Anger, Anxiety & Death: How Buddhism Deals with the Big Issues [S5.E43]

Greg interviews Phra Pandit, the resident Bangkok Podcast
expert on all things Buddhism, about negative emotions such as
anxiety and anger and how Buddhism deals with them. Displaying
his deep knowledge of Western psychology, Phra Pandit begins
first by discussing the Freudian approach to anxiety, which
separates out reasonable negative emotions from neuroticism,
which is defined as anxiety that is irrational or inappropriate
given the context. 


Greg brings up the sometimes casual attitude that Thais
seem to have towards death, and Phra Pandit explains that the
Buddha taught his followers to contemplate death and even
encouraged monks to meditate in cemeteries and in close proximity
to corpses. By addressing the issue of our physical death so
directly, Buddhism aims to give us perspective on day to day
annoyances, such as getting coffee that's lukewarm instead of
hot. :)


The old friends continue with a wide ranging discussion of
the differences between how westerners and Thais deal with
traumatic events and negative emotions, and Phra Pandit weaves
his general knowledge of human psychology in with his very deep
and specific knowledge of Thai culture and Buddhism.


Don't forget that Patrons get the ad-free
version of the show as well as swag and other perks.
And we'll keep our Facebook,
Twitter, and LINE
accounts active so you can send us comments, questions, or
whatever you want to share.