Two of my heroes, the Dalai Lama and Paul Ekman, hit it off and decide to have a conversation that they turn into a book. All respect to these two extraordinary gentleman, but the book is not a success. The problem lies in the gulf between Ekman the scientist concerned about observable phenomena, and the Dalai Lama, concerned about human suffering. They don't really talk the same language, so most of the book is spent with these two giants circling each other trying to figure out a way to connect. Ekman is one of the founding geniuses of modern body language research, specifically on how to read emotion and tell when people are lying. The Dalai Lama is, well, the Dalai Lama. I did learn something about Ekman's difficult upbringing, which possibly inspired him to do his groundbreaking research into the manifestation of human emotion, and that thrilled me, but then he's one of my heroes. I really enjoyed this book, it helped me to see how I deal with my own emotions and gives not only a scientific reason but a Buddhist perspective on emotions like anger, compassion, etc. I would recommend reading this if you want to get a better sense of your own emotions and how you handle them, and also if you'd like to learn about ways to handle your emotions better (i.e. with less destructive results, mostly with anger). Plus the Dalai Lama is fantastic.
What do You think about Felicità Emotiva (2008)?
Just what I needed to read. Maybe you can get insight when you read or listen to this book.
—kay19
lots of aha moments in this book. Very interesting. Highly recommended.
—Melissa
