Matthieu Ricard
Buddhist Monk, Author and Translator
Matthieu Ricard is a Buddhist monk, author, translator and photographer, born in France in 1946. He completed a doctorate in molecular genetics at the Pasteur Institute in 1972 and then left science for the Himalayas, becoming a close student and attendant of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He has lived in the region ever since and resides at Shechen Monastery in Nepal. Since 1989 he has accompanied the Dalai Lama as his French interpreter, and he takes an active part in scientific research into the effects of meditation. He gives the proceeds of his books to Karuna-Shechen, the humanitarian association he co-founded in 2000, which runs projects across the Himalayas.