Feeling and compassion

"Truly an intellectual delight ... a unique meeting of two spiritual traditions - and two remarkable personalities full of spirit and heart, wrestling with some of humanity's greatest challenges." Daniel Goleman At their first meeting, a remarkable connection developed between His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the world's most revered spiritual leader, and the renowned American psychologist and emotion researcher Paul Ekman. From different perspectives, both have attempted to fathom the nature and peculiarities of our emotional life, and in doing so have entered into an intensive dialog on the relationship between science and spirituality, between Eastern and Western approaches. In an unprecedented series of dialogues, the Dalai Lama and Paul Ekman wrestle for answers to the central questions of emotional experience. Where are the origins of hatred and compassion to be found in culture and evolution? Should a torturer also be met with compassion - and is this even biologically possible? Can science give us answers to the question of the benefits of Buddhist meditation? Can the Buddhist system of thought be translated into exercises that help each individual to lead a better life? The conversation between the two great personalities is enriched in this book with short explanatory texts by scientists and Buddhist scholars who share with us the findings of emotion research and the practices described in Buddhist texts. As the Dalai Lama and Ekman explore the nature of emotion, they also invite us to explore the tools and traditions available to us in the pursuit of psychological fulfillment. Their interplay - amusing, captivating, eye-opening and moving - takes us on a journey to the core of our emotions, from which we emerge transformed.