Ricard: 'Meditation is not just blissing out under a mango tree but it completely changes your brain' A French genetic scientist may seem like an unusual person to hold the title - but Matthieu Ricard is the world's happiest man, according to researchers. The 66-year-old turned his back on Parisian intellectual life 40 years ago and moved to India to study Buddhism. He is now a close confidante of the Dalai Lama and respected western scholar of religion. Now it seems daily meditation has had other benefits - enhancing Mr Ricard's capacity for joy. Neuroscientist Richard Davidson wired up the monk's skull with 256 sensors at the University of Wisconsin as part of research on hundreds of advanced practitioners of . meditation. The scans showed that when meditating on . compassion, Ricard's brain produces a level of gamma waves - those . linked to consciousness, attention, learning and memory - 'never . reported before in the neuroscience literature', Davidson said. The scans also showed excessive activity . in his brain's left prefrontal cortex compared to its right . counterpart, giving him an abnormally large capacity for happiness and a . reduced propensity towards negativity, researchers believe. Research into the phenomenon, known as . "neuroplasticity", is in its infancy and Ricard has been at the . forefront of ground-breaking experiments along with other leading . scientists across the world. 'We have been looking for 12 years at . the effect of short and long-term mind-training through meditation on . attention, on compassion, on emotional balance,' he said. 'We've found remarkable results with . long-term practitioners who did 50,000 rounds of meditation, but also . with three weeks of 20 minutes a day, which of course is more applicable . to our modern times.' Scroll down for video . Andy Francis (left) and associate scientist and Antoine Lutz (right) outfit Matthieu Ricard with a net of 128 sensors . A computer monitor displays graphic renderings of Matthieu Ricard's brain during an MRI test at the University of Wisconsin-Madison . He added to AFP: 'It's a wonderful area of research . because it shows that meditation is not just blissing out under a mango . tree but it completely changes your brain and therefore changes what you . are.' He believes meditation can alter the brain and improve people's happiness in the same way that lifting weights puts on muscle. The son of philosopher . Jean-Francois Revel and abstract watercolour painter Yahne Le Toumelin, . became something of a celebrity after writing 'The Monk And The . Philosopher' with his father. This was a dialogue on the meaning of . life. He followed up with a practical guide in 2011 called 'The Art Of Meditation' making the case for why others should follow the same path. The Art of Meditation is published by Atlantic Books . Mattieu Ricard has spoken about The Art of Meditation in a video hosted by the charity RSA. Here are some hints and tips... Mr Ricard has undergone a battery of tests, including an MRI (left) to reveal how his 'enlightened' mind works . A computer monitor displays data being recorded during an EEG test conducted with Mr Ricard . Matthieu Ricard is a close confidante of the Dalai Lama . Ricard said: 'That was the end of my quiet time because it was a bestseller. Suddenly I was projected into the western world. Then I did more dialogues with scientists and the whole thing started to spin off out of control. 'I got really involved in science research and the science of meditation.' A prominent monk in Kathmandu's Shechen Monastery, Ricard divides his year between isolated meditation, scientific research and accompanying the Dalai Lama as his adviser on trips to French-speaking countries and science conferences. He addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos at the height of the financial crisis in 2009 to tell gathered heads of state and business leaders it was time to give up greed in favour of "enlightened altruism". He was awarded the French National Order of Merit for his work in preserving Himalayan culture but it is his work on the science of happiness which perhaps defines him best.Ricard sees living a good life, and showing compassion, not as a religious edict revealed from on high, but as a practical route to happiness. 'Try sincerely to check, to investigate,' he said. 'That's what Buddhism has been trying to unravel - the mechanism of happiness and suffering. It is a science of the mind.' VIDEO: Trailer for the film 'The Devotion of Matthieu Ricard' for more click here...
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 .
Ricard: 'Meditation is not just blissing out under a mango tree but it completely changes your brain' A French genetic scientist may seem like an unusual person to hold the title - but Matthieu Ricard is the world's happiest man, according to researchers. The 66-year-old turned his back on Parisian intellectual life 40 years ago and moved to India to study Buddhism. He is now a close confidante of the Dalai Lama and respected western scholar of religion. Now it seems daily meditation has had other benefits - enhancing Mr Ricard's capacity for joy. Neuroscientist Richard Davidson wired up the monk's skull with 256 sensors at the University of Wisconsin as part of research on hundreds of advanced practitioners of . meditation. The scans showed that when meditating on . compassion, Ricard's brain produces a level of gamma waves - those . linked to consciousness, attention, learning and memory - 'never . reported before in the neuroscience literature', Davidson said. The scans also showed excessive activity . in his brain's left prefrontal cortex compared to its right . counterpart, giving him an abnormally large capacity for happiness and a . reduced propensity towards negativity, researchers believe. Research into the phenomenon, known as . "neuroplasticity", is in its infancy and Ricard has been at the . forefront of ground-breaking experiments along with other leading . scientists across the world. 'We have been looking for 12 years at . the effect of short and long-term mind-training through meditation on . attention, on compassion, on emotional balance,' he said. 'We've found remarkable results with . long-term practitioners who did 50,000 rounds of meditation, but also . with three weeks of 20 minutes a day, which of course is more applicable . to our modern times.' Scroll down for video . Andy Francis (left) and associate scientist and Antoine Lutz (right) outfit Matthieu Ricard with a net of 128 sensors . A computer monitor displays graphic renderings of Matthieu Ricard's brain during an MRI test at the University of Wisconsin-Madison . He added to AFP: 'It's a wonderful area of research . because it shows that meditation is not just blissing out under a mango . tree but it completely changes your brain and therefore changes what you . are.' He believes meditation can alter the brain and improve people's happiness in the same way that lifting weights puts on muscle. The son of philosopher . Jean-Francois Revel and abstract watercolour painter Yahne Le Toumelin, . became something of a celebrity after writing 'The Monk And The . Philosopher' with his father. This was a dialogue on the meaning of . life. He followed up with a practical guide in 2011 called 'The Art Of Meditation' making the case for why others should follow the same path. The Art of Meditation is published by Atlantic Books . Mattieu Ricard has spoken about The Art of Meditation in a video hosted by the charity RSA. Here are some hints and tips... Mr Ricard has undergone a battery of tests, including an MRI (left) to reveal how his 'enlightened' mind works . A computer monitor displays data being recorded during an EEG test conducted with Mr Ricard . Matthieu Ricard is a close confidante of the Dalai Lama . Ricard said: 'That was the end of my quiet time because it was a bestseller. Suddenly I was projected into the western world. Then I did more dialogues with scientists and the whole thing started to spin off out of control. 'I got really involved in science research and the science of meditation.' A prominent monk in Kathmandu's Shechen Monastery, Ricard divides his year between isolated meditation, scientific research and accompanying the Dalai Lama as his adviser on trips to French-speaking countries and science conferences. He addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos at the height of the financial crisis in 2009 to tell gathered heads of state and business leaders it was time to give up greed in favour of "enlightened altruism". He was awarded the French National Order of Merit for his work in preserving Himalayan culture but it is his work on the science of happiness which perhaps defines him best.Ricard sees living a good life, and showing compassion, not as a religious edict revealed from on high, but as a practical route to happiness. 'Try sincerely to check, to investigate,' he said. 'That's what Buddhism has been trying to unravel - the mechanism of happiness and suffering. It is a science of the mind.' VIDEO: Trailer for the film 'The Devotion of Matthieu Ricard' for more click here...
Matthieu Ricard is the world's happiest man, large capacity for happiness and a . reduced mango . tree but it completely changes your brain and therefore changes what you . are.' He believes meditation can alter the brain and