“The mind is malleable,” Mr Ricard told The Independent on Sunday yesterday. “Our life can be greatly transformed by even a minimal change in how we manage our thoughts and perceive and interpret the world. Happiness is a skill. It requires effort and time.”

From:
The happiest man in the world?

There is nothing new here - just a resounding reminder that our minds are tools to be used to experience this wonderful world around us.

Tools take skill to use properly. Complex tools take greater skill to achieve greater outcomes.

The bigger message is one of hope… we are not slaves to our past. Through meditation and coming to presence, we gain great liberation from all the acquired habits of the mind.

If you are one of the many of us that seem to repeat failed patterns in your life… this is a message to tune into. The mind is malleable. You can learn how to be happy.

It might be harder than taking a pill, but the the results are real, and these ancient truths are increasingly being recognized by modern science.