When trying to learn about recent advances in scientific understanding of meditation and how it affects our brain and consequently our emotional well-being, Daniel Goleman and Professor Richard Davidson are the two guys who I would want to have explain it all to me. And there is a fabulous cd or mp3 down load from More Than Sound Productions called “Training the Brain: Cultivating Emotional Intelligence” which is a conversation between Dan and Richard on just that topic.

Daniel Goleman talks about the intersection of traditional contemplative practice and modern science.

Last November, I had coffee with Linda Lantieri, who has an amazing track record for bringing mindfulness and emotional intelligence to kids in really challenging inner city schools. She serves as the Director of The Inner Resilience Program whose mission is to cultivate the inner lives of students, teachers and schools by integrating social and emotional learning with contemplative practice.

I caught up with Dan Goleman recently in New York. Neither of us could think of where to meet, so somehow we ended up at the infamous Olive Garden chain's Time Square Flagship. Well, it is the pinnacle of the Olive Garden experience with views in every direction of the Square. And we discovered they have gluten-free pasta for those of you where that is an issue.

Dan was especially interested in hearing about the whatmeditationreallyis.com meditation program. I posed the following question to him and this was his answer:

Dan Goleman from the 'Wisdom of Awareness' Retreat with Sogyal Rinpoche and Tsoknyi Rinpoche, June 2011 (Garrison Institute, New York), he talks about important meditation research findings, the implications and future possibilities.

Dan Goleman from the 'Wisdom of Awareness' Retreat with Sogyal Rinpoche and Tsoknyi Rinpoche, June 2011 (Garrison Institute, New York), he describes what meditation really is: Attentional Retraining System.

Daniel Goleman speaks candidly about how meditation makes a positive difference in his work as a writer.

So much of our consumerist society’s ability to sell us things is based on how easy it is to capture our attention. We are almost trained to be easily distracted. Speaking to this point is part one of an interview I did with Dan Goleman from the Wisdom of Awareness retreat in June. Here he describes what meditation really is: Attentional Retraining System.

Daniel Goleman speaks candidly about how meditation makes a positive difference in his work as a writer.

Well here it finally is. Daniel Goleman's talk from the Wisdom of Awareness Retreat with Sogyal Rinpoche and Tsoknyi Rinpoche, June 2011, Garrison Institute, New York.

He talks about important meditation research findings, the implications and future possibilities. Interesting stuff, plus Dan is fun to watch. If you are like me and have trouble watching long videos on the computer download the mp3 podcast version of talk and listen the audio on you ipod or any other mp3 compatible device.