French scientist and geneticist Mathieu Ricard is the happiest person in the world, according to researchers. The 66-year-old scientist gave up science 40 years ago and moved to India to study Buddhism. He is now one of the Dalai Lama's confidants and is one of the most respected Western followers of the religion.
As it turns out, daily meditation has other benefits as well - it makes Ricard happier.
In a study of hundreds of meditation practitioners, neurologist Richard Davidson of the University of Wisconsin attached 256 sensors to a monk's head to scan Mathieu's brain during meditation.
As shown by the scan, during the Gamma meditation, the wave activity of Ricard's brain increases significantly.
The researchers believe that overactivity in the left prefrontal cortex, compared to the right, gives the monk an abnormally high potential for happiness, and also reduces the tendency to depression.
Research on the phenomenon known as "neuroplasticity" is in its infancy and Ricard is involved in most of the research on this phenomenon around the world.
“We have been trying to achieve this effect for 12 years by researching people who have recently started practicing meditation and have been practicing it for many years,” says the researcher. “We have found remarkable results for those who have been practicing meditation for a long time, namely those who have meditated 50,000 times or more. But there are positive changes for those who practice meditation three times a week for 20 minutes a day."
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“The research results show that meditation is not just a sweet half-sleep under a tree, but something more. This is what changes your brain and therefore changes you."
The scientist believes that meditation affects the human brain, making him happier, as well as developing his muscles.
The son of the philosopher Jean-François Revel and the artist Yahne Lee Tomilin, Mathieu Ricard gained fame after the publication of the book "The Monk and the Philosopher", which he wrote with his father. The book carries on a dialogue about the meaning of life.
In 2011, the monk published a practical guide, The Art of Meditation, in which he explains the benefits of meditation.