A Gift of Dharma for 12.6.09 December 7, 2009

Today’s quote is from the great Ven. Matthieu Ricard.

After completing a Ph.D. in molecular genetics at the Institut Pasteur, Ricard moved to the Himalayas to devote himself entirely to the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism.  Though he has studied with many great masters, he was a very close student and attendant for Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

A board member of the Mind and Life Institute, he has participated in research projects on the effects of meditation on the brain, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Princeton University, University of California-Berkeley, and others.  Since 1989, Ricard has also been the French interpreter for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

He is the author/translator/photographer of Journey to Enlightenment: The Life and World of Khyentse Rinpoche, Spiritual Teacher From Tibet; Motionless Journey: From a Hermitage in the Himalayas; Bhutan: The Land of Serenity; The Life of Shabkar: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin; Rainbows Appear: Tibetan Poems of Shakbar; Tibet: An Inner Journey; and Monk Dancers of Tibet.  In addition, he is the co-author of The Monk and the Philosopher, The Quantum and the Lotus: A Journey to the Frontiers Where Science and Buddhism Meet, Buddhist Himalayas, and Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill.

He currently lives at Shechen Tennyi Dargyeling Monastery in Nepal, and coordinates the Karuna-Shechen humanitarian projects in the Himalayan region.

Here’s the quote, from his recent interview with Krista Tippett for American Public Media’s Speaking of Faith:

Ms. Tippett: …A quality of you and of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, and other very wise people I’ve come across, spiritual people, serious people, is also of very robust sense of humor. He’s always laughing. He’s funny. And even before I met you, when I’ve seen pictures of you, you know, you always have a smile on your face. And I want to know, where does humor come into this, to wisdom?

Mr. Ricard: Well, humor comes with, you know, when you’re not, first of all, if the ego is not such a target, that is always there, exposed to all the arrows of praise and blame and criticism and all that and you are not too much, you know, susceptible to that, basically you don’t care to start with. Nothing to lose, nothing to gain from all this noise of, “Oh, you are such a great guy” or “You are just a bastard.” What does it mean? It’s like egos, it doesn’t care. So it gives a sense of less vulnerability as a real strength. People think that a strong ego is a strength. Strong ego is ultimate vulnerability. You are so preoccupied with a strong ego, you can’t sleep anymore.

Ms. Tippett: Right.

Mr. Ricard: But if this ego is transparent, it’s fine. So it’s sort of lifeless. And then also because you have this real confidence, not come from strong ego, you are much more available to others, so open to the world. You know, I see that in Tibet very often. Sometimes you find a very difficult situation — no car when we do those projects in schools and clinics, we get stuck in the middle of a river with our car. You know, big stream, it’s raining, you know, everybody will just — you can imagine some people screaming, you know, upset. Usually, it ends up everyone is on top of the car cracking into laughter. Such a — the thing is such a funny thing. So there’s a kind of, you know, we do our best. And these things happen. And why should you take it too seriously because we will survive that hopefully. And after all, what’s the problem? Just one part of the journey and it’s so much more fun if you take it like that than, you know, making all these tantrums about this.

It’s just precisely what we were mentioning before, the way you interpret the world. I gave this example, which struck me: I was sitting outside our monastery once and it was monsoon time in Nepal, a lot of mud and water. And we had put some bricks about 20 to 30 meters to go from one brick to the other to cross that mess. And one person came, a foreigner, and that person was just screaming, “How disgusting this place.” And I was sitting there and she’s going to scold me for it just there… so OK. Then five minutes later, another person came, two ladies, and she was just hopping from one to the other, “Oh, it’s so nice. It’s such fun. And when there is rain, there’s no dust.” And she was in exactly the same situation, and she has a sense of lightness and humor. The other one was just like grumbling like crazy about it. So, same situation, different perspective.