Most Helpful Customer Reviews
57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fascinating and practical, July 11, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Destructive Emotions: How Can We Overcome Them?: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama (Audio CD)
I've never written a review before; but when I saw that nobody else had commented on this audio book (the four cd set), I wanted to enter an emphatic endorsement of it. I have read many books on psychology, religion and emotions. This book integrates all of them. I was originally interested the influence of meditation on controlling stress and negative emotions. That information is here and it is very compelling. (Consequently, I have also ordered many meditation and guided imagery tapes as well). But there is so much more in this book... so much interesting information, it's hard to even know where to start. I will try to give a couple of examples. For one, the panel of scientists had enlisted the help of a buddhist monk, who had meditated for years, in some of their experiments in emotional reactions. They have one study where they take an individual and measure their reaction to a very loud, startling noise. In 35 years of doing this experiment, everyone had measured some response in terms of the movement of their facial muscles. I believe they said the group who showed the least "startle" reflex was body guards who had worked for the white house... until they tested this monk. He apparently did not register any reaction similar to previous experiments. He said he was able to hear the loud noise as if it were a bird flying across the sky. The objective of these various experiments was to see if there was a link between some of the practices of Buddhism on controlling some of the negative emotions that people experience. This also sparked an interest in learning more about the Buddhist philosophy (though I'm a Christian, I believe many of the principles are the same). The Buddhists emphasize compassion - for self and others; and they also practice loving kindness, and mindfulness, which (based on my recent understanding) is to pay close attention to all aspects of life. In their meditations, they sometimes focus on breath, sometimes on putting yourself in the place of others (to instill compassion) and just in general, noticing the emotional and physical states of your body - where there is stress, etc. Another interesting fact they gave was that after suffering a trauma, children from a Buddhist culture are able to have a significantly quicker "recovery time" than children of any other culture, indicating that the cultivation of this gentle view of the world creates more adaptability and understanding. Finally, they gave some examples of how certain members of the scientific panel had developed programs for school children - to help them better control emotions. They also give a lot of information on the brain and what changes occur under stress and other conditions, and what effect this can have on emotion. I may not be able to do the material justice, but my impression every time I listen to it is that it is the most fascinating book I've ever read (or heard). I have gone back to listen to several passages more than once, and I'm sure I will listen to the whole thing again too. The information is too valuable to skim over. But it is presented in a way that is easy to follow. There is so much practical advice to be gained. It also seems like there were genuinely altruistic motives for pursuing these questions, in part based on the tragic world events in recent years. You get the sense that these scientists are hoping to make the world a better place. That also seems to be the goal of Buddhism, in addition to living in a more peaceful state of being in one's own life. The conversations with the Dalai Lama are also impressive.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fascinating and practical, July 11, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Destructive Emotions: How Can We Overcome Them?: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama (Audio CD)
I've never written a review before; but when I saw that nobody else had commented on this audio book (the four cd set), I wanted to enter an emphatic endorsement of it. I have read many books on psychology, religion and emotions. This book integrates all of them. I was originally interested the influence of meditation on controlling stress and negative emotions. That information is here and it is very compelling. (Consequently, I have also ordered many meditation and guided imagery tapes as well). But there is so much more in this book... so much interesting information, it's hard to even know where to start. I will try to give a couple of examples. For one, the panel of scientists had enlisted the help of a buddhist monk, who had meditated for years, in some of their experiments in emotional reactions. They have one study where they take an individual and measure their reaction to a very loud, startling noise. In 35 years of doing this experiment, everyone had measured some response in terms of the movement of their facial muscles. I believe they said the group who showed the least "startle" reflex was body guards who had worked for the white house... until they tested this monk. He apparently did not register any reaction similar to previous experiments. He said he was able to hear the loud noise as if it were a bird flying across the sky. The objective of these various experiments was to see if there was a link between some of the practices of Buddhism on controlling some of the negative emotions that people experience. This also sparked an interest in learning more about the Buddhist philosophy (though I'm a Christian, I believe many of the principles are the same). The Buddhists emphasize compassion - for self and others; and they also practice loving kindness, and mindfulness, which (based on my recent understanding) is to pay close attention to all aspects of life. In their meditations, they sometimes focus on breath, sometimes on putting yourself in the place of others (to instill compassion) and just in general, noticing the emotional and physical states of your body - where there is stress, etc. Another interesting fact they gave was that after suffering a trauma, children from a Buddhist culture are able to have a significantly quicker "recovery time" than children of any other culture, indicating that the cultivation of this gentle view of the world creates more adaptability and understanding. Finally, they gave some examples of how certain members of the scientific panel had developed programs for school children - to help them better control emotions. They also give a lot of information on the brain and what changes occur under stress and other conditions, and what effect this can have on emotion. I may not be able to do the material justice, but my impression every time I listen to it is that it is the most fascinating book I've ever read (or heard). I have gone back to listen to several passages more than once, and I'm sure I will listen to the whole thing again too. The information is too valuable to skim over. But it is presented in a way that is easy to follow. There is so much practical advice to be gained. It also seems like there were genuinely altruistic motives for pursuing these questions, in part based on the tragic world events in recent years. You get the sense that these scientists are hoping to make the world a better place. That also seems to be the goal of Buddhism, in addition to living in a more peaceful state of being in one's own life. The conversations with the Dalai Lama are also impressive.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Neuroscience meets Buddhism with fascinating results!, June 15, 2007
This review is from: Destructive Emotions: How Can We Overcome Them?: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama (Audio CD)
Destructive Emotions is a fascinating look at the human mind from the perspectives of both leading Western scientists and Buddhist scholars. Modern neuro-science and psychology meet Buddhism in a world wide scientific conference, with the goal of decreasing destructive emotions in the mind, and in society at large. The book gives interesting background information on the Dalai Lama's scientific life, which is fascinating and informative. The book provides an excellent and accessible overview of the very new discovery in neuroscience dubbed "plasticity of the brain" - the finding that neural connections in the brain are not fixed but rather changing throughout a lifetime. Buddhist meditation masters are examined with technological tools such as EKG's and MRI's. The results are truly astounding. It appears that meditation actually changes the structure of the brain, increasing neural connections and activity in the parts of the brain that experience happiness, contentment and positive emotions. This group of scholars sets out to examine how these practices could be applied to society at large to help mitigate the destructive emotions which plague humans on this planet. While the book starts of strong and extremely engaging, it does eventually devolve, much like the meeting it is describing, into a more disorganized group of questions and brainstorming that goes beyond the scope of one conference, or one book. By the second third of the book the more interesting ideas are rehashed to the point of redundancy and it is hard to hold interest. I have read this book in print form, and would recommend that over the audiobook. There is a lot of information useful to reference, which is hard to do in audiobook format without the aid of an index.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
