
How to Train a Happy Mind
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.
Latest episodes

Aug 3, 2021 • 41min
Buddhism and Technology with Dr. David Kittay (Part 1) #77
Dr. David Kittay joins the show to talk about whether technologically assisted enlightenment is possible, the nature of time, whether our phones and our social media accounts have become part of ourselves, and how to deal with tech addiction. Dr. 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 From 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

Jul 27, 2021 • 38min
Loving Our Parents, Loving Our Children #76
Host Scott Snibbe offers a touching personal talk and meditation on how to best love our parents and our children using powerful Buddhist teachings and techniques on understanding, listening, and compassion.Episode 76: Loving Our Parents, Loving Our ChildrenFrom 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

Jul 20, 2021 • 11min
10-Minute Meditation to Relax the Mind with Dza Kilung Rinpoche #75
Tibetan Buddhist Lama Dza Kilung Rinpoche leads a 10 minute meditation to relax into the vast spaciousness of heart and mind.Episode 75: 10-Minute Meditation to Relax the Mind with Dza Kilung RinpocheThe extraordinary Tibetan Buddhist Lama and teacher Dza Kilung Rinpoche talked to us in Episode 74 about his short yet profound book, The Relaxed Mind. In this episode, he leads us in a guided meditation to open the mind. Dza Kilung Rinpoche was born in 1970 and is head of Tibet's Kilung Monastery, which he has been working to reestablish as a center of learning and practice since he was a teenager. Since 1998, Rinpoche has taught all over the world and we spoke with him from his home on Whidbey Island near Seattle, Washington. From 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

Jul 13, 2021 • 49min
The Relaxed Mind with Dza Kilung Rinpoche #74
Tibetan Buddhist teacher Dza Kilung Rinpoche shares seven meditation practices for a relaxed mind, heart, and body.The extraordinary Tibetan Buddhist Lama and teacher Dza Kilung Rinpoche talks to us in this episode about his short yet profound book, The Relaxed Mind. This book is the culmination of his decades teaching in the west, where Rinpoche has condensed the vast array of topics in Tibetan Buddhist meditation into seven brief meditations we can easily practice. In our interview, he explains the sequence in depth and why it's so appropriate for the Western mind. Dza Kilung Rinpoche was born in 1970 and is head of Tibet's Kilung Monastery, which he has been working to reestablish as a center of learning and practice since he was a teenager. Since 1998, Rinpoche has taught all over the world and we spoke with him from his home on Whidbey Island near Seattle, Washington. Episode 74. The Relaxed Mind with Dza Kilung RinpocheFrom 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

Jul 6, 2021 • 46min
Guided Meditation: 7 Steps to Compassion with Ven. Gyalten Lekden #73
Buddhist monk Ven. Gyalten Lekden guides a Seven-Fold Cause and Effect Meditation to develop compassion and Bodhicitta (the mind of awakening)Episode 73. Guided Meditation: 7 Steps to Compassion with Ven. Gyalten Lekden Listen to the interview with Ven. Gyalten here: Engaged Buddhism with Ven. Gyalten LekdenFrom 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

Jun 29, 2021 • 40min
Engaged Buddhism with Ven. Gyalten Lekden #72
Buddhist monk Ven. Gyalten on engaged Buddhism that actively grapples with social injustice, gender inequality, climate change, and racism.Episode 72. Engaged Buddhism with Ven. Gyalten LekdenFrom 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

Jun 22, 2021 • 23min
Guided Meditation: How Money Exists #71
A 20-minute guided analytical meditation on how money exists through parts, causes, and the mind in our interdependent, empty reality.Episode 71. Guided Meditation: How Money ExistsPrevious Episode: Bitcoin and BuddhismFrom 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

Jun 15, 2021 • 43min
Bitcoin and Buddhism #70
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?Episode 70. Bitcoin and BuddhismFrom 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

Jun 10, 2021 • 11min
Just Like a Mountain 10 Minute Meditation on Accepting Change
A 10 minute guided meditation on mindful, nonjudgmental acceptance of change by Theo Koffler, founder of Mindfulness without Borders.Just Like a Mountain 10 Minute Meditation on Accepting ChangeFrom 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

Jun 8, 2021 • 24min
Mindfulness at Work with Theo Koffler #69
Theo Koffler, founder of Mindfulness Without Borders, talks about meditation techniques for mindfulness and self-awareness at work.Episode 69. Mindfulness at Work with Theo KofflerFrom 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