

Buddhist monk's brain produces highest reported level of gamma waves - vjanma
http://india.nydailynews.com/newsarticle/7b470adb0a9b6c32e19e16a08df13f3d/buddhist-monk-is-the-worlds-happiest-man

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timinman
If I'm not mistaken, this is a very thin veneer of science applied to a thick
spread of dogma.

1\. Test shows that smart subject is smart (capacity to learn, etc).

2\. Subject of the test says meditation makes you happy.

3\. The author then tries to make science say meditation makes you happy: 'It
is not difficult to see why scientists declared Matthieu Ricard the happiest
man they had ever tested.'

~~~
sp332
He was the happiest man tested, but they haven't tested very many people.
"Matthieu Ricard... has been the subject of intensive clinical tests at the
University of Wisconsin, as a result of which he is frequently described as
the happiest man in the world. It's a somewhat flattering title, he says,
given the tiny percentage of the global population who have had their brain
patterns monitored by the same state-of-the-art technology.... The fact
remains that, out of hundreds of volunteers whose scores ranged from +0.3
(what you might call the Morrissey zone) to -0.3 (beatific) the Frenchman
scored -0.45."

[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/matthieu-r...](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/matthieu-
ricard-meet-mr-happy-436652.html)

~~~
sageikosa
He's probably quite happy that he gets so much attention and has to do so
little except sit around and smile.

~~~
Permit
Yes, he spent 26 years studying Buddhism so he could get media attention.

What's with this dismissive attitude?

~~~
a_bonobo
It's not dismissive, it's skeptic, and rightfully so - there are many flaws in
this article (as outlined above) that might not come from the scientists, but
from dodgy reporting. Who describes that guy as "the happiest man"? Is it the
scientists (doubtful) or is it journalists looking for a "sexy" headline?

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rd108
You can actually use these electrical signatures to make meditation a
trackable, quantifiable "exercise activity". Just like you log running miles
with, say, RunKeeper. Really cool to see more people getting excited about it
the science! Disclaimer: cofounder at a startup doing this.

~~~
drivebyacct2
Sorry if others don't like this but can you elaborate either by pointing me at
your startup, with more science or both? I'm going to go on a Google spree but
I'm curious about your take.

This is completely foreign to me, it fails my bs test but to hear not just the
words scientific, but quantifiable, piques my interest.

~~~
wjy
There's a book called Buddha's Brain that documents several studies of people
meditating while being scanned by an fMRI machine. It's quite fascinating.
Regular meditation alters connections in the brain, similar to how working out
a muscle changes the muscle.

I was on the fence on whether claimed effects of meditation were real, and
reading this book clinched it for me. It anchored the claims I'd read
elsewhere in something I actually believe - fMRI scans of brain activity.

~~~
rd108
Rick Hanson's stuff is great. Here's a lecture he did at Google several years
ago: <http://www.youtube.com/user/BuddhasBrain>

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w00kie
I first misread the HN link's title as "gamma rays" and thought a radioactive
monk sounded awesome! Then I read the actual article, I am disappoint...

~~~
jakespencer
I thought for a minute they had unlocked the reason all that meditation never
truly helped Bruce Banner...

~~~
cfontes
Very good grasshopper.

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themgt
I find it poetically ironic the way Western media/attention on Matthieu Ricard
always focuses on him being "the happiest" - a completely inwardly-focused,
selfish goal. The exact opposite of the type of worldview buddhism advocates

~~~
blissofbeing
Being happy isn't a selfish goal, in fact buddhism looks at this as a non-
selfish goal. Buddhism totally advocates for happiness[1], it is only your
perception that happiness is selfish that is in error.

[1][http://thinkexist.com/quotation/i_believe_that_the_very_purp...](http://thinkexist.com/quotation/i_believe_that_the_very_purpose_of_our_life_is_to/145372.html)
"“I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness." -Dali
Lama

~~~
guylhem
The quest of being happy is a selfish quest. Selfishness is a good thing to
me.

Helping other (altruism) is also a good thing - since it serves your own
selfishness (makes you more happy to see people happy - especially if you made
them happy). The only limit is the damage it may cause them (ex: encouraging
sloth)

The only bad thing is sacrifice - sacrificing the others or even worse,
yourself, is very rarely a good thing - a good rule of thumb is thus to avoid
sacrifices.

(words from a libertarian who finds many interesting things in buddhism)

~~~
blissofbeing
From what I have read, and what I would also argue, buddhism makes the point
that increasing your own happiness it is not a selfish thing because when you
are happy those around you are more prone to also become happy. Like if you
are happy and smile at someone and then it makes them happy.

So while maybe it could be argued becoming happy is selfish, actually being
happy is not selfish. But then again becoming anything is selfish, I think the
point is what happens after the point of becoming that thing. There is a lot
of this logic in buddhism, which is why more importance is usually given to
your volition for doing something than what it actually is your doing (think
karma).

~~~
danielwozniak
guylhem and blissofbeing both make very good points here. We can take into
consideration the motivation behind the wish to be happy. It reminds me of a
story I read while studying. I'm going to paraphrase here so please forgive
any mistakes.

There was a man traveling down a road while it was raining. He came across a
statue of Lord Buddha. He thought to himself, "The Buddha is getting all wet,
that is not right. I shall cover his head so he doesn't get wet". He took off
his shoe and put it over the Buddha's head.

Now, in those days (and even today in many parts of Asia) the act of putting
something from your feet onto a Buddha's head is very disgraceful. In Thailand
people don't even let their toes point at a statue of Buddha. Many people
would think that man did something very wrong. However, his motivation was to
protect Buddha and that single act was the eventual cause for himself to
become a Buddha.

I am no expert and am just repeating what I have read elsewhere. Hopefully I
did not mess the story up to bad and someone will still benefit.

~~~
safeaim
Here's the story you're referring to: <http://www.bodhitales.org/the-buddha-
statue.php>

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smoyer
That's all fine and dandy, but what about his Midi-chlorians levels? Shouldn't
they focus on what's important?

~~~
adolph
Happy do the midi-chlorians make?

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wallawe
Good article, but it leads you to believe that meditation is the key to his
happiness.

I'm not here to discount the potential benefits of meditation but I think it's
important to keep in mind how much effort the monks put into living an
altruistic life.

Meditation may help bring to the surface subconscious thoughts and feelings,
but the responsibility of taking action and improving negative circumstances
that are realized through meditation is the real chance for improvement.
Meditation without action I would argue is meaningless.

I guess my point is, there is so much much that plays a role in the overall
happiness other than meditation. I read "The Art of Happiness" recently where
an American psychologist interviews the Dalai Lama and juxtaposes western and
eastern schools of thought on the pursuit of happiness. I highly recommend it
if you haven't checked it out before.

~~~
digitalsushi
Meditation that causes an action to not otherwise occur should be counted as
action, or certainly not meaningless.

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yogrish
If we some how view a "3D Spectrogram of Gamma waves" of people across the
globe, then it will have peaks (like Himalayas) in and around Tibet.
Everywhere else, there will be Troughs/Valleys.

~~~
lani
peaks at bhutan too. they have a Happiness Index too

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drewmck
"All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone."
- Blaise Pascal

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jaipilot747
I really would have liked to read more than those few lines about said gamma
waves.

~~~
kbutler
Wish granted: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_wave>

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Mordor
They should test the Dalai Lama too, and unmask the truth.

~~~
lutze
They should test starving African war orphans to see if meditation helps with
their happiness too, or if it's only rich entitled assholes who really really
don't know what the fuck unhappiness is if the best they can come up with is
being "disillusioned" by a bunch of bourgeoisie painters.

Oops sorry, my cynicism slipped out a bit there. Let me just tuck that back
in!

~~~
klibertp
Because these guys:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_monasticism#Monastic_l...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_monasticism#Monastic_life)
are "rich entitled assholes", right? Nice.

~~~
lutze
They're not testing those guys though.

