The Monk and the Philosopher : A Father and Son Discuss the Meaning of Life Cover
Podcast Mentions

The Monk and the Philosopher A Father and Son Discuss the Meaning of Life

Jean Francois Revel

Jean Francois-Revel, a pillar of French intellectual life in our time, became world famous for his challenges to both Communism and Christianity. Twenty-seven years ago, his son, Matthieu Ricard, gave up a promising career as a scientist to study Tibetan Buddhism -- not as a detached observer but by...

Podcasts 1
Quotes 8
On Being with Krista Tippett

This book documents a dialogue between Matthieu Ricard and his father, exploring Ricard's transition from a promising scientific career to a Buddhist path. Ricard's father's perspective on his son's career change is also discussed.

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My scientific career was the result of a passion for discovery. Whatever I was able to do afterward was in no way a rejection of scientific research, but a rose rather from the realization that such r...

— Episode: Matthieu Ricard — Happiness As Human Flo...

Episode: Matthieu Ricard — Happiness As Human Flourishing

This book documents a dialogue between Matthieu Ricard and his father, exploring Ricard's transition from a promising scientific career to a Buddhist path. Ricard's father's perspective on his son's career change is also discussed.

"

My scientific career was the result of a passion for discovery. Whatever I was able to do afterward was in no way a rejection of scientific research, but a rose rather from the realization that such research was unable to solve the fundamental questions of life and wasn't even meant to do so.

Episode: [Unedited] Matthieu Ricard with Krista Tippett

This book, a dialogue between Matthieu Ricard and his father, was discussed; it highlighted his father's pride in Matthieu's accomplishments and eventual acceptance of his path.

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And there's a book that was published, which was in the form of a dialogue between you and your father, the monk and the philosopher, it was called.

It's really clear that he was very proud of you. He was very proud of what you were accomplishing.

And he was very affected, which I learned later on.

Episode: Matthieu Ricard — Happiness As Human Flourishing

This book documents a dialogue between Matthieu Ricard and his father, exploring Ricard's transition from a promising scientific career to a Buddhist path. Ricard's father initially questioned his son's decision but ultimately expressed pride in his accomplishments.

"

My scientific career was the result of a passion for discovery. Whatever I was able to do afterward was in no way a rejection of scientific research, but arose rather from the realization that such research was unable to solve the fundamental questions of life and wasn't even meant to do so.

you abandoned your career in order to commit yourself completely to Buddhist practice. It seems to me that he felt where you could have pursued this career in science and you could have made discoveries about things that were new. Instead, you went back to something that had been around for thousands of years. I thought that was a waste of potential.

Episode: [Unedited] Matthieu Ricard with Krista Tippett

This book is in the form of a dialogue between Matthieu Ricard and his father. It was discussed how his father was proud of his accomplishments, even though initially he did not understand Ricard's choice to pursue Buddhist practice over science.

"

And there's a book that was published, which was in the form of a dialogue between you and your father, the monk and the philosopher, it was called.

It's really clear that he was very proud of you. He was very proud of what you were accomplishing.

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.