The
best way to multiply happiness is to share it with others.
–Unknown
The
World's Happiest Man on Altruism
--by Oliver
Haenlein, syndicated from wearesalt.org,
Feb 20, 2016
Matthieu
Ricard, also known as ‘the world’s happiest man’, spent the best part of 25
years in the Himalayas with barely any contact with the Western world he was
born into. At 26-years-old he left behind his molecular biology studies and
settled into a life of serenity and spiritual training under his Buddhist
teachers, high up in the heavens on the other side of the
world.
However,
he is now very much back on the Western scene. When I ask Ricard why he
returned, he sighs and says: “When I was in my hermitage I thought, if I can do
something useful, maybe I should come down for a bit”. He seems to long for the
mountains, but the continued success of his projects since abandoning his
Himalayan retreat seem to have anchored him to the ground. The “something
useful” the 69-year-old modestly refers to is a series of spectacular
humanitarian and academic achievements.
He has set
about trying to teach the world how to be happy, and how to show empathy,
kindness and compassion to one another. He has done this, to name a few
examples, through a range of books, including the recent compendium ‘Altruism’;
through talks and conferences including presentations for TED that have a
combined view count of over six million; through advisory work with the Mind
& Life Institute, a non-profit chaired by the Dalai Lama; through studies
with neuroscientists to highlight the transformative effect meditation has on
the brain; and through an amazing 150 humanitarian projects in 15
years.
Ricard
tells me his charitable foundation, Karuna Shechen, aided more than 200,000
people in 500 villages after the recent devastating earthquake that shook Nepal.
He has helped treat hundreds of thousands of patients, and put tens of thousands
of children in schools. It seems then, that the world is a better place since he
swapped the peace of the Himalayas for his new hectic schedule of
engagements.
Altruism
His latest
book, Altruism, provides a complex look at a remarkably simple approach to
solving the ills of the world. Ricard’s work has always revolved around positive
transformation, and now he has published an 800-page guide to using one of the
traits most inherent to human nature to overcome the challenges of the 21st
century.
Listening
to Matthieu make a case for altruism and its plethora of positive consequences,
it all seems so obvious. And is it a coincidence that the person who has helped
so many humans on this planet is also known as ‘the world’s happiest
man’?
The book
took him five years to write, and contains an impressive 1,600 scientific
references, providing a convincing argument on how important the widespread
adoption of genuine concern for the wellbeing of others could be for changing
the world.
He takes a
three-pronged look at the world’s main challenges: the economy in the
short-term, life satisfaction in the mid-term, and the environment in the
long-term.
The last
thing one might expect from a Buddhist monk is a deep and nuanced knowledge of
modern economics, but this is just what Ricard possesses. Our conversation sees
him talk in-depth on how the traditional model could be adapted to a more caring
form of economics for the benefit of everyone. The issue of climate change is
also covered in great detail in Altruism, with compassion presented as the
solution to the growing catastrophe.
A global
book
Ricard
summarises his work: “The book is really the culminating point of all life
between the east and west, modern science and traditional science, and mind
science, or Buddhism let’s say; but mostly it’s not about Buddhism at all. It’s
really a global book of a human being who happens to be a Buddhist monk. I used
everything I could learn through 70 years, and I researched for five years to
point out that altruism is not a luxury or utopia, but the only answer to the
challenges of our times.
Positive
change
He has an
indomitable belief in the goodness of the human spirit, but explains a new
methodology is needed to create positive change: “Except for a few greedy
psychopaths in suits who only want to make money at the cost of others,
basically you can assume that people wish for a better
world.
“But
unless they have a concept with which to build a better world together, then
they’re just lost, groping in the dark. So the idea of having more consideration
for others is the only concept that works, there’s really no
other.
“I’m not
saying that I found something extraordinary. I didn’t find anything, it just
occurred to me when talking to all these wonderful people from different
disciplines that this was the unifying concept; it’s not a big discovery, it
just seems obvious tome.”
At the
heart of Ricard’s belief in the potential of widespread altruism is his
confidence in human nature. But it’s not just that he’s an optimist; he says
science is also on his side.
Basically
good
“People
are basically good. If you look at evolution, one of the difficult points was
how evolution can explain altruism; now you see all the great evolutionists like
Martin Nowak with ideas that actually say cooperation has been much more
creative to evolution than competition. Those are not just eccentric guys; they
are the core of the science.
The book’s
chapter ‘The Banality of Good’ asserts that many have the wrong impression about
humanity: “Everyday good does not make much commotion and people rarely pay
attention to it; it doesn’t make the headlines in the media like an arson, a
horrible crime, or the sexual habits of a politician.”
Kindness
However
Ricard believes inspiring kindness is all around us: “There’s this vast
exaggeration of the negative aspect of human activities. When you tell people
that violence has constantly declined over the last five centuries people say
‘it’s impossible, it’s not true’. But violence has steadily decreased – it’s
about 100 times less than five centuries ago all over the
world.
“Look at
NGOs; the rise of the NGO is the true revolution of the 20th century. There are
millions of NGOs and people who spend their time trying to do something for
others, so why do we not give more attention to that?”
This
vision means, Ricard believes, that we are perfectly placed to start tapping
into what is already a part of us, to create something better: happier
societies, a more compas- sionate business environment, and a less damaging
approach to the environment.
Environment
While he
had not initially planned to include the environment in his work, Ricard tells
me that the book took a whole lot longer since the importance of altruism to the
planet’s future became all too apparent.
“Professor
Lord Stern from the London School of Economics did a calculation that there
might be 200 million climate refugees within 30 years. Compared to that,
Lampedusa is just nothing”, he says, referring to the Italian island currently
at the heart of a refugee crisis.
“Around 30
per cent of all species could disappear by 2050. Everything is interdependent,
it’s not just about losing a few frogs in the Amazonian forest, everyone will be
affected; not only humans, our whole biosphere will be completely different.
That’s the sixth major extinction of species since life appeared on earth. It’s
not about some apocalypse doomsday scenario, it’s just what’s
happening.”
The
problem, he tells me, is short-sightedness: “We are equipped to react to
immediate danger. If a rhinoceros comes in your kitchen, you run. If someone
tells you that it’s coming in 30 years, you say ‘oh, we’ll
see’.”
Since we
need to look beyond our emotional reaction, he calls for a ‘cognitive altruism’
when looking at climate change: “It’s not that we don’t care, but it’s about
thinking carefully about what’s going to happen; cognitive altruism, cognitive
compassion, cognitive empathy.
“I hope
there will be a million people in the streets in Paris before the United Nations
Climate Change Conference to say ‘that’s our planet, don’t mess it up, that’s
our children, our grandchildren’.”
Application
So the
idea is all well and good, but how can we practically and actively start
applying altruism to society and business?
Ricard
explains that education and working with children is immensely important,
“knowing that the potential is there
in
children and knowing their tendency, their propensity to be cooperative and so
forth”.
In
business, he believes a practical application is, for example, simply increasing
cooperation within a workplace, to boost morale, efficiency and the flow of
information.
He
believes we are already starting to see encouraging signs: “The most vibrant
part of the economy is the positive economy: crowdfunding, impact investing,
socially and environmentally responsible investment, cooperative banking,
microcredit with business people like Mohammed Yunus, and so
forth.
“Although
it’s just seven per cent of the world economy, it’s the fastest-growing and it
also fares best through crisis because people are more motivated. When something
is meaningful, if there’s a component of benefiting others, then you are more
likely to stick with it.”
Optimism
Unsurprisingly,
the happiest man in the world is optimistic about the future of ‘caring
economics’. “There are many encouraging signs”, he says. “At the World Economic
Forum, what you could call the sum of the capitalist world, Klaus Schwab
(founder and executive chairman) said, ‘let’s place this week under the sign of
care and compassion’. These might be just words, but they are significant words
in a place where usually they say more about consumption or the euro crisis.
Action might not follow immediately, but 10 years ago this was definitely not
happening.”
Matthieu’s
achievements are surely seminal in creating a happier, more compassionate, more
peaceful, and more sustainable world. The tremors of his work could be felt for
years to come. If business leaders, politicians, or even the everyday person on
the street can embrace the principles laid out in Altruism, Ricard, who has
touched so many lives already, could just help to save us
all.
Maybe
he’ll now let himself return to a more peaceful existence in the Himalayas. “I’m
70 next year,” he says, “I think it’s a good time now to slow down a little
bit”.
Republished
with permission. This article originally appeared on Salt. Salt
is a platform for Positive Change Agents. Its goal is to make the world a better
place by promoting compassionate business practices.
Be
The Change: Choose one cause that moves you and commit to supporting it in some
way every week, whether with your time, energy, resources, or even your positive
thoughts.
Sourced
From www.dailygood.org
