A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment brings the inner science of Buddhist meditation to twenty-first century people hungry for happy, meaningful lives. It is a secular approach to meditation that requires no belief beyond our current understanding of science and psychology. Skeptic’s Path meditations are based on powerful analytical meditation techniques that use imagination, emotions, and critical inquiry to probe our inner and outer realities and expand our compassion. These Tibetan Buddhist mind training techniques expand on the popular mindfulness approach to meditation to help us better understand our minds from the inside out, and build healthy mental habits that are the true causes of happiness. Each week in discussions, guided meditations and interviews, we explore the vast variety of analytic meditation topics including love, compassion, sleep, tonglen, vipassana, stress, the body, meditation posture, anger, anxiety, addiction, grief, forgiveness, patience, confidence, loneliness, work, relationships, and more.
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The A Skeptic's Path to Enlightenment podcast has truly exceeded my expectations in expanding my knowledge of meditation, self, and Buddhism. I am incredibly grateful for the amazing work that the hosts are doing, as it has had a profound impact on my understanding and well-being. This podcast offers deep and quality explorations into how Buddhism intersects with the modern world, providing practical guidance and even guided meditations that have helped me find peace within my own mind. It is the perfect resource for anyone interested in Buddhism, consciousness, happiness, love, meditation, or general well-being. The ideas and concepts presented are thought-provoking and presented with clarity, making it easy for listeners to connect with and apply them to their own lives. The guest interviews are also exceptional, adding even more depth to the podcast's content. I haven't missed an episode and continuously recommend it to anyone who can benefit from its wisdom.
One of the best aspects of this podcast is how it seamlessly blends traditional Buddhist teachings with modern scientific perspectives. While the title may initially suggest a thoroughly secularized form of Buddhism, I appreciate how the podcast maintains a strong connection to Tibetan Buddhist tradition while incorporating scientific research. This unique approach adds richness and depth to the teachings and guided meditations provided. Additionally, the delivery of these teachings is excellent - they are presented in a concise yet profound manner that allows listeners to grasp complex concepts easily. The guided meditations are particularly noteworthy as they provide a sense of intimacy and immediacy not commonly found in recorded meditations.
While this podcast offers incredible value overall, one potential drawback is that it may not cater to those seeking a strictly secularized approach to Buddhism. The grounding in Tibetan Buddhist tradition may be off-putting for some individuals who prefer a more stripped-down or scientifically-focused approach. However, for those open to exploring different perspectives and finding connections between spirituality and science, this podcast provides an invaluable resource.
In conclusion, The A Skeptic's Path to Enlightenment podcast is an important and enlightening resource for anyone interested in meditation, self-discovery, and Buddhism. It offers a unique blend of traditional teachings and modern scientific perspectives, presented with clarity and thoughtfulness. The guided meditations are powerful tools for finding peace within oneself, and the guest interviews add further depth to the content. Overall, this podcast has had a significant impact on my understanding and appreciation of meditation and Buddhism, and I highly recommend it to anyone seeking personal growth and enlightenment.
"I'll tell you something. I've learned it's hard work to be happy." Brian WilsonIn this special retreat episode, Scott Snibbe guides us through the full path to a happy mind—from appreciating the simple miracle of being alive to confronting our deepest mental habits and reconnecting with our capacity for kindness, meaning, and change.It's not a quick fix or a life hack. It's the whole path. And it might just shift how you see the world.Episode 192: The Complete Path to a Happy MindFrom August 28 to 31, Scott Snibbe is leading an in-person meditation retreat at Vajrapani Institute. We'll explore antidotes to anxiety, fear, and loneliness—and cultivate the deeper causes of a happy mind; connected, loving relationships; and a better world. It all happens in the beautiful redwood forests of California, while enjoying delicious vegetarian meals and meeting thoughtful new friends.SIGN UP NOWSupport the show
Dr. Larry Ward—student of Thich Nhat Hanh and author of America's Racial Karma—leads a short but powerful breath awareness meditation.Episode 191: 5-Minute Breath Awareness MeditationFrom August 28 to 31, Scott Snibbe is leading an in-person meditation retreat at Vajrapani Institute. We'll explore antidotes to anxiety, fear, and loneliness—and cultivate the deeper causes of a happy mind; connected, loving relationships; and a better world. It all happens in the beautiful redwood forests of California, while enjoying delicious vegetarian meals and meeting thoughtful new friends.SIGN UP NOWSupport the show
Scott talks with Dr. Larry Ward, a student of Thich Nhat Hanh, and author of America's Racial Karma. His book is about how we heal from the trauma of racism, not just as a society, but in our own minds and bodies. In our conversation, Dr. Ward shares a profound truth: racism is a fiction, but one with very real consequences, and it lives not only in the structures of our society, but in our thoughts, our speech, and our nervous systems.Episode 190: Healing America's Racial Karma with Larry WardSupport the show
Who am I? From the Buddhist perspective, there's a systematic way of asking this question of who you are in the form of a meditation on the ultimate nature of the self, or "emptiness." This meditation is said to be the strongest antidote to our disturbing states of mind and a cause for greater self-awareness, happiness, and connection with others.Episode 43: Guided Meditation — The Interdependent SelfSupport the show
Are you your body? Are you your mind? Are you a collection of thoughts, memories, and neural connections that could be uploaded into a computer to live forever? Or are you an old-fashioned soul? This episode probes the nature of the self using the Buddhist notion of emptiness, searching for the partless, independent, unchanging "I" that ordinarily appears to us, and finding a self that's far richer and interconnected with reality and with others.Episode 42: Who am I?Support the show
Susan Piver leads a short breath awareness meditation in this week's podcast episode. If you were to go down the Buddhist path, you would start with this practice before starting with visualizations, guru yogas, mantras, mandala practices. It's a simple practice that is suitable for all.Episode 189: Mindfulness Awareness Meditation with Susan PiverSupport the show
This year, we're using the framework of Buddhism's Six Perfections to guide most of our episodes. Our last one with returning guest and activist Kazu Haga, focused on patience or not returning harm. This week, another favorite of the podcast is back, Susan Piver. She and I talk and riff on her new book, Inexplicable Joy, which explores one of Buddhism's most famous and mysterious texts, the heart sutra. This profound text is all about the perfection of wisdom, emptiness, and the ultimate interdependent nature of reality. Fully realizing this is said to lead to the inexplicable joy that gives Susan's book its name. Join us to hear her unique take on a text she's been reciting for 30 years and discover her fresh, modern, and sometimes surprising ways of understanding words written nearly 2,000 years ago. Episode 188: Inexplicable Joy—On the Heart Sutra & Buddhism Without Belief with Susan PiverSupport the show
The Buddhist understanding of how things exist, called emptiness, breaks objects down into parts, causes, and a mind that bundles them into the illusion of a solid, singular, unchanging entity. When we apply this analysis to an iPhone, we see that it is made up of almost all the elements in the periodic table, and is connected to thousands of hours of hard labor and the entire history of our civilization, planet, and universe.Episode 39. The Interdependent Nature of RealitySupport the show
When the world feels like it's unraveling, how do we come back to ourselves?In this gentle, grounding guided meditation, activist and educator Kazu Haga invites us to sit beside our fear—not to fix or push it away, but to witness it with compassion. Through breath, body, and the ground beneath us, we rediscover a quiet strength that endures even in chaos.This episode is more than a meditation. It's a refuge. A place to reconnect with your essential self, to hold space for the parts of you that feel overwhelmed, and to find peace not by escaping the world, but by grounding more deeply within it.Episode 187: From Panic to Peace: A Guided Meditation with Kazu Haga Support the show
This week, Scott is joined by transformative activist and restorative justice advocate Kazu Haga to discuss his new book, Fierce Vulnerability, which rethinks nonviolence as a path to healing and connection. In a world fueled by division, Kazu challenges the idea of winning against an enemy and asks: What if resistance wasn't about force, but about vulnerability? If you've ever questioned whether conflict itself is keeping us stuck, this conversation is for you.Episode 186: Beyond Us vs Them: Transforming Society Through Fierce Vulnerability with Kazu Haga Support the show
Objects around us ordinarily appear as if they are solid, singular, and separate from us. However, both science and the Buddhist understanding of reality show us that as we examine things more closely, they exist far more subtly and richly than they appear. This meditation focuses on an object most of us have strong feelings toward—our smartphone—breaking it apart into its myriad parts, and giving us a meditative glimpse of how it truly exists.This episode is the second in a series exploring the Buddhist topic of “emptiness,” or how things exist through parts, causes, and the minds that perceive them.Episode 38: Meditation on How Things ExistSupport the show
The Buddhist view on reality, called emptiness, combines the awe of scientific knowledge with the inner, experiential knowledge that comes from meditation and critical reasoning to arrive at a feeling of interconnectedness. The first in a seven-art series on Buddhism's view of dependent origination looks at how objects exist using the example of that most modern wonder and addiction, our smartphone.Episode 37: How Things ExistSupport the show
Settle into a mindful state and engage with your phone in this conscious exercise with digital wellness expert Jay Vidyarthi. Use this guided meditation to deeply and mindfully investigate your phone with clarity.Episode 185: How to Use Your Phone Mindfully: A Guided Meditation for Digital Wellness—Jay VidyarthiSupport the show
Are you in control of your technology, or is it controlling you?In this episode of How to Train a Happy Mind, we sit down with Jay Vidyarthi, author of Reclaim Your Mind, a powerful new book released today that offers a radical yet deeply practical approach to reshaping our relationship with technology.Jay's insights go beyond the usual advice to put your phone away. He helps us uncover the emotional needs beneath our compulsive tech habits and shows us how to reclaim our focus, relationships, and well-being. He also leads a meditation unlike anything I've ever experienced, guiding us through a transformative practice to reset our digital instincts.If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the constant pull of screens, notifications, and social media, this conversation is for you. Episode 184: How to Build a Healthy Relationship with Technology–Jay Vidyarthi on Digital WellnessSupport the show
What can Buddhism teach us about how Bitcoin works & why it's so valuable? What can Bitcoin teach us about emptiness, the interdependent nature of reality? Find out in this episode with Scott Snibbe!Episode 70: Bitcoin and BuddhismSupport the show
Meditate on the four types of generosity according to Buddhism, giving material objects, providing protection, teaching the Dharma, and spreading love. It has an emphasis on the generosity that we may or may not show to homeless people. It's part of a year-long series on what we call the Six Perfections, six practices of Mahayana Buddhism that lead one to, they say, a state of limitless happiness. The meditation is done in a way that you don't need to be a Buddhist or have any Buddhist beliefs, just like all the others in our program. Episode 183: Meditation on GenerositySupport the show
Scott shares lessons about generosity that he learned from Buddhism, college girlfriend, mother, and those struggling with homelessness.This year, most of the episodes are centered around what Buddhism calls the six perfections: generosity, morality, patience, joyful effort, calm abiding, and special insight into the ultimate nature of reality, also known as emptiness. These six practices are centuries-old altruistic ways of thinking, speaking, and acting in the world that evolve our minds (and the minds of the people we touch) toward happiness, better relationships, and a better world. Episode 182: A Buddhist Take on Homelessness & GenerosityIf you're looking for a thoughtful gift this holiday season, the book How to Train a Happy Mind, offers simple, practical ways to create a happier mind, fulfilling relationships, and a better world. Combining timeless Buddhist wisdom with modern science, it's a funny, accessible guide to letting go of anger, craving, and fear while cultivating genuine fulfillment.Support the show
A guided meditation on “universalizing,” a Tibetan Buddhist mind training technique for transforming our everyday problems and pleasures through love and compassion.Episode 32. Guided Meditation: Universalizing our Problems and PleasuresIf you're looking for a thoughtful gift this holiday season, the book How to Train a Happy Mind, offers simple, practical ways to create a happier mind, fulfilling relationships, and a better world. Combining timeless Buddhist wisdom with modern science, it's a funny, accessible guide to letting go of anger, craving, and fear while cultivating genuine fulfillment.Support the show
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 with a delicious meal, life's problems and pleasures can bring anger, guilt, and sadness. The meditation technique of “universalization” transforms our everyday experiences of pleasure and pain into engines of love and compassion.Episode 31: Universalizing: Transforming Pain and Pleasure into Love and CompassionIf you're looking for a thoughtful gift this holiday season, the book How to Train a Happy Mind, offers simple, practical ways to create a happier mind, fulfilling relationships, and a better world. Combining timeless Buddhist wisdom with modern science, it's a funny, accessible guide to letting go of anger, craving, and fear while cultivating genuine fulfillment.Support the show
Esteemed Buddhist teacher and scholar Dr. Jan Willis leads two meditations on emptiness in this episode. One focuses on the emptiness of the I, this pronoun, this belief that we have that we exist, that there is an I who is Jan Willis. And the other meditation is about the nature of the mind itself. She shares the analogy that the mind and the nature of the mind is like the sky. And this "I" is an adventitious, delusional, negative and harmful cloud in that sky. But we need to be able to notice it and notice where it exists and whether or not it exists in a solid way that we think it does. Episode 181. Two Meditations on Emptiness with Dr. Jan WillisIf you're looking for a thoughtful gift this holiday season, the book How to Train a Happy Mind, offers simple, practical ways to create a happier mind, fulfilling relationships, and a better world. Combining timeless Buddhist wisdom with modern science, it's a funny, accessible guide to letting go of anger, craving, and fear while cultivating genuine fulfillment.Support the show
To kick off the new year we're thrilled to welcome back one of our most beloved guests, Dr. Jan Willis, a trailblazing scholar, inspiring practitioner and powerful storyteller. Dr. Willis guides us through the six perfections: generosity, morality, patients, joyful effort, concentration and wisdom. Profound practices that were once closely guarded, secret teachings. In this episode, Dr. Willis offers a heartfelt introduction to these transformative ideas, weaving in stories from her own remarkable life. She shares insights she's learned directly from the world's most revered Buddhist masters. reflects on navigating and resisting the racism she faced growing up in the segregated south. And she shares her insights as one of the foremost Western practitioners and scholars of Buddhism. And that's just the beginning. Throughout this year, we'll dive deeper into each of these six perfections with inspiring interviews, meditations and discussions. If you're ready to discover how ancient wisdom can meet modern challenges. You're in the right place. Episode 180. What Are the Six Perfections? Dr. Jan WillisIf you're looking for a thoughtful gift this holiday season, the book How to Train a Happy Mind, offers simple, practical ways to create a happier mind, fulfilling relationships, and a better world. Combining timeless Buddhist wisdom with modern science, it's a funny, accessible guide to letting go of anger, craving, and fear while cultivating genuine fulfillment.Support the show
Today's meditation focuses on self-compassion, inspired by the teachings of Dr. Kristin Neff. Known as the "self-compassion break," this practice is designed to be quick, accessible, and deeply grounding—perfect for those moments when life feels overwhelming. By bringing mindfulness, common humanity, and self-kindness into focus, this meditation offers a practical way to navigate challenges with grace and care. Episode 179: Meditation on Self-Compassion with Tenzin ChogkyiIf you're looking for a thoughtful gift this holiday season, the book How to Train a Happy Mind, offers simple, practical ways to create a happier mind, fulfilling relationships, and a better world. Combining timeless Buddhist wisdom with modern science, it's a funny, accessible guide to letting go of anger, craving, and fear while cultivating genuine fulfillment.Support the show
We are closing out the year with a special guest, Tenzin Chogkyi—a longtime Buddhist practitioner, teacher, and former nun ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. With decades of experience in both inner growth and social justice, Tenzin brings profound wisdom and a unique perspective. This episode explores self-compassion and how building a loving relationship with oneself creates the foundation for a meaningful, joyful life.Episode 178: Self-Compassion with Tenzin Chogkyi If you're looking for a thoughtful gift this holiday season, the book How to Train a Happy Mind, offers simple, practical ways to create a happier mind, fulfilling relationships, and a better world. Combining timeless Buddhist wisdom with modern science, it's a funny, accessible guide to letting go of anger, craving, and fear while cultivating genuine fulfillment.Support the show
Today's episode features a transformative meditation known as "Exchanging Self." Originally shared with the Train a Happy Mind community, this practice has deep roots in Tibetan Buddhism. For nearly a thousand years, it remained a closely guarded tradition, recently made accessible to all. If this meditation resonates with you, consider joining the Train a Happy Mind community, which gathers on Sunday mornings. Participation is open to everyone, either for free or by donation.Episode 177: Exchanging Self with OtherIf you're looking for a thoughtful gift this holiday season, the book How to Train a Happy Mind, offers simple, practical ways to create a happier mind, fulfilling relationships, and a better world. Combining timeless Buddhist wisdom with modern science, it's a funny, accessible guide to letting go of anger, craving, and fear while cultivating genuine fulfillment.Support the show
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' suffering, but actively wishing to take it away.Episode 28. What Is Compassion?If you're looking for a thoughtful gift this holiday season, the book How to Train a Happy Mind, offers simple, practical ways to create a happier mind, fulfilling relationships, and a better world. Combining timeless Buddhist wisdom with modern science, it's a funny, accessible guide to letting go of anger, craving, and fear while cultivating genuine fulfillment.Support the show
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, metta or maitri.Episode 26. Guided Meditation on LoveIf you're looking for a thoughtful gift this holiday season, the book How to Train a Happy Mind, offers simple, practical ways to create a happier mind, fulfilling relationships, and a better world. Combining timeless Buddhist wisdom with modern science, it's a funny, accessible guide to letting go of anger, craving, and fear while cultivating genuine fulfillment.Support the show
NPR's Laura Sydell talks with Scott Snibbe about his book, How to Train a Happy Mind, at The Battery in San Francisco. They discuss interdependence (or emptiness) at length and also how great movies and comedians, like Jerry Seinfeld, can capture Buddhism's insights into how to live happy lives. Episode 176: NPR's Laura Sydell Talks with Scott SnibbeIf you're looking for a thoughtful gift this holiday season, the book How to Train a Happy Mind, offers simple, practical ways to create a happier mind, fulfilling relationships, and a better world. Combining timeless Buddhist wisdom with modern science, it's a funny, accessible guide to letting go of anger, craving, and fear while cultivating genuine fulfillment.Support the show
Love is complex in our culture, tied up with finding a single person to satisfy our huge list of needs and dreams who we then grant the exclusive gift of our affection. But love—loving-kindness from the Buddhist perspective—is simpler, free from attachment. It's wishing others to be happy.Episode 25: What Is Love?Support the show
The recent U.S. election has left our country more divided than ever, with Donald Trump elected as the next president. Whether this news fills you with hope or despair, today's episode offers a fresh perspective on how we can respond with curiosity, compassion, and a commitment to finding common ground even when it feels impossible.Scott shares his personal reflections on nonviolence, the deeper motivations that drive us all, and how you can still recognize the fundamental goodness in everyone, even those you vehemently disagree with. Through meditation and thoughtful exploration, you'll learn to soften your anger with equanimity, transform criticism into compassion, and uncover the ways your mind shape your experience of reality.Episode #175: Compassion for our Country: Meditations for Healing After a Divisive Election Support the show
Kazu Haga leads a powerful guided meditation for letting go of anger and other negative emotions based on the principles of nonviolence. Haga, a renowned nonviolence and restorative justice trainer, combines analytical meditation, visualization, breathwork, and mindfulness meditation to cultivate loving-kindness, inner peace, and compassion.Episode 174: Meditation on Nonviolence with Kazu Haga We've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the show
Kazu Haga's book, Healing Resistance, explains that nonviolence isn't just refraining from harm, but a sophisticated six-step strategy that begins with research and dialogue and ends, most importantly, with reconciliation. He explains that the purpose of nonviolence is not just to create a change we desire in the world, but to heal relationships and enrich our sense of connectedness, respect, and interdependence with all beings. Kazu graciously took time off from raising his five-month-old child to speak about why nonviolence works and how to counter the common objections to nonviolence. Scott and Kazu also talk about healing from the violence in their own families, and strategies for ending the seemingly intractable wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. Episode 173: Does Nonviolent Protest Work? Kazu HagaWe've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the show
This episode is in honor and celebration of the life of Greg Hillis.Christian Scholar Greg Hillis speaks of the parallels between Christianity and Buddhism, the possibility of universal love, mystical experiences that break through to the beauty and interconnectedness of reality, and social activism that respects—and even loves—those we disagree with.Episode 108: Universal Love in Christianity & Buddhism with Greg HillisWe've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the show
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 anger toward enemies for a stabler, happier mind and a more just and equitable world.Episode 23: Guided Meditation: Transforming Bias with EquanimityWe've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the show
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 freedoms: we're all equal and we all deserve happiness. The Buddhist meditation on equanimity, applied to our everyday relationships and the painful daily news, teaches us a technique of “spiritual democracy” for developing healthy feelings of connection to others—even those we most despise.Episode 22. Spiritual DemocracyWe've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the show
This powerful guided meditation for letting go of negative emotions with Paula Chichester helps cultivate love, mindfulness, and inner peace. Whether you're a beginner or deepening an existing meditation practice, this session invites you to take deep breaths, visualize love, and be fully present, embracing the flow of life with mindfulness.Episode 172: Loving Yourself, Loving Others, & Letting Go—Paula ChichesterWe've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the show
The ancient word yogi, or yogini in its female form, refers to someone who's dedicated their life to inner transformation through meditation. They often spend years or even decades in solitary retreat. Scott's teacher and friend Paula Chichester is one of the vanishingly few modern people who has chosen to live such a life of isolation and inner adventure. In this conversation, Paula talks about balancing the inner development fostered by meditation with the outer transformation of social action. She talks about the joys and challenges of long-term retreat and the practicalities of how to pay for it, how to find support, and how to cheer yourself up with a one-person party when things get tough. Episode 171: Diary of a Yogini with Paula ChichesterWe've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the show
The ancient word yogi, or yogini in its female form, refers to someone who has dedicated their life to inner transformation through meditation. They often spend years or even decades in solitary retreat. My teacher and friend Paula Chichester is one of the vanishingly few modern people who has chosen to live such a life of isolation and inner adventure. It was my honor recently to speak with her about her life's journey. In our conversation, Paula talks about balancing the inner development fostered by meditation with the outer transformation of social action, the joys and challenges of long-term retreat and the practicalities of how to pay for it, how to find support, and how to cheer yourself up with a “one person party” when things get tough.Episode 171: Diary of a Yogini with Paula ChichesterWe've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the show
Scott speaks with artist and musician Laurie Anderson at New York's Tibet House about Scott's new book, How to Train a Happy Mind. They discuss how the tools of analytical meditation have helped them cultivate lives of meaning and satisfaction, and foster transformation and even joy through tragedy.For those of you unfamiliar with her work, Laurie Anderson is one of our greatest living artists. Her work includes spoken word and performance, top charting albums, music videos, digital art, film, virtual reality, and the invention of ingenious instruments like the tape bow violin and the talking stick. Laurie has won the Grammy Award and many other honors, and her artwork is regularly shown in major museums and galleries worldwide.Episode 170: Stories We Tell Ourselves—Laurie Anderson & Scott Snibbe at Tibet HouseWe've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the show
Dostoevsky once said, “The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he's in prison.” This is the point of meditating on renunciation: to gain a clear-eyed sense of our state of mind right now, with many moments of frustration and anger and impatience and craving: feelings that we'd rather be free from. And turning away from these delusions toward liberation, a the true source of refuge that we can find within our own mind.Episode 18. Guided Meditation - Renunciation Four years ago, we created A Skeptic's Path to Enlightenment to share the rich tradition of Tibetan Buddhist analytical meditation in a form that requires no belief beyond what science currently accepts. The first 40 episodes of the podcast gradually go through all of these topics, in order, beginning with appreciating the gift of our life and our place in the universe, and gradually moving up to cultivating boundless compassion for all beings and understanding the ultimate nature of our inner and outer realities. Over the next year, interspersed with new interviews, we are re-releasing updated versions of these topics.Support the show
What do The Matrix and Jerry Seinfeld have to do with renouncing suffering?Episode 17. The Red Pill of Renunciation: Embracing Reality As It IsFour years ago, we created this podcast to share the rich tradition of Tibetan Buddhist analytical meditation in a form that requires no belief beyond what science currently accepts. The first 40 episodes of the podcast gradually go through all of these topics, in order, beginning with appreciating the gift of our life and our place in the universe, and gradually moving up to cultivating boundless compassion for all beings and understanding the ultimate nature of our inner and outer realities. Over the next year, interspersed with new interviews, we are re-releasing updated versions of these topics.We've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the Show.
Dr. Cornel West combines a formidable intellect with an enormous heart and an unceasing drive for social justice that transcends his multiple identities as an academic, author, philosopher, theologian, political activist, social critic, and public intellectual. Many of you even know him as an actor for his brief, but memorable appearances, in The Matrix films. Of course, Dr. West is also an independent candidate in this year's U.S. Presidential Election. Scott spoke with Dr. West a couple of weeks ago about compassionate leadership, nonviolence, social and economic justice, and the balance between inner and outer transformation that he believes is required to truly steer the world toward the thriving of all human beings and all life on earth. Episode 169: Dr. Cornel West: Truth, Justice, and LoveWe've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the Show.
A couple of months ago, Scott Snibbe was in New York City for a conversation with Paul Miller at The Rubin Museum for the release of his recent book, How to Train a Happy Mind. Paul is an old friend who'd be famous enough for his incredible pioneering work with collage hip hop music as DJ Spooky, but he has so many other identities as an author, public intellectual, and artist.Episode 168: DJ Spooky + Snibbe at the Rubin MuseumWe've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the Show.
For this week's episode, we're sharing a recent meditation Scott Snibbe led for our new Train a Happy Mind community on letting go of suffering. Every Sunday morning, he leads a meditation on one of the topics from How to Train a Happy Mind. Sometimes he also expands into other topics or leads practices relating to current events. This topic's chapter is called Am I the Most Important Person in the Universe?In this talk and its meditation, Scott touches on how our own delusions of anger and attachment connect to the bigger problems in the world, like war and the activists working to stop it. He also shares some thoughts on what he's learned about how to be an effective activist from the book America's Racial Karma; and how racism, sexism, and colonialism connect to what Buddhists understand as the core delusion of pride.Episode 167: Freeing Ourselves from Suffering Anger, Craving, Pride, and WarWe've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the Show.
Do each of us believe deep down that we're just a little bit more important than everyone else? My happiness, my goals, my relationships? The root cause of our suffering from the Buddhist perspective is this belief, a delusion called ignorance, seen as the true source of all our suffering: from disappointment in the face of life's setbacks, to the dissatisfaction we can feel even when we get exactly what we want. It's a retelling of the Buddha's very first teaching, The Four Noble Truths: on suffering, its causes and antidotes, with a modern twist.Episode 15. Am I More Important Than Everyone Else in the Universe?We've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the Show.
Venerable Thubten Chodron offers a Buddhist meditation to help work through anger in a compassionate and loving manner.Episode 166: Ven. Thubten Chodren Meditation on AngerFrom August 8-11, I'm leading an in-person three-day retreat at California's Vajrapani Institute. There, in the heart of California's redwood forest, we'll go through all of the analytical meditation topics from How to Train a Happy Mind, one by one. I'll give lectures and guide meditations on each topic, and we'll also have plenty of time for questions and group discussions. Learn more here.Support the Show.
Several years ago, I read Venerable Thubten Chodron's book, Working with Anger, and I found it quite inspiring. A couple of months ago, her schedule finally allowed time to speak with me. We talked exclusively about anger, what it is, why it's harmful, and how we can work with anger in ways that heal relationships, rather than destroy them. She touches on anger's role in some of the most challenging situations, like gender bias and war protests, and how we can deal with these situations courageously and skillfully. Venerable Thubten Chodron is an author, teacher, and the founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey, one of the first Tibetan Buddhist training monasteries for Western monks and nuns in the U.S. She teaches worldwide and is known for her practical and entertaining explanations of how to apply Buddhist teachings in daily life. She's the author of many excellent books on Buddhist philosophy and meditation. Venerable Chodron is currently co-authoring, with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, an extraordinary multi-volume series of teachings on the Buddhist path, The Library of Wisdom and Compassion. Episode 165: Venerable Thubten Chodron on Working with AngerFrom August 8-11, I'm leading an in-person three-day retreat at California's Vajrapani Institute. There, in the heart of California's redwood forest, we'll go through all of the analytical meditation topics from How to Train a Happy Mind, one by one. I'll give lectures and guide meditations on each topic, and we'll also have plenty of time for questions and group discussions. Learn more here.Support the Show.
Tenzin Chogkyi talks to Scott Snibbe about his new book, How to Train a Happy Mind, at the Medicine for Nightmares bookstore in San Francisco.Episode 164: Tenzin Chogkyi & Scott Snibbe Medicine for Nightmares SF How to Train a Happy MindWe've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the Show.
What do you do when you're alone? When you're scared, anxious, lonely, afraid, or feeling strong craving? In our guided meditation, we explore the Buddhist view on refuge and how to find a deep source of strength and peace within our own minds.Episode 112: Finding Refuge in the Mind—A Guided MeditationWe've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the Show.
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 feel balanced or whole. We'll examine the Buddhist view on this subject that reveals a deep source of strength and support within our own minds accessible to each of us any time we need it.Episode 14: What do You do When You're Alone? [re-record]We've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the Show.
Venerable Robina Courtin guides a beautiful Tara meditation on hope that uses visualization and Buddhist teachings.Episode 163: Tara Meditation on Hope—Ven. Robina CourtinWe've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the Show.
Our very first podcast guest, Venerable Robina Courtin is back in today's timely episode on how to deal with the despair and hopelessness many people feel today about war, injustice, inequity, and the environment. Venerable Robina was ordained as a Buddhist nun in the late 1970s. She's worked closely with her teachers Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, to help spread Buddhist wisdom as an editorial director of wisdom, publications, editor of Mandala magazine, executive director of Liberation Prison Project, and the lively, charismatic touring-teacher of Buddhism. Episode 162: How to Heal Despair with Venerable Robina CourtinWe've just launched a new online community where Scott Snibbe leads weekly live meditations for the topics shared in our podcast and How to Train a Happy Mind book. Anyone is welcome to join for free or by donation. Visit our new community website at trainahappymind.org to sign up, take classes, attend special events, and meet fellow students.Support the Show.
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