These are the words of Matthew Ricard, Buddhist monk, photographer, writer and humanist.
Ricard holds a PhD in cellular genetics and has lived in the Himalayas for the last 45 years. He has attended United Nations forums and TED conferences and his interests combine in a unique way ancient wisdom with modern science.
Ricard has been described as the "happiest man in the world" and for this reason he shares five happiness tips that we can all adopt.
"Happiness is a way of life. It is the optimal and especially healthy mental state that gives us the internal resources we need to deal with the ups and downs of life. "
"We should not be like little children and say," I want to be happy now, "because that does not work. With patience the fruit matures to make it delicious and we can make a delicious jam from it. With raw fruit this is not done. It takes time to cultivate all the fundamental human characteristics that create prosperity. "
"Everything we do is changing our brains. If we learn to do jogging, diving or skiing, our brain will change. Similarly, if we train our focused attention, if we train to be more compassionate, if we train to be more altruistic, our brains will change and we will be different. We can learn all these skills just as we learn to play piano or chess. "
"It's like watering the plants on our balcony. We need to pour a little water every day. If we drop a bucket once a month the plant will die. It is best to do brief meditation sessions but repeat from a long session more rarely because it does not activate or maintain neuroplasticity [note: the brain's ability to self-reorganize through the creation of new neural connections over life]. "
"We have to insist, because sometimes the change takes place through the bumper. Regularity is one of the best advice in meditation and mind training to become better people, happier and more altruistic. "
