Dealing With Difficult People

This week, James, a good friend of mine in the buddhoblogosphere asked for suggestions on how to deal with mean people these days. It’s a touching post, one I’m sure we all can relate to. But he asks for specifically non-Buddhist books that might help with this. While I can think of a dozen Buddhist books right off the top of my head, nothing specifically non-Buddhist comes to mind.

Then, today, I stumbled across this video. Now, yes, it is Ajahn Brahm (pretty Buddhist). But if you close your eyes and disregard a few specific mentions about monks and monasteries, his advice comes across as exceptionally clear and commonsensical and not particularly, well, “Buddhist.”

Here are at least a half dozen different strategies for dealing with mean/difficult people, with examples from his own life. Have a watch, or a listen: