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Loading... Destructive Emotions: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lamaby Daniel Goleman
None. Listened to audiobook. Found this to be a fascinating account of how "Western" science can now measure the cost of destructive emotions on human life and how Buddhist traditions, along with other religious traditions, have developed considerable practice and techniques for reducing the experience of destructive emotions in one's life. In particular, brain scans of an advanced buddhist monk provided astounding evidence of bodily functions responding to a variety of meditative states. The book is a fairly detailed account of a multi-day conference of presentations by Western academics and response by the Dalai Lama and fellow Buddhist practiioners.  tjcasserly | Aug 3, 2010 |  Basically a book-length report from another Mind and Life conference, this one from 2000, but a fair bit longer and more detailed than the last one I read (Gentle Bridges), in that the narration includes background goings-on, facial expressions, assorted sidetracks and much more extensive reports from the afternoon sessions (mornings were for presentations, afternoons for discussion). The conference focused on craving, anger and delusion: their origins, natures and effects, whether and how they can ever be beneficial, and what people can do about them. Goleman, the Dalai Lama and a bunch of philosophers, Buddhist scholars and various western brain/mind scientists got together for a series of talks and discussions, examining areas where Buddhism could learn from science and vice versa. There was an overriding effort to be practical and constructive — no easy thing when so many of the subjects being examined prompted conceptual and semantic conflict, not just between east and west but within disciplines. Goleman plays up his friend Paul Ekman's personal demons (a temper related back to father issues) a bit heavy-handedly, maybe for dramatic effect, but overall he recounts the experience in good faith. There's also an interesting biographical chapter on Tenzin Gyatso, including an account of his student days. All in all, a very good read. (  ) stancarey | May 21, 2008 | no reviews | add a review
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The book's subject marks the eighth round in a series of ongoing meetings of the Mind Life Institute. The varied perspectives of science, philosophy, and Eastern and Western thought beautifully illustrate the symbiosis among the views, which are readily accessible despite their complexity. Among the book's many strengths is its organization, which allows readers to enjoy the entire five-day seminar or choose sections that are most relevant to their interests, such as "Cultivating Emotional Balance," "The Neuroscience of Emotion," "Encouraging Compassion," or "The Scientific Study of Consciousness." But the real joy is in gaining an insider's view of these extraordinary minds at work, especially that of the Dalai Lama, whose curiosity, Socratic questioning, and humor ultimately serve as the linchpin for the book's soaring intellectual discussion. --Silvana Tropea
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 04 Jan 2013 15:55:08 -0500)
Bringing together ancient Buddhist wisdom and recent breakthroughs in a wide variety of fields from neuroscience to child development, this text offers fresh insights into how we can recognise and transform the destructive emotions that pose grave dangers to our individual and collective fate.… (more)
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