De s truct ve Emot ons Also by Daniel Goleman THE MEDITATIVE MIND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE WO RKING WITH EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE PRIMAL LEADE RS HIP (Coauthor) Previous Books in the Mind and Life Series Gentle Bridges: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism Edited by Jeremy W. Hayward and Francisco J. Varela Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with the DalaiLama on Brain Science and Buddhism Edited by Zara Houshmand, Robert B. Livingston, and B. Alan Wallace Healing Emotions: Conversations with the DalaiLama on Mindfolness, Emotions, and Health Edited by Daniel Goleman Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying: An Exploration of Consciousness with the DalaiLama Edited by Francisco J. Varela Visions of Compassion: western Scientists and Tibetan Buddhists Examine Hu man Na ture Edi ted by Richard J. Davidson and Anne Harrington Th e New Physics and Cosmology Edited by Arthur Zajonc The Mind and Life Institute is producing a video of the meeting described in this book. For further information about this video and the work of the Mind and Life Institute, and to be added to the mailing list of the Mind and Life Institute, please send an email to [email protected] and visit the fo llowing websites: www.MindandLife.org www.InvestigatingTheMind.org Destructive EMOTIONS How Can We Overcome Them? A Scientific Di alogue wit h the Dalai Lallla Narrated by Daniel Golelllan With Contributions by Richard J. Davidson, Paul Ekman, Mark Greenberg, Owen Flanagan, Matthieu Ricard, Jeanne Tsai, the Venerable Somchai Kusalacitto, Francisco J. Varela, B. Alan Wallace, and Thupten Jinpa BANTAM BOOKS Art credits: Photographs on pages 126, 127,and 129, courtesy of Paul Ekman. Diagrams on pages 186, 193,336,and 340, courtesy of Richard Davidson,adapted for this book by the Hadel Studio. Diagrams on pages 317 and 319, courtesy of Antoine Lutz. DESTRUCTIVE EMOTIONS A Bantam Book / January 2003 Published by Bantam Dell A Division of Random House, Inc. New York, New York All rights reserved Copyright © 2003 by The Mind and Life Institute Book design by Patrice Sheridan No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,including photocopying, recording,or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher,except where permitted by law. Bantam Books is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House,Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Goleman, Daniel. Destructive emotions: how can we overcome them? : a scientific collaboration with the Dalai Lama / narrated by Daniel Goleman; with contributions by Richard J. Davidson ... let al.l ; interpretation and translations by B. Alan Wallace and Thupten Jinpa. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-553-80171-6 1. Emotions-Religious aspects. 2. Mental Health-Religious aspects. 3. Emotions and cognition. 4. Spiritual life. 5. Psychology and religion. 1. Title. BL65.E46 G65 2003 294.3'375-dc21 2002033221 Manufactured in the United States of America Published simultaneously in Canada 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 BVG Particip ants (with titles and affiliations at the time of the meeting) Te nzin Gyatso, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D., William James Professor and Vilas Professor of Psychol­ ogy and Psychiatry; director, Laboratory fo r Affective Neuroscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison Paul Ekman, Ph.D., professor of psychology and director of the Human Interaction Laboratory, University of California at San Francisco Medical School Owen Flanagan, Ph.D., James B. Duke Professor and Chair of Philosophy, fellow in cognitive neuroscience, and Allied Professor of Experimental Psychology, Duke University Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., author; cochair of the Consortium fo r Research on Emotional Intelligence in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University Mark Greenberg, Ph.D., Bennett Chair in Prevention Research; professor of human development and fa mily studies; director, Prevention Research Center fo r the Pro­ motion of Human Development, Pennsylvania State University Geshe Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D., president and chief editor fo r the Classics of Tibet Series produced by the Institute ofTibetan Classics in Montreal, Canada The Venerable Ajahn Maha Somchai Kusalacitto, Buddhist monk and assistant ab­ bot, Chandaram Buddhist Monastery; lecturer and deputy rector fo r fo reign affairs, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (MCU), Bangkok Matthieu Ricard, Ph.D., author; Buddhist monk at Shechen Monastery in Kathmandu and French interpreter fo r His Holiness the Dalai Lama viii • Participants Jeanne L. Ts ai, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis and St. Paul Francisco J. Varela, Ph.D., Fondation de France Professor of Cognitive Science and Epistemology at Ecole Polytechnique; director of research, CNRS, Paris; head of the Neurodynamics Unit at the Salpetriere Hospital, Paris B. Alan Wallace, Ph.D., visiting lecturer, Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara IN MEM ORIA M Francisco Va rela September 7, 1946-May 28,2001 • Good morning, my dear fr iend-I consider you a spiritual brother. We have a strong fe el ing of missing you here. So I want to express my deep fe el ings to you, as a brother, fo r your great contributions in science, especially in neu­ rology, in the science of mind, and al so in our work in this dialogue between science and Buddhist thought. We will never fo rget your great contributions. Till my death, I will remember you. -THE DALAI LAMA, May 22, 2001, via private Web TV connection from Madison, Wisconsin, to Francisco Va rela, watching from his bed at home in Paris, where he died sixteen days later Contents Foreword by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama Xlll Prologue: A Challenge fo r Humanity XVll A SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATION 1. The Lama in the Lab 3 2. A Natural Scientist 28 DAY ONE: WHAT ARE DESTRUCTIVE EMOTIONS? 3. The Western Perspective 45 Presenters: Alan Wallace and Owen Fla nagan 4. A Buddhist Psychology 72 Presenter: Ma tthieu Ricard 5. The Anatomy of Mental Affl ictions 87 Presenters: Alan Wallaceand Th up ten Jinpa xii • Contents DAY TWO: FEELINGS IN EVERY DAY LIFE 6. The Universality of Emotion 119 Presenter: Pa ul Ekman 7. Cultivating Emotional Balance 157 Presenter: Th e Venerable Ku salacitto DAY THREE: WINDOWS INTO THE BRAIN 8. The Neuroscience of Emotion 179 Presenter: Richard Davidson 9. Our Potential fo r Change 205 DAY FOUR: MASTERING EMOTIONAL SKILLS 10. The Influence ofCulture 237 Presenter: Jeanne Tsai 11. Schooling fo r the Good Heart 256 Presenter: Ma rk Greenberg 12. Encouraging Compassion 280 DAY FIVE: REASONS FOR OPTIMISM 13. The Scientific Study of Consciousness 305 Presenter: Fra ncisco Varela 14. The Protean Brain 334 Presenter: Richard Davidson Afterword: The Journey Continues 355 Notes 367 About the Participants 379 About the Mind and Life Institute 385 Acknowledgments 393 Index 397 THE DALAI LAMA Foreword Much human suffering stems from destructive emotions, as hatred breeds vi­ olence or craving fuels addiction. One of our most basic responsibilities as caring people is to alleviate the human costs of such out-of-control emotions. In that mission, I fe el that Buddhism and science both have much to con­ tribute. Buddhism and science are not conflicting perspectives on the world, but rather differing approaches to the same end: seeking the truth. In Buddhist training, it is essential to investigate reality, and science offers its own ways to go about this investigation. While the purposes of science may differ from those of Buddhism, both ways of searching fo r truth expand our knowledge and understanding. The dialogue between science and Buddhism is a two-way conversation. We Buddhists can make use of the findings of science to cl arifY our under­ standing of the world we live in. But scientists may al so be able to utilize some insights from Buddhism. There are many fields in which Buddhism can contribute to scientific understanding, and the Mind and Life dialogues have fo cused on several . For instance, when it comes to the workings of the mind, Buddhism has a centuries-old inner science that has been of practical interest to re­ searchers in the cognitive and neurosciences and in the study of emotions, offering significant contributions to their understanding. Following our dis­ cussions, several scientists have gone away wi th new ideas fo r research in their fields. xiv • Foreword On the other hand, Buddhism can learn from science as well. I have of­ ten said that if science proves fa cts that conflict with Buddhist understand­ ing, Buddhism must change accordingly. We should always adopt a view that accords wi th the facts. If upon investigation we find that there is reason and proof fo r a point, then we should accept it. However, a cl ear distinction should be made between what is notfound by science and what is fo und to be nonexistent by science. What science findsto be nonexistent we should all ac­ cept as nonexistent, but what science merely does not find is a completely different matter. An example is consciousness itself. Al though sentient be­ ings, including humans, have experienced consciousness fo r centuries, we still do not know what consciousness actually is: its complete nature and how it fu nctions. In modern society, science has become a primary fo rce in human and planetary development. In this way, scientificand technological innovations have been responsible fo r great material progress. However, science does not have all the answers, any more than rel igion did in the past. The more we pursue material improvement, ignoring the contentment that comes of inner growth, the faster ethical values will disappear from our communities.