A few months ago I offered some favorite quotations on patience, persistence, and thinking big. They came from Nelson Mandela, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Sir Edmund Hillary, and other personal heroes.
Altruism is another quality they and other great leaders share. And Matthieu Ricard a wonderful teacher of its essence and deep benefits. A best-selling author and prominent speaker, his talks on happiness and altruism at the World Economic Forum in Davos and at TED have been viewed by more than seven million people.
My friend Dan Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, praises Matthieu as “a genius for our times, a rare combination of scientific brilliance with the heart of a saint.”
A Buddhist monk who lives in Nepal, Matthieu has been His Holiness’s French translator for decades. His humanitarian group, Karuna-Shechen, shares many of our goals in the American Himalayan Foundation and helps thousands of poor people with basic needs in India, Nepal, and Tibet.
A few years ago, Matthieu gave me a copy of his newest book, Altruism: The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World. It’s an accessible, yet scholarly opus of more than 800 pages. An invaluable resource for reconnecting with your inner nature.
Here are five quotations among dozens in his opening chapters, followed by five we picked out from his own thoughts.
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“Every sentient being, even my enemy, fears suffering as I do and wants to be happy. This thought leads us to feel profoundly concerned for the happiness of others, be they friends or enemies. That is the basis for true compassion. Seeking happiness while remaining indifferent to others is a tragic mistake.”
—His Holiness the Dalai Lama
“If we practice an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, soon the whole world will be blind and toothless.”
—Mahatma Gandhi
“Altruists simply have a different way of seeing things. Where the rest of us see a stranger, altruists see a fellow human being.”
—Kristen Renwick Monroe, professor of political psychology and ethics, University of California, Irvine; author, The Heart of Altruism: Perceptions of a Common Humanity
Altruism is “a willingness to act in consideration of the interests of the other person, without the need of ulterior motive.”
—Thomas Nagel, professor of politics and law, New York University; author, The Possibility of Altruism
Altruistic love is “unselfish delight in the well-being of others, and engagement in acts of care and service on their behalf.”
—Stephen G. Post, professor of preventive medicine and bioethics, Stony Brook University; author, The Hidden Gifts of Helping
Matthieu Ricard, in Tibet
“Altruism seems to be a determining factor of the quality of our existence, now and to come, and should not be relegated to the realm of noble utopian thinking maintained by a few big-hearted, naive people.”
“Altruism should be enlightened by lucidity and wisdom… taking into account the full picture of each situation and asking oneself: ‘What will be the short- and long-term benefits and drawbacks of what I am about to do? Will my action affect a smaller or larger number of individuals?’
“Impartiality is an essential component of altruism….Impartiality adopts the attitude of a kind, dedicated physician who rejoices when others are in good health and concerns himself with curing all sick people, whoever they are.”
“One of the most important aspects of altruistic love is courage….The feeling of insecurity leads us to close in on ourselves and to keep our distance from others. To become more altruistic, we have to develop an inner strength that makes us confident in our inner resources that let us face the constantly changing circumstances of existence.”
“To be concerned by the fate of others it is essential to consider their situation attentively, to adopt their point of view, and to realize what you would feel if you were in the same situation.”
Photos courtesy of http://www.matthieuricard.org/en.
Richard Blum
Thomas C. Hayes
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