Ricard, M.

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Matthieu Ricard

Matthieu Ricard has lived and worked in the Himalayan region for forty years. He resides at Shechen Tenni Dargyeling Monastery in Nepal.
      Born in France in 1946 as the son of French philosopher Jean-Francois Revel and artist Yahne Le Toumelin, he grew up among the personalities and ideas of Paris’ intellectual circles. In 1972, after completing his doctoral thesis in biochemistry at the Institute Pasteur, he decided to forsake his scientific career and concentrate on Tibetan Buddhist studies. Since then, he has lived and studied in India, Bhutan and Nepal with some of the greatest living teachers of that tradition, Kangyur Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Matthieu is a Buddhist monk and, since 1989, he has acted as the French interpreter for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
      The dialogue with his father, Jean-Francois Revel, The Monk and the Philosopher, was a best seller in Europe and is translated into twenty-one languages. His other books include: The Quantum and the Lotus, Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill, and Why Meditate?
      For nearly four decades, he has been photographing the spiritual masters, the landscapes and the people of the Himalayas. He is the author and photographer of Buddhist Himalayas, Journey to Enlightenment, Tibet: An Inner Journey, Monk Dancers of Tibet, Motionless Journey, and Bhutan, Land of Peace. He also translated several books from Tibetan into English and French, including The Life of Shabkar, The Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin (Snow Lion).
      Henri Cartier-Bresson has said of his work, “Matthieu’s spiritual life and his camera are one and from this springs these images, fleeting and eternal.”
      He is a member of the Mind and Life Institute, which is dedicated to collaborative research between scientists and Buddhist scholars and meditators. He is involved in the research on the effect of mind training and meditation on the brain at various Universities in the USA and Europe.
      Through his writings and photographs, Matthieu Ricard infuses the dialogue between Tibetan Buddhism – its culture, people and religion – and the West with understanding, intelligence and compassion.
      He is the French interpreter for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. When he is not traveling, he lives at Shechen Monastery in Nepal and at Shechen’s Retreat Center. (Source Accessed July 21, 2020)

4 Library Items

Book
Mind in Comfort and Ease
The Dalai Lama delves deep into the teaching of the Great Perfection, or Dzogchen. His enthusiasm and admiration for this profound tradition shine through as he comments on an important work by the great Dzogchen master Longchen Rabjam, Finding Comfort and Ease in Meditation on the Great Perfection. This teaching, with its remarkable breadth and richness, was originally given to an audience of ten thousand in France in 2000, and this book perfectly captures the majesty of the occasion. As Sogyal Rinpoche, the Dalai Lama’s host for the occasion, said, "All of us were moved by the depth, relevance, and accessibility of these teachings; there were those who said that they were among the most remarkable they had ever heard him give. To receive these teachings from him was the opportunity of a lifetime." (Source: Wisdom Publications)
Dalai Lama, 14th. Mind in Comfort in Ease: The Vision of Enlightenment in the Great Perfection. Translated by Matthieu Ricard, Richard Barron, and Adam Pearcey. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2007.
Book
The Great Medicine
"I will speak a little about how to destroy one's clinging to the notion of reality with the great medicine, bodhichitta, the essence of the Mahayana path, the road travelled by all the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Keep this in mind when in dire straits upon the vast plain of clinging to life's appearances."

        So begins THE GREAT MEDICINE: A Remedy that Conquers Clinging to Reality, a moving text written in verse by Shechen Gyaltsap Gyurme Pema Namgyal. Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche's commentary explores the foundation of awakened mind, the inner workings of loving kindness and compassion, the view of emptiness, and the practical applications of this understanding on the path. Rinpoche's teaching style is refreshing and direct, using examples from his own experience and anecdotes about his teachers and the lineage to illustrate the importance of mingling the Buddhist teachings into ones own life.

        "We need to gain real experience with these valuable instructions and integrate them into our lives. Doing so is the only reason to study them. The result of spiritual practice should be our inner transformation into a better human being. After years of practice we should gain a sense of inner peace and become less vulnerable to outer circumstances. Inner freedom, relaxed and open happiness, as well as joy will arise when negative emotions and mental confusions disappear. In contrast, we will have missed the point of the practice if our mental poisons remain all-powerful, torment us constantly, and cause us to remain preoccupied with ourselves."

        Shechen Gyaltsap Gyurme Pema Namgyal, (1871-1926) was one of the most learned and accomplished practitioners of his time. His 13 volumes of writings contain many lucid and profound commentaries. He was the root teacher of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

        The 7th Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, born in 1966, is the grandson and spiritual heir of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He is the abbot of Shechen Monasteries and Nunnery in Nepal, India, and Bhutan and the founder of a number of on-going humanitarian projects. (Source: Back Cover)
Namgyal, Shechen Gyaltsap Pema. The Great Medicine: A Remedy That Conquers Clinging to Reality; Steps in Meditation on the Enlightened Mind. Explained by Shechen Rabjam Jigme Chokyi Senge. New Delhi: Shechen Publications, 2006.
Book
The Heart of Compassion
What would be the practical implications of caring more about others than about yourself? This is the radical theme of this extraordinary set of instructions, a training manual composed in the fourteenth century by the Buddhist hermit Ngulchu Thogme, here explained in detail by one of the great Tibetan Buddhist masters of the twentieth century, Dilgo Khyentse. In the Mahayana tradition, those who have the courage to undertake the profound change of attitude required to develop true compassion are called bodhisattvas. Their great resolve—to consider others’ needs as paramount, and thus to attain enlightenment for the sake of all living creatures—carries them beyond the limits imposed by the illusions of “I” and “mine,” culminating in the direct realization of reality, transcending dualistic notions of self and other. This classic text presents ways that we can work with our own hearts and minds, starting wherever we find ourselves now, to unravel our small-minded preoccupations and discover our own potential for compassion, love, and wisdom. Many generations of Buddhist practitioners have been inspired by these teachings, and the great masters of all traditions have written numerous commentaries. Dilgo Khyentse’s commentary is probably his most extensive recorded teaching on Mahayana practice. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Khyentse, Dilgo. The Heart of Compassion: Instructions on Ngulchu Thogme's Thirty-Sevenfold Practice of a Bodhisattva. Translated by Matthieu Ricard and edited by John Canti (Padmakara Translation Group). New Delhi: Shechen Publications, 2006.
Book
The Life of Shabkar (2001)
The Life of Shabkar has long been recognized by Tibetans as one of the masterworks of their religious heritage. Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol devoted himself to many years of meditation in solitary retreat after his inspired youth and early training in the province of Amdo under the guidance of several extraordinary Buddhist masters. With determination and courage, he mastered the highest and most esoteric practices of the Tibetan tradition of the Great Perfection. He then wandered far and wide over the Himalayan region expressing his realization. Shabkar's autobiography vividly reflects the values and visionary imagery of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as the social and cultural life of early nineteenth-century Tibet. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Ricard, Matthieu, Jakob Leschly, Erik Schmidt, Marilyn Silverstone, and Lodrö Palmo, trans. The Life of Shabkar: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin. By Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol (zhabs dkar tshogs drug rang grol). Edited by Constance Wilkinson, with Michal Abrams and other members of the Padmakara Translation Group. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2001.


Affiliations & relations

  • Shechen Monastery · workplace affiliation
  • Shechen Tennyi Dargyeling Monastery · secondary affiliation
  • Tibetan Buddhism · religious affiliation
  • Kagyu · religious affiliation
  • Kangyur Rinpoche · teacher
  • Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche · teacher

The Kagyu school traces its origin to the eleventh-century translator Marpa who studied in India with Nāropa. Marpa's student Milarepa trained Gampopa, who founded the firsts monastery of the Kagyu order and as many as twelve sub-traditions grew out from there, the best known being the Karma Kagyu, the Drikung, and the Drukpa. Tib. བཀའ་བརྒྱུད་

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