Matthieu Ricard's approach to meditation (Mystical Brain)

A short piece from a documentary "Mystical Brain" by Isabelle Raynauld (2006).
Matthieu Ricard talks about his approach to meditation while preparing for a study of his brain activity.

...In the Western world, meditation means sitting under a mango tree in a blissed out state. The prevailing idea is that you have to sit down and empty you mind. It's not that at all. You have to clean up a bit. We have so many wandering and intrusive thoughts. So you have to be in control of your own mind. Inner freedom doesn't mean following every chain of thought. It's like a sailor who takes the helm and decides where to sail instead of drifting with the current. If you want to generate particular state of mind, you do what it takes.

Watch the whole documentary on-line: http://nfb.ca/film/mystical_brain/

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Matthieu
• Ricard
• meditation
• wisdom
• neuroscience
• experiment
• Mystical
• Brain

[Dihgal]

The impression they give of "Western world meditation" isn't well-spoken. The latter half works solo, otherwise.