Author Guide · Buddhism & Meditation
Books Written by
In 1967, at twenty-one, a young French biologist travelled to Darjeeling and met the Tibetan teacher Kangyur Rinpoche. Five years later Matthieu Ricard finished his doctorate in cell genetics at the Institut Pasteur and left science for the Himalayas, where he has lived ever since, mostly at Shechen monastery in Nepal. He writes in French; his first widely read book, Le Moine et le Philosophe, came out of ten days of conversation in Nepal with his father, the philosopher Jean-François Revel. Since then he has written on happiness, meditation, altruism and animals, translated Tibetan texts and published books of his photographs. This guide covers every book in order, with the French and English dates, where to start, and how the books were made.
By Lisanne Swart · 11 key books · 1994–2025 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
This guide lists 11 key books by Matthieu Ricard, from The Monk and the Philosopher (1997) to the photography book Lumière (2025), plus 6 more: photo books, later dialogues, a children’s book and his translation of The Life of Shabkar (1994). Almost all were written in French first and reached English one to three years later, so each entry gives both dates. Half of them are conversations with someone else, which shapes how they read.
Where to Start with Matthieu Ricard
If you want the book that sums up his ideas
→ Happiness (2003).
If you have one evening
→ The Art of Meditation (2008).
If you like a conversation more than a treatise
→ The Monk and the Philosopher (1997).
If you want his life story
→ Notebooks of a Wandering Monk (2021).
If you come from science
→ Beyond the Self (2017).
11 Key Matthieu Ricard Books, in Order
The Monk and the Philosopher
Published in French in 1997 as Le Moine et le Philosophe; the English edition, translated by John Canti, followed in 1998. Ricard’s father, the philosopher Jean-François Revel, asks the questions and his son, who had left a career in genetics a quarter of a century earlier, answers them. The two met in Nepal for ten days of conversation, with a final session in Brittany, and the transcript runs to nineteen chapters on Buddhism, Western philosophy, science and politics.
The Quantum and the Lotus
First published in French in 2000 as L’Infini dans la paume de la main (“the infinite in the palm of the hand”); Crown published the English edition in 2001. It is a transcribed and expanded conversation between Ricard and the astrophysicist Trinh Xuan Thuan. They agree on ethics and on the interdependence of all phenomena, and disagree, without forcing a truce, on the origin of the universe, consciousness and whether the cosmos has an underlying order.
Happiness
Published in France in 2003 as Plaidoyer pour le bonheur (“a plea for happiness”); Little, Brown brought out the English edition in 2006, 281 pages. Ricard separates happiness from pleasure: not a passing feeling but a lasting way of being that can be trained, the way a skill is. The book argues that a happier person is also better placed to help others, and the chapters come with meditation exercises.
The Art of Meditation
L’Art de la méditation appeared in France in 2008. Translated by Sherab Chödzin Kohn, it came out in English in 2010 under two titles: The Art of Meditation from Atlantic Books in the UK and Why Meditate? Working with Thoughts and Emotions from Hay House in the US, with a sixty-minute audio recording. It covers the basics plainly: how to sit, how to concentrate, what to do with distractions, and how to practise altruistic love.
Altruism
Published in French in 2013 as Plaidoyer pour l’altruisme; the English translation by Charlotte Mandell and Sam Gordon followed on 2 June 2015, at 864 pages. Where Happiness turned inward, this book turns outward: it sets out to show that genuine altruism exists, and that concern for others could answer problems of the economy in the short term, of life satisfaction in the medium term and of the environment in the long term. It draws on psychology, evolutionary biology and economics as well as Buddhist practice.
A Plea for the Animals
Plaidoyer pour les animaux was published by Allary in 2014; Shambhala issued the English edition, translated by Sherab Chödzin Kohn, in 2016, 341 pages. It extends the argument of Altruism to other species and goes through, with many footnotes and figures, slaughterhouses, industrial fishing, animal experiments, zoos, circuses, bullrings and bears kept in small cages for their bile.
In Search of Wisdom
First published in French in 2016 as Trois amis en quête de sagesse (“three friends in search of wisdom”); Sounds True published the English edition on 19 June 2018. Three friends talk: Ricard, the psychiatrist Christophe André and the philosopher Alexandre Jollien. The chapters move through the ego, emotions, listening, the body, suffering, simplicity, guilt and forgiveness, and daily practice; the three describe themselves as “only travelers in search of wisdom.”
Beyond the Self
Published in 2017 in French by Allary as Cerveau et méditation and in English by MIT Press, 296 pages. The neuroscientist Wolf Singer and Ricard, who holds a doctorate in molecular biology, test each other’s ways of knowing the mind: Singer’s from laboratory measurement, Ricard’s from decades of meditation. The central question is whether the states of mind described by contemplatives can be tied to processes in the brain.
Enlightened Vagabond
Published by Shambhala on 18 July 2017, edited by Constance Wilkinson with a foreword by Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche; a French version, Le Vagabond de l’Éveil, followed in 2018. Ricard gathered the stories over more than thirty years, from oral accounts of living teachers and from written sources, about Patrul Rinpoche, a Tibetan teacher who owned almost nothing and wandered from place to place. Anecdote and teaching alternate.
Notebooks of a Wandering Monk
Published in French in 2021 as Carnets d’un moine errant; MIT Press brought out the English edition, translated by Jesse Browner, on 3 October 2023, 720 pages. It begins in Darjeeling, where Ricard met the Tibetan teacher Kangyur Rinpoche at twenty-one, and follows him from the Institut Pasteur to some fifty years in India, Bhutan and Nepal and more than twenty visits to Tibet. The Dalai Lama, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Desmond Tutu and Jane Goodall appear, along with more than fifty colour photographs.
Lumière
A book of photographs published by Allary on 25 September 2025, drawn from some sixty years behind the camera. The pictures move between scales, from small details of nature to wide landscapes, around one subject: light. The publisher notes that Ricard presses the shutter only when an image seems self-evident; as with his books, the proceeds from his photographs go to Karuna-Shechen.
How Many Books Has Matthieu Ricard Written?
Counts differ because many of his books are dialogues shared with co-authors, several French titles appeared in English under new names (one, L’Art de la méditation, under two), and he has also published photo books and translations from Tibetan. Counting books he wrote alone or in dialogue, plus the main photo books and one major translation, this guide lists 17.
- Written alone — Happiness, The Art of Meditation, Altruism, A Plea for the Animals Read the entries →
- Conversations — The Monk and the Philosopher, The Quantum and the Lotus, In Search of Wisdom, Beyond the Self Read the entries →
- Lives — Enlightened Vagabond, Notebooks of a Wandering Monk Read the entries →
- Photography and translation — Lumière, Motionless Journey, Tibet: An Inner Journey, The Life of Shabkar See the list →
In What Order to Read Matthieu Ricard
There is no series, but three books written alone belong together: Happiness (2003), Altruism (2013) and A Plea for the Animals (2014), each widening the circle of concern, from one’s own mind to other people to other species. The Art of Meditation is the practical companion to all three; in the US it is called Why Meditate?, so do not buy both.
The dialogues can be read in any order. The Monk and the Philosopher is the one to read first, because it explains how a geneticist became a monk; The Quantum and the Lotus and Beyond the Self are for readers who want the science argued out. Notebooks of a Wandering Monk works best last, once the people in it are familiar.
A reading path
1. The Monk and the Philosopher (1997), how he got here, in his father’s questions
2. Happiness (2003), the central argument
3. The Art of Meditation (2008), the practice behind it
4. Altruism (2013), the long version, for others
5. A Plea for the Animals (2014)
6. Notebooks of a Wandering Monk (2021), the life, told in full
Everything Else Matthieu Ricard Published: The Full List
Beyond the 11 key books: 6 more titles, grouped by form.
Open a form with the + to see every book in it.
Photography
3
3 books · 2008–2019
- 2008Motionless Journeyeighty photographs taken over a year’s retreat at the Pema Osel hermitage near Kathmandu, one a week, from the terrace and its surroundings
- 2012Tibet: An Inner Journeydaily life, festivals and what survives of Buddhist culture inside Tibet, in 232 pages and 191 illustrations
- 2019Contemplationforty black-and-white photographs of landscapes and spiritual figures from Tibet, Bhutan and Nepal
Translations from Tibetan
1
1 book · 1994
- 1994The Life of Shabkarthe autobiography of the Tibetan yogi Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol, 738 pages, with a foreword by the Dalai Lama, published by SUNY Press
Quick facts about Matthieu Ricard
- Born
- 15 February 1946, Aix-les-Bains, France
- Parents
- The philosopher Jean-François Revel and the painter Yahne Le Toumelin
- Studied
- Doctorate in cell genetics at the Institut Pasteur, 1972, under François Jacob
- Known for
- A scientist turned Tibetan Buddhist monk who has spent five decades explaining meditation, happiness and altruism to Western readers, and lending his own brain to the research on them
- Lives
- Shechen monastery, Nepal, in the Himalayan region since 1972
- Interpreter
- French interpreter for the Dalai Lama since 1989
- Humanitarian work
- Founded Karuna-Shechen in 2000; all proceeds from his books, photographs and events go to it
- Writes in
- French; most books reach English one to three years later
How Matthieu Ricard Writes: In French, and Often in Conversation
Ricard writes in French, and his books reach English through translators: John Canti for The Monk and the Philosopher, Sherab Chödzin Kohn for The Art of Meditation and A Plea for the Animals, Charlotte Mandell and Sam Gordon for Altruism, Jesse Browner for Notebooks of a Wandering Monk. About half his books are recorded conversations, edited into chapters: with his father, with the astrophysicist Trinh Xuan Thuan, with the neuroscientist Wolf Singer, with the psychiatrist Christophe André and the philosopher Alexandre Jollien. He also translates Tibetan texts, from The Life of Shabkar (1994) to the stories of Patrul Rinpoche.
The same ideas run through all of them: that happiness is a way of being rather than a pleasure, that the mind can be trained like any skill, and that concern for others should reach all sentient beings, animals included. He brings in his own experience as a research subject. In 2004 researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, in work with Richard Davidson, recorded his brain on EEG while he meditated on compassion and found unusually high levels of gamma waves; he has co-authored papers on such studies.
Reviewers have praised the dialogues for not forcing agreement, and criticised the rest for length and occasional neatness. Publishers Weekly found that in The Quantum and the Lotus Ricard “refutes” opposing views a little too neatly; Kirkus called Altruism “an overlong but vigorous gloss” on the Dalai Lama’s remark “My religion is kindness” and faulted some of its claims as imprecise. After the 2004 study the press began calling him “the happiest man in the world”; he calls the label nonsense, asking in a 2023 Guardian interview how anyone could know the happiness of eight billion people, and says it embarrasses him.
Frequently asked questions about Matthieu Ricard’s books
How many books has Matthieu Ricard written?
This guide lists 17: eleven key books, from The Monk and the Philosopher (1997) to Lumière (2025), plus photo books, later dialogues, a children’s book and his translation of The Life of Shabkar (1994). Counts vary because many of his books are shared dialogues and several appeared in English under different titles.
Which Matthieu Ricard book should I read first?
Happiness (French 2003, English 2006) sets out his central argument, that happiness is a skill that can be trained. If you want something shorter, The Art of Meditation is a brief practical guide.
Is Why Meditate? the same book as The Art of Meditation?
Yes. Both are Sherab Chödzin Kohn’s 2010 translation of L’Art de la méditation (2008): Why Meditate? is the US edition from Hay House, The Art of Meditation the UK edition from Atlantic Books.
What is Matthieu Ricard’s newest book?
Lumière, a book of photographs published in French by Allary on 25 September 2025. His most recent prose book in English is Notebooks of a Wandering Monk, his memoir, published by MIT Press in October 2023.
What is The Monk and the Philosopher about?
It is a conversation between Ricard and his father, the French philosopher Jean-François Revel, held over ten days in Nepal and finished in Brittany. Revel questions Buddhism from the standpoint of Western philosophy and Ricard answers. It appeared in French in 1997 and in English, translated by John Canti, in 1998.
Why is Matthieu Ricard called the happiest man in the world?
The label came from the press after a 2004 study in which his brain was recorded on EEG while he meditated on compassion and showed unusually high levels of gamma waves. Ricard rejects it: in a 2023 Guardian interview he called the idea nonsense, asked how anyone could know the happiness of eight billion people, and said it embarrasses him.
Who is Matthieu Ricard?
A French Tibetan Buddhist monk, author and photographer, born on 15 February 1946 in Aix-les-Bains. He earned a doctorate in cell genetics at the Institut Pasteur in 1972 under François Jacob, then settled in the Himalayas. He has been the Dalai Lama’s French interpreter since 1989 and in 2000 founded Karuna-Shechen, the humanitarian organisation that receives the proceeds of his books.
Footnotes
- About Matthieu Ricard — matthieuricard.org
- Books — matthieuricard.org
- Karuna-Shechen — official site
- The world’s happiest man? (The Guardian, 2023) — reposted on matthieuricard.org
- The Monk and the Philosopher, review — Anthony Campbell
- The Quantum and the Lotus — Publishers Weekly
- Happiness — Publishers Weekly
- Why Meditate — NetGalley (Hay House)
- The Art of Meditation — Atlantic Books
- Altruism — Kirkus Reviews
- Omnivore’s blog: the experience of a translator (A Plea for the Animals) — Shambhala
- In Search of Wisdom — Porchlight Books (Sounds True details)
- Review: Beyond the Self — Lion’s Roar
- Enlightened Vagabond — Shambhala Publications
- Notebooks of a Wandering Monk — Tenlong (MIT Press details)
- The Life of Shabkar — SUNY Press
Bibliography last verified 7 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
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