How to Train a Happy Mind

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 Are Enough. Lodro teaches a powerful idea from Tibetan Buddhism called basic goodness, that beneath all our self-doubt, anger, and anxiety, there’s something awake and whole already...

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 equally at ease when we’re alone or when we’re with others. Episode 13: Guided Meditation — Alone Together Join our third annual How to Train a Happy Mind three-day in-person retreat...

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...

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 focused awareness, you’ll gently shift your attention inward to the center of your being, connecting with a deeper level of consciousness often overlooked in daily life. From this st...

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 was just released. Scott got a chance to sit down with both of them last week to have a chat about enlightenment, the benefits of AI, compassion, and Buddhism. Episode 219: C...

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 media.  You can do this at the end of each day: reviewing your day, rejoicing in the positive, and finding ways to sincerely forgive yourself for anything that you regret. This...

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 release regret and pain to face each day with renewed presence and joy. Episode 11: Mental Cause and Effect Join our third annual How to Train a Happy Mind three-day in-person retreat...

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 awareness and reflective phrases, this practice explores how we can care deeply for others while also recognizing the limits of our control over their happiness and suffering. Episode...

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 scientific breakthroughs and spiritual intersections that demonstrate how the power of equanimity allows us to live more fully, with balance and wisdom. In her interview with Scott, they d...

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 and possessions to homes and the natural world, and from thoughts and emotions to perceptions and relationships.  As you learn to welcome impermanence rather than resist it, you buil...

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 in order to let go of fear and anxiety. This way we can become fully present to those around us and more appreciative of life’s fleeting pleasures. Episode 9: Embracing Impermanence T...

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, struggles, and triumphs into hyper-specific “love songs” in the Buddhist sense of wishing others happiness. As he shares the music and the emotional reactions it evokes, Scott reflec...

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, meditation, creativity, and walking away from conventional success.  From Grammy nominations and rockstar fame to lullabies and “sonic totems,” Chris reflects on the inner signals that gui...

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 by asking what is the mind without thoughts?  Where is the space of our consciousness?  And, how finely can we slice moments of consciousness?  Do we ever arrive at a quantum of consc...

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 one, science has no agreed definition for consciousness or mind. Even subjectively, the mind is elusive, difficult to pin to any specific mental experience. Episode 6. What Is the Mind...

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 this episode of How to Train a Happy Mind, I share that terrifying experience and reflect on how an attitude of love and compassion, at least in this one very specific inst...

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 Francisco Bay Area and I was a young Buddhist hoping to learn how to paint devotional images. Since then, Tsherin has become one of the most respected contemporary artists in the wor...

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 evolution. Episode 5: Guided Meditation on The Preciousness of Life Themes: Self-awareness Gratitude Stabilizing the breath How to be happy Loving others Watch this episode on our YouT...

“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 simple joy of another 24 hours alive that Thich Nhat Hanh describes. Episode 4: The Preciousness of Life from Cosmos to the Kardashians In this talk Scott explores: How to appreciat...

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 Tibetan Book of the Dead. Meditating on death is a powerful Buddhist practice that enhances gratitude, helps you embrace impermanence, and increases mindfulness. Laurie Anderson is on...

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 with Laurie’s work, many people consider her one of our planet’s greatest living artists. Her work spans spoken word and performance, top-charting albums and music videos, digi...

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 Join our third annual How to Train a Happy Mind three-day in-person retreat in California's redwoods August 13–16. LEARN MORE If you’d like to practice with others and bring these ideas in...

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 strengthen the positive qualities we all naturally possess: compassion, kindness, generosity, patience, humor, and finding joy in everyday life.  This episode explores this higher purpose of...

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 Buddhist practice. Together, we'll gently guide our awareness through the body, connect with the breath, and reflect on how our mind and body are not separate, but deeply...

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 Scott's main job for most of his life has been as an artist: one who works mostly with computer software and interactive installations. He often jokes that he used to be a...