health and fitness: Planet's happiest human

vendredi 29 mai 2015

Planet's happiest human – and his app

Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard takes time out from Nepal monastery to spread positivity and altruism on a world tour, aided by a few electronics

The happiest man in the world does not own a house or car, or earn any money, and he spends three months each winter alone in a tiny Nepalese hermitage without home comforts or even any heating. Matthieu Ricard does, however, carry in his simple fabric bag a laptop in a padded case, and when our conversation is interrupted by the wail of a loud Himalayan chant, the 69-year-old Frenchman reaches into the depths of his saffron robes to pull out a smartphone, which he quickly silences.

A lot of people might consider the key to happiness is getting rid of their technology, I suggest to Ricard. He is a molecular biologist turned Buddhist monk who for almost, a decade, has enjoyed (or laboured under) the title of the most content human on the planet.