On Maurice Benard’s State of Mind this week, Benard and his guest Thaao Penghlis (Days, GH) had a riveting conversation about cancer, depression, suicide, podcasting, history, and life as a Daytime actor.
To open State of Mind going forward, Maurice Benard will address a topic of someone’s state of mind, which according to him could be anything from anxiety and depression to the willingness to exercise. He addressed suicide rates that have been on the incline since the Covid-19 shutdowns.
Thaao Penghlis, the Emmy award-winning actor, has gone through quite the ordeal since the onset of the pandemic as well. Learning he had colon cancer, Penghlis was put on a path of understanding his value to the world and the amount he still had to accomplish.
While never feeling directly scared of his mortality while battling cancer, although the treatment weakened his body quite a bit, Thaao Penghlis spent time wondering what the purpose of the cancer was, not necessarily whether or not he would survive. It was getting the call saying he had been nominated for an Emmy for Best Actor that made him realize how much life was left ahead of him and the value of living it.
Benard and Penghlis discussed the depth of the understanding of existence one can achieve through perseverance and meditation. They included stories and anecdotes on their own experiences and the experiences of people they know that illustrated the difference between a substantial versus superficial experience.
Benard admits to trying to reign in his ego, as he realizes it is the source of some dark thoughts and feelings he experiences. Penghlis understands the perspective and confesses that love might be the answer to getting past your worst impulses and “when the party begins in life.”
Benard wonders why his ego still gets him, and like a wise sage, Thaao advises that Maurice hasn’t gotten past it yet. He tells Benard that he has a wonderful spirit, but he still has inner work that needs to be done.
Thaao Penghlis speaks to his belief that it is the spirit that you take with you “on the other side.” He wonders if people have difficulty seeing the “most evolved” people because their light is too bright, they have to dim it in order for us to see them. We require evidence for everything.
Benard breaks from the seriousness of the conversation with a sequence of “stupid questions” for Thaao such as “have you ever seen Robert Redford’s love handles?” which is connected to an uncomfortable experience he had with Redford in New York twenty years prior.
Rounding things out with a conversation about classic Hollywood, their career and experience as an actor, and Thaao’s new podcast regrading impactful, lesser known historical adventures called Lost Treasures.
Maurice Benard’s State of Mind releases a new episode every Sunday on YouTube.
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