsaid,‘Ohno,Idon’t
thinkit’sgoodforamonktobeinfirst class.’
Forme,that’sawasteofmoney.”
Itwasimportanttonote,hesaid,thatthe
questforcomfort–whathecalled“pleasant
sensations”–wasn’tthesameashappiness.
“Notconfusingpleasantsensationswith
happiness doesn’t mean that we should
shun pleasant sensations, or not take them
when they come,” he said. “This is absolute
nonsense.Itwouldbeabsurdtogiveup
somethingthatcouldcontributetohappiness.
Butpleasantsensationsareimpermanentand
don’tguaranteehappinessbynature.”
Sittingonthatmountaintop,looking
down on the world, the Himalayas hiddenbehind grey robes, Ricard was clear about
howwe“blunted”pleasantsensationswith
excess.Thesamepieceofmusicoverhours
wasdifferentfromthefirstfiveminutesof
listeningtoabeautifulsong.Wonderful
food, over-ingested, made one sick. Craving
andgraspingspoiledpleasantsensations.
“Ifitdoesn’tcarryyouaway,it’sallfine.
Youtakewhatcomes,”hesaid.Butonce
youflewbusinessclass,youdidn’tforgetthe
pleasure,right?Sothenexttimeyougot
onaplane,youwereonlyremindedofthe
pleasuredenied.Itseemedlike a metaphor
forourWesternculture.
“Yes! Of course!” exclaimed Ricard.
“That’swhatwecallmultiplyingsuffering.
It’s always comparison, not being satisfied.
“WehaveaTibetansaying,‘Tobecontent
islikeatreasureinyourhand.Appreciate
it when it comes and absolutely not miss it
when it doesn’t.’” He evoked his own Super
Monk,hismaster,DilgoKhyentseRinpoche:
“These trains of thought and states of mind
are constantly changing, like clouds in the
sky,butweattachgreatimportancetothem.”
Ricard’sgift,inpart,wasthathe’dmade
himselfthegreattranslatorofBuddhism
forthemasses(inDavos,inhisTEDtalks,
in his dozens upon dozens of appearances
on YouTube), but one could still get lost in
theswirlingabstractions.Andyetherewas
whereRicard’sscientificbrainkeptworking
topintheairinessofhisownpracticeto
living,quantifiableevidence.Notonlywas
Buddhismareligionandawayofthought:
Ricardsawitasascience,too.
So he was steeped in studies, and
relationshipswithvarioussocialscientists
andneuroscientists.AlongwiththeDalai
Lama,hesawaburningneedforglobal
“secular ethics,” shed of religious and
political doctrine, that might better guide the
worldandperhapssaveitfromviolence.And
sinceMatthieuknewwecouldn’tallsitin
acaveforsevenyears,staringatAnnapurna,
he’d brought the worldHappiness,andhis
other writings, in which the best Buddhist
ideas were concentrated and translated into
anapplicableguideforourlives.
Butwerewechangeable,ordoomed?Of
course,wewerechangeable,saidRicard,with
asmilingflashofimpatience.Wecontained
molecules of greatness, the possibility of
enlightenment.Someofushadjustlostour
way.Hetoldthestoryofamonkfriend,
standinginTimesSquare,lookingupat
thefive-storeyadvertisementsandflashing
gewgawsofcapitalism,whosaid, “They’re
trying to steal our minds.”
Meditationwasonewaytostealback
your mind. And this was where the genetic
scientistinMatthieutrulymetthemonk.
Hedescribedafascinatingstudy,onein
which he had participated, that arose froma collaboration between the Dalai Lama and
agroupofeminentscientists,toexplorethe
intersection of Buddhism and science. The
ideawastomeasurethebrainwavesofpeople
inameditativestateof“openpresence”,
allowing all thoughts to come and go equally,
floatinginanequilibriumofacceptance.
Eightmonks,someofwhomhadbeen
meditating in shaggy isolation for 30 years,
werebroughttoMadison,Wisconsin,and
alongwith10Americannon-practitioners,
were hooked up with 128 sensors to an
EEG machine, which measured brain-
waveactivity.Whenaskedtomeditate
on compassion, the monks generated the
highestlevelofgammawaves,allfiringin
arhythmic,harmonicmanner;meanwhile,
the novices registered very little activity.
Accordingtooneofthestudy’soriginators,
themeasuredintensityofthegammawaves
inthemonkswas“ofasortthathasnever
beenreportedintheneuroscienceliterature”.
Socouldourgammawavessavetheworld?
When asked how Ricard’s stacked up,
helaughed.“IwasOK,”hesaid.The
first session was supposed to have been
a 20-minute meditation, and he’d gone
twoandahalfhours.“Wepulledonemonk
outofacaveinNepal,”hesaid.“Hewasthe
onewiththestrongestwave measurements.
Hewasoffthecharts.”
Anotherexperimenthadtodowiththe
“startle response”, in which the monks and
non-practitioners put on headphones and
were told that they’d hear a loud explosion,
andthattheyweretoattempttoneutralise
theirreaction.Thestartleresponse,when
exaggerated, is connected to negative
emotion,butagain,bycomparison,the
monkswereabletotakeinthesound,
reactminimally,andletitgo.Thenon-
practitioners,notatall.Itwasanissueofun-
grasping,saidRicard,andbecausethemonks
hadspentyearspracticingcompassionand
loving kindness, negativity was more likely
to pass through. It wasn’t that Ricard and his
monksdidn’tregisterangerorfrustration
occasionally–it’sthattheytriedtoset it free
as quickly as it came, osmotically.
ThisbroughtRicardbacktoourpolarised
world.“IfIclingtoanideology,then,
ofcourse,anythingthatgoesagainstit
becomesaprovocation,”hesaid.“With
altruism,youdon’tcareaboutideology,you
care about the fate of people. And then it
solvestheissue–ifyoucareaboutthefate
ofchildren,whywouldyouwantgunsin
theschool?Themostlegitimateaspiration
of any human beings is the basic wish not
tosuffer,thebasicwishforwellbeing.
Basedonthat,everythingbecomessosimple
–youareready,flexible,open,pragmatic,
utilitarianinthegoodsenseofthe word,
not instrumentalising others.”HAPPIEST MAN IN THE WORLD, CONT FROM P121.