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 ..read more

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 Chogkyi If you're looking for a thoughtful gift this holiday season, the book How to Train a Happy Mind, offers simple ..read more

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 sim ..read more

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 Other If you're looking for a thoughtful gift this holiday season, the book Ho ..read more

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 Anger Support the show ..read more

Professor David Kittay talks with Scott Snibbe about whether we should treat AIs with compassion, whether we are living in a simulation, and whether technologically assisted enlightenment might be possible. Dr. David Kittay teaches philosophy, religion, and technology at Columbia University, where his students call his courses life changing. Dr. Kittay is also an author, a translator, and a Tibet House board member. His latest publication is the Vajra Rosary Tantra, available from Wisdom Publications. Episode 77: Buddhism and Technology with Dr. David Kittay Episode 78: Buddhism and Technolog ..read more

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 ..read more

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 Ti ..read more

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 balan ..read more

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] If you're looking for a thoughtful gift this holiday season, the book How to Train a Happy Mind, offers simple, practical way ..read more