Ruiz 1

Amanda Ruiz
Mrs. Thomas
UWRT 1102-017
24 October 2015

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Reflection
I feel like I am finally beginning to get enough information to begin writing my paper. I
am thinking of narrowing my inquiry down to something along the lines of comparing the science
behind happiness and the transforming your mind aspect. I haven't decided how Im going to
word it or go about it yet but at least I am making some kind of progress. I feel much more
confident about my choice of inquiry after the TedTalks I watched.

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Ricard, Matthieu. "The Habits of Happiness." TED. N.p., Feb. 2004. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.

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Matthieu Ricard, also known as the happiest man in the world, left his career as a
biochemist in 1972 to move to the Himalayas and become a Buddhist monk. His plan was to
pursue happiness at not only the human level but also as a subject of inquiry. He is the son of the
late Iean-Francois Revel, a well known French philosopher and Yahnele Tournelin, a lyrical
abstractionist painter and Tibetan Buddhist nun. Ricard has been a speaker at the World
Happiness Forum conferences and has received the French National Order of Merit for his
humanitarian work. As a best selling author, he has dedicated the royalties of his books to
numerous charitable projects in Asia to assist in building and maintaining orphanages, clinics and

Ruiz 2
schools. His Ted Talk on The Habits of Happiness is meant for anyone with an interest in
transforming their outlook and becoming happier.
Ricard insists, If something is going to determine the quality of every instant of our life,
we better know what it is. It is such a common term, yet for some reason, it is difficult to
adequately define. His talk was focused on nurturing the conditions for happiness, which are the
inner conditions, and discovering and attempting to eliminate those conditions that undermine
happiness. He maintains that achieving happiness requires the same kind of effort and mind
training as any other serious pursuit. So often we look outside to find happiness, such as in the
acquisition of material objects, but our control over the outside world is so limited. Looking in
is more beneficial because isnt it the mind that translates outer conditions into happiness or
suffering?

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Other quotes: Consciously or not, directly or indirectly,in the short or the long term, whatever
we do, whatever we hope, whatever we dream, somehow, is related to a deep profound desire for
happiness.

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The experience that translates everything is within the mind

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We spend so many years educating ourselves, pay attention to fitness and do all things to remain
beautiful but spend surprisingly little time taking care of what matters the most-the way our mind
functions-which is the ultimate thing that determines the quality of our experience.

Ruiz 3
Analysis: Ricards TedTalk was a bit slow but very informative. His idea are very similar to those
of the Dalai Lama. After further research, I discovered that he has been the French translator and
right-hand-man to the Dalai Lama since 1989. While most of the talk was based on mind
training, very similar to meditation, he did switch gears and include scientific information
regarding brain plasticity which made made the whole idea more conceivable. This talk would be
useful to anyone doing an inquiry related to the minds ability to change (brain plasticity) and the
pursuit of happiness through mind training.