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Brain Scans Find Buddhist Monk’s Happiness Linked to Activity

8/15/2026

Summary

Story summary

Brain scans show Buddhist monk Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche has unusually high left prefrontal cortex activation linked to happiness.
At age 41, his brain activity resembled that of a typical 33-year-old.
In 2011 he left his monastery at night with only his clothes, later suffering severe food poisoning and paralysis.
He advises turning off devices when boredom signals overstimulation, meditating amid noise, catching brief anger, and helping others to raise happiness.

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Story summary

Brain scans show Buddhist monk Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche has unusually high left prefrontal cortex activation linked to happiness.
At age 41, his brain activity resembled that of a typical 33-year-old.
In 2011 he left his monastery at night with only his clothes, later suffering severe food poisoning and paralysis.
He advises turning off devices when boredom signals overstimulation, meditating amid noise, catching brief anger, and helping others to raise happiness.