In this episode, I spoke with Pierce Salguero, Ph.D., about his new book Buddhish: A Guide to the 20 Most Important Buddhist Ideas for the Curious and Skeptical, published this year by Beacon Press. Pierce is a Professor of Asian History and Religious Studies at Pennsylvania State University, and is Editor-in-Chief of Asian Medicine: Journal of the International Association for the Study of Traditional Asian Medicine. Pierce received his PhD in the History of Medicine at at John Hopkins School of Medicine, his Masters of East Asian Studies at the University of Virginia. He is a transdisciplinary scholar who is fascinated by historical and contemporary intersections between Buddhism, medicine, and cross-cultural exchange. He is a prolific scholar and has a fascinating background that includes a former career as a practitioner of Traditional Thai Medicine, along with having been a monastic for a few years in the Thai Buddhist Forest tradition.
We had a fascinating discussion about his new book Buddhish – and how approaches this topic in ways that offer newcomers – both those curious and the skeptics – a way to get tour-bus ride of the vast terrain of Buddhist philosophical ideas and practices across various schools and traditions. I enjoyed my conversation with Pierce and I think you will as well.