Help us celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Buddhism, Psychology and Mental Health (BPMH) Program in 2026!
You are invited to a lecture by Dr. Pierce Salguero (Abington College, Penn State University) on Buddhist medicine.
The Buddhist tradition defines itself as a collection of philosophical and practical solutions to ameliorate suffering. Illness is among the chief forms of suffering, and Buddhist traditions worldwide have sought to address this central human problem for millennia. This talk explores the multifaceted tradition of “Buddhist medicine.” It introduces a range of Buddhist ideas, practices, and other cultural and social formations that Buddhists across the world have utilized in seeking health and preventing disease. This body of healing knowledge emerged via centuries of interplay, borrowing, and translation between Asian cultures in the premodern period, and is now practiced all over the world in diverse and locally-specific ways. Salguero argues that the study of “Buddhist medicine” illuminates some persistent biases in how we think about religion and medicine and opens up exciting possibilities for future research.
Dr. Pierce Salguero is a transdisciplinary scholar fascinated by historical and contemporary intersections between health, spirituality, and cross-cultural exchange. He has a Ph.D. in History of Medicine from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (2010), and teaches courses in Asian history, religions, and health humanities at Penn State University’s Abington College, located near Philadelphia. Salguero comes from a bilingual and transnational Latino family with roots in Colombia, Uruguay, Spain, England, and the US. While living in Asia for four years, he trained as a practitioner of Traditional Thai Medicine and participated in extended stays at Buddhist meditation centers and monasteries in Northeast Thailand and India. He is the author of many books, articles and edited volumes on Buddhism and medicine historically and today. He has been the editor in chief of the journal Asian Medicine: Journal of the International Association for the Study of Traditional Asian Medicine since 2016, and he is the producer and host of the Black Beryl podcast.
Organized by Frances Garrett, co-sponsored by HCBS, the BPMH program and the DSR.
