Buddhism is the collection of teachings, traditions and religions based upon the mind training philosophy as presented by Prince Siddhartha to his community of mendicants, householders and followers over 2500 years ago. Learning it’s history and the practices of meditation passed down through the generations is not as intimidating as it might sound when one is able to ask questions directly of a qualified and fun loving teacher. In this two part podcast Professor Robert A.F. Thurman responds to a series of questions from his long time friend, translator and student of Geshe Wangyal Dr. Alexander Berzin.

Podcast begins by addressing several questions on the topic of Anger and the Buddhist perspective on dealing with and eventually embracing and loving one’s enemies. Professor Thurman discusses his personal experiences on the deceptive nature of the emotion, how it relates to the Christian notion of The Seven Deadly Sins as laid out in his book “Anger“, to the Buddha’s Middle Way and to the Centralist Philosophy of Je Tsongkhapa.

This Question and Answers podcast concludes with a frank discussion of the place of celebrity in modern Buddhism, it’s role in it’s early history, including during the Buddha’s life, the importance of Tibet’s Dalai Lama and of preserving Tibetan Buddhist Culture.

Questioning Buddhism : Angry or Fierce Buddhas – Episode #167 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Fierce Buddha Photo of Vajrayogini via Flickr.com.

To watch the full video versions of these questions from Dr. Alexander Berzin please visit: www.studybuddhism.com.

This podcast is apart of the on going series “Questioning Buddhism” in which Robert A.F. Thurman answers questions from those looking to learn more about the Buddha, his teachings and the history of those people, countries and cultures influenced by his ideas.

To submit your questions to be answered in future podcasts please visit: www.bobthurman.com.