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