Podcasts · Religion & Spirituality · Health & Fitness

How to Train a Happy Mind

Scott Snibbe

300 episodes

The How to Train a Happy Mind podcast brings meditation to modern people hungry for happy, meaningful lives. Each week, host Scott Snibbe and his guests share powerful mind training techniques that go beyond mindfulness to harness our intelligence, emotions, and imagination. Learn how to build a happy mind, fulfilling relationships, and a better world through a secular approach to meditation that is based on modern science and psychology, yet grounded in the authentic thousand-year old Tibetan Buddhist tradition of analytical meditation. How to Train a Happy Mind is a project of the nonprofit Skeptic's Path to Enlightenment. Our host, Scott Snibbe, is a twenty-five-year student of Tibetan Buddhism whose teachers include His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Snibbe is the author of the popular How to Train a Happy Mind book, and leads meditation classes and retreats worldwide infused with science, humor, and the realities of the modern world.

Episodes page 1 of 6

  1. Universalizing: Transforming Pain and Pleasure into Love and Compassion #31 [rebroadcast]

    · 24 min

    One of the most powerful Tibetan Buddhist mind training techniques is universalizing, a practice that transforms everyday pains and pleasures into profound meditations. From arguing with the family to stuffing yourself…

  2. Awakening Your Inner Source of Compassion Meditation | Dr. Shireen Mansouri

    · 11 min · Episode 233

    When we're going through difficult moments, it's easy to feel alone in our struggles or to be hard on ourselves. But compassion is a quality we can cultivate, not only for others, but also for ourselves. In this gentle…

  3. Should I Meditate With My Doctor? | Shireen Mansouri #232

    · 39 min · Episode 232

    What if your doctor could help you feel better just by being more present? Scott Snibbe talks with Dr. Shireen Mansouri, a Canadian physician and teacher with the Compassion Institute, about how meditation and…

  4. Compassion Meditation #29 [rebroadcast]

    · 16 min

    A 15-minute guided meditation on compassion: the wish to take away others’ suffering. Episode 29. Guided Compassion Meditation If you’d like to practice with others and bring these ideas into your life, join our…

  5. What is Compassion? #28 [rebroadcast]

    · 26 min

    Compassion is starting to rival mindfulness as the next most popular up-and-coming form of secular meditation. But what is compassion? Compassion, from the Buddhist perspective, is not just empathizing with others’…

  6. A Compassion Meditation for Difficult Moments — Aproteem Choudhury #231

    · 13 min · Episode 231

    In this episode, Aproteem Choudhury offers a gentle compassion meditation for those moments when something difficult is asking for our attention. Rather than turning away from discomfort or trying to fix it, this…

  7. Compassion Means We're Not Alone — Aproteem Choudhury #230

    · 41 min · Episode 230

    Can compassion make loneliness less convincing? Aproteem Choudhury, Program Director of Health at The Compassion Institute, explores how compassion can transform the way we relate to loneliness, trauma, and suffering.…

  8. How Compassion Helps Us Through High-Stress Situations—Stephen Butler #229

    · 43 min · Episode 229

    What does compassion look like when we’re facing intense stress, trauma, or pressure? In this episode, we talk with Stephen Butler, Executive Director of the Compassion Institute, about how we can strengthen our innate…

  9. Guided Meditation on Love #26 [rebroadcast]

    · 22 min

    A guided meditation on love, or loving-kindness, the expansive form of love, wishing happiness not only to friends and family but to all beings everywhere, including our enemies. In the language of Buddhism, it is…

  10. What is Love? #25 [rebroadcast]

    · 22 min

    Love is complex in our culture, tied up with finding a single person to satisfy our huge list of needs and dreams, whom we then grant the exclusive gift of our affection. But love—loving-kindness from the Buddhist…

  11. Healthy Masculinity: A Meditation on Sex, Strength, and Love #228

    · 32 min · Episode 228 · Explicit

    A guided meditation led by Scott Snibbe on healthy masculinity, exploring sexuality, strength, compassion, self-acceptance, and emotional connection to help men feel more whole, grounded, and deeply connected with…

  12. Sex, Strength, and Love: Karen Brody on Modern Masculinity #227

    · 43 min · Episode 227 · Explicit

    Karen Brody has a unique perspective on modern masculinity, intimacy, and sexuality. She explores why men and women can misunderstand each other, how sexual confidence differs from neediness, what keeps love alive over…

  13. Guided Meditation: Transforming Bias with Equanimity #23 [rebroadcast]

    · 20 min

    The Buddhist meditation on equanimity teaches a technique to eliminate bias and expand our love and concern from family and friends to strangers and even enemies. It tames our fierce attachment to loved ones and our…

  14. Spiritual Democracy #22 [rebroadcast]

    · 30 min

    In everyday life, we’re torn between fierce attachment to our loved ones and anger at those that give us trouble. But Buddhism, democracy, and social justice tell us that all people deserve the same rights and…

  15. Meditation to Cultivate Hope for the Future | Geshe Legtsok #226

    · 28 min · Episode 226

    When uncertainty and bad news pull the mind toward pessimism, how can we cultivate genuine hope without ignoring reality? In this guided meditation, Geshe Legtsok leads a reflection on gratitude, good fortune,…

  16. Is This Actually the Best Time to Be Alive? — Geshe Legtsok #225

    · 41 min · Episode 225

    What if we've been looking at the modern world all wrong? Despite the headlines, extreme poverty has plummeted, knowledge is more accessible than ever, and ancient meditation practices are spreading across the globe.…

  17. The Determination to Be Free - Guided Meditation on Renunciation #18 [rebroadcast]

    · 25 min

    Dostoevsky is often credited with saying, “The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he's in prison.” The practice of renunciation begins by recognizing the ways we're already…

  18. The Red Pill of Renunciation: Embracing Reality as It Is #17 [rebroadcast]

    · 28 min

    What do The Matrix and Jerry Seinfeld have in common with Buddhist wisdom? In this episode, Scott explores the practice of renunciation—not giving up life's pleasures, but letting go of the mistaken belief that lasting…

  19. Remembering Robert Thurman: Psychonaut, Scholar, and Friend #224

    · 1 h 08 min · Episode 224

    Following the passing of Robert Thurman, we wanted to revisit one of our favorite conversations with the beloved scholar, teacher, and pioneer who helped bring Tibetan Buddhist wisdom to the modern world. A former…

  20. Our Best Possible Future—Kim Stanley Robinson #223

    · 59 min · Episode 223

    So many of us get lost in terror about humanity’s future, but how often do we ask, “What’s our best possible future?” Bestselling author and climate activist Kim Stanley Robinson joined Scott on Earth Day this year for…

  21. Letting Go of Suffering - a Guided Meditation #16 [rebroadcast]

    · 28 min

    This is a clear-eyed meditation on suffering: both what suffering is, and the mental source of suffering in our delusions of attachment, anger, and self-centered ignorance. We practice the antidotes to these…

  22. Am I More Important Than Everyone Else in the Universe #15 [rebroadcast]

    · 39 min

    Do we each secretly believe we matter just a little more than everyone else? That my happiness, my ambitions, my relationships carry greater weight? From a Buddhist perspective, this deeply ingrained belief is the…

  23. You Are Enough Meditation with Lodro Rinzler #222

    · 16 min · Episode 222

    In this guided meditation, Lodro Rinzler leads you through a gentle practice of mindfulness, emotional awareness, and reconnecting with your basic goodness. Beginning with simple breath awareness, this meditation helps…

  24. You Are Good, You Are Enough with Lodro Rinzler #221

    · 46 min · Episode 221

    What if that voice telling you you’re broken or fundamentally flawed is wrong? That’s the radical message of today’s guest, Buddhist teacher and best-selling author Lodro Rinzler. His new book is called Your Good, You…

  25. Guided Meditation: Alone Together #13 [rebroadcast]

    · 33 min

    The essence of meditation is getting to know yourself alone, without social stimulus, entertainment, or reputation—what we truly are deep inside ourselves. There, we can find in our mind a place of satisfaction that’s…

  26. What Do You Do When You're Alone? #14 [rebroadcast]

    · 28 min

    What do you do when you’re alone? When you’re scared, anxious, lonely, or afraid, when you feel strong craving? What do you turn to? In this episode, we look at where our mind runs when we feel pain, when we don’t…

  27. Preciousness of Human Life Form: A Guided Meditation with Robert Thurman #220

    · 11 min · Episode 220

    This guided meditation by Tibetan teacher Dr. Robert Thurman invites you to explore one of the most profound ideas in contemplative practice: the rarity and potential of being human. Through breath, visualization, and…

  28. Can AI Teach Happiness? Meet Dharma Bob: Robert Thurman’s AI Avatar #219

    · 1 h 01 min · Episode 219

    Can an AI really teach us how to have a happy life? Robert Thurman, one of the most respected Buddhist scholars, thinks it's possible—and he's testing out the idea with an AI avatar of himself called Dharma Bob that…

  29. Guided Meditation—Mental Cause and Effect #12 [rebroadcast]

    · 24 min

    This is a guided meditation for self-reflection, so you can take control of the mental cause and effect that's normally unconscious: the habits and activities conditioned by evolution, our upbringing, society, and the…

  30. Mental Cause and Effect #11 [rebroadcast]

    · 33 min

    Evolution, habits, and society all affect our behavior. How do we gain conscious control of our behavior, much less our thoughts? One method is a daily practice of self-appreciation and self-forgiveness that lets us…

  31. Equanimity Meditation for Balance and Rest with Margaret Cullen #218

    · 15 min · Episode 218

    In this guided meditation, mindfulness teacher Margaret Cullen leads us into the practice of equanimity: the steady, balanced heart that can remain open in the midst of life’s constant change. Through gentle breath…

  32. Feel More, React Less with Margaret Cullen #217

    · 37 min · Episode 217

    Meditation teacher and licensed psychotherapist Margaret Cullen recently published her book, Quiet Strength: Find Peace, Feel Alive, and Love Boundlessly Through the Power of Equanimity. In this book she reveals…

  33. Impermanence Meditation #10 [rebroadcast]

    · 21 min

    A guided meditation on impermanence that invites you to soften fear and ease anxiety by opening to the natural flow of change in every part of life. Together we explore change at every scale of reality, from particles…

  34. Embracing Impermanence #9 [rebroadcast]

    · 24 min

    We cling to things as if they won’t change, but change is the nature of reality. When we embrace impermanence, we prepare ourselves for changes (big or small). In this episode, we explore how to embrace impermanence…

  35. Generative Love: Using AI to Turn Lives Into Song #216

    · 34 min · Episode 216

    Scott Snibbe explores an unexpected intersection of AI, music, and love. After discovering the generative music platform Suno, he created deeply personalized songs for members of his family—turning their life stories,…

  36. Music, Imagination, and Meditation with Chris Ballew (Caspar Babypants) #215

    · 52 min · Episode 215

    Scott Snibbe sits down with Chris Ballew—frontman of The Presidents of the United States of America and beloved children’s artist Caspar Babypants—for a wide-ranging and deeply personal conversation about music,…

  37. Guided Meditation: What Is the Mind? #7 [rebroadcast]

    · 28 min

    This guided meditation takes us through different ways of observing the mind, first examining its ever-present parts: perception, feeling, will, and awareness. Then we explore the nature of subjective reality itself…

  38. What Is the Mind? #6 [rebroadcast]

    · 19 min

    If the mind is our thoughts, then what is it that observes those thoughts? What are we without thoughts? Do we ever truly see an object, or only its mental reconstruction? Though we are all convinced that we have…

  39. What Would You Do If Someone Pulled A Gun On You? Training the Mind for Nonviolence and Compassion in Crisis #214

    · 49 min · Episode 214

    What would you do if someone pulled a gun on you? I don't think any of us really know until we're actually put into that situation. Many years ago, someone pulled a gun on me and I was surprised by how I responded. In…

  40. Art & Emptiness: Tsherin Sherpa on Tradition, Identity, & Freedom #213

    · 1 h 25 min · Episode 213

    Tsherin Sherpa is a remarkable Himalayan artist who draws on Buddhist iconography to explore sexuality, gender, consumerism, and identity. I first met him 25 years ago, when he was teaching thangka painting in the San…

  41. Guided Meditation: The Preciousness of Life #5 [rebroadcast]

    · 16 min

    A guided meditation on the preciousness of our next 24 hours alive and our unique place in the universe as science understands it: intelligent, self-aware beings at the end of 14 billion years’ cosmic and biological…

  42. The Preciousness of Life, From Cosmos to the Kardashians #4 [rebroadcast]

    · 19 min

    “It is not more surprising to be born twice than once,” Voltaire once said. In this episode we contemplate the miracle of existing at all, from our place at the end of our universe’s 14 billion years’ evolution to the…

  43. Guided Death and Rebirth Meditation with Laurie Anderson #107 [rebroadcast]

    · 22 min

    Laurie Anderson leads a meditation on death and rebirth, guiding you through the Buddhist understanding of death, the bardo, and a joyous rebirth. These tracks come from Songs from the Bardo, an album inspired by the…

  44. Laurie Anderson's Buddhism, Art, Meditation, and Death as Adventure [Full Uncut Interview] #212

    · 1 h 01 min · Episode 212

    One of our most popular episodes of all time is our interview with artist and musician Laurie Anderson. Today, we're sharing a new, unedited version with almost a half hour of additional material. For anyone unfamiliar…

  45. Meditation on Stabilizing the Mind and Watching Thoughts #3 [rebroadcast]

    · 31 min

    A complete guided meditation session expanding your compassion, stabilizing concentration on the breath, and observing your thoughts. Episode 3: Guided Meditation: Stabilizing the Mind and Watching Thoughts If you’d…

  46. What Is Meditation? #2 [rebroadcast]

    · 34 min

    Over the past few years meditation has become popular as a way to help reduce stress, be focused at work, sleep better, or simply relax. Yet meditation isn’t just a tool to improve focus or relax, but a way to…

  47. Meditation on the Subtle Body #211

    · 30 min · Episode 211

    In this meditation, we explore the subtle body, the energetic connection between body and mind, through the lens of Tibetan Buddhism. It's part of a broader conversation we've been having about art, embodiment, and…

  48. Scott Snibbe's Buddhist Art: Hidden Geometries #210

    · 1 h 00 min · Episode 210

    We're in the middle of a small series of episodes right now on Buddhism and art, and this one is about our host, Scott Snibbe. Not everyone who listens to this podcast or who’s read How to Train a Happy Mind knows that…

  49. Rethinking Thanksgiving: A Buddhist Perspective #209

    · 39 min · Episode 209

    In the United States, we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday this week. It’s a time that brings up a variety of challenges for many people: family conflicts, political disagreements, concerns about overeating, and the…

  50. What Is A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment? #1 [rebroadcast]

    · 18 min

    Five years ago, we created A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment (now called How to Train a Happy Mind) to share the rich tradition of Tibetan Buddhist analytical meditation. We take a secular approach to meditation that…

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