At first Richie’s lab found it impossible to get the cooperation of the most highly experienced yogis. But when Matthieu Ricard, a seasoned yogi himself with a PhD in biology, assured his peers their participation might be of benefit to people, a total of twenty-one yogis agreed. Matthieu, in an innovative collaboration with Richie’s lab, helped design the experimental protocol. The next yogi to come to the lab, Mingyur Rinpoche, was also the one with most lifetime hours of practice—62,000 at the time. When he meditated on compassion there was a huge surge in electrical activity in his brain
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