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 intertwined. We'll also explore how this energy body shows up in movement, creativity, emotion, and everyday life.

Episode 211: Meditation on the Subtle Body 

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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 part-time Buddhist, and now he's a full-time Buddhist, but he still spends about 25% of his time making art. 

Earlier this year, Scott was invited to San Francisco's Commonwealth Club to give a talk and have a discussion with Hugh Leeman about his new series of work called Hidden Geometries. These new pieces reveal the hidden geometric diagrams that underlie the thousand-year-old tradition of devotional Buddhist paintings known as thangkas. In the talk, Scott also shares a couple of the greatest hits from his career in interactive art. 

We also recommend watching this on our YouTube channel so you can see all of the artworks discussed! 

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In the United States, we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday this week. It’s a time that brings up a variety of challenges for many people: family conflicts, political disagreements, concerns about overeating, and the painful historical roots of the holiday in colonial exploitation of Indigenous people. 

In this episode, we share a private talk and meditation Scott gave to the Train a Happy Mind community last Thanksgiving. In it, he grapples openly with these issues, while exploring how we can still make the holiday meaningful. 

How can we use the deeper spirit of Thanksgiving—generosity and gratitude—to expand compassion and awareness to include all beings across the planet? 

In this episode you'll learn:

How to Celebrate Thanksgiving In a New Way

How to Do the Buddhist Practice of Universalizing

What Are the Five Delusions in Buddhism

What Are the Antidotes to Buddhist Delusions

How To Stay Open Through Both Pleasure and Pain

Overview:

01:55 The Problematic Side of Thanksgiving

03:45 A Broader Kind of Gathering

08:02 Universalizing: How to Create a Mind of Sharing and Generosity

11:21 Starting the Meditation: Settling In

12:25 The Five Delusions

16:12 Stabilize the Mind

17:50 Love and Compassion

23:52 Universalizing Thanksgiving

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Five years ago, we created A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment (now called How to Train a Happy Mind) to share the rich tradition of Tibetan Buddhist analytical meditation. We take a secular approach to meditation that requires no belief beyond our current understanding of science and psychology. It's based on powerful Buddhist mind training techniques that use imagination, intelligence, and emotions to probe our inner and outer realities, and expand our compassion.

Episode 1: What Is A Skeptic's Path to Enlightenment?

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In this guided meditation and drawing practice, artist and teacher John Simon Jr. leads us through a series of exercises designed to connect inner awareness with mark-making on paper. Blending Buddhist principles with intuitive art, this session invites you to notice your sensations, thoughts, and environment while allowing your hand to move freely. No art experience is needed, just a willingness to observe, let go, and explore.

Episode 208: Guided Drawing Meditation with John Simon Jr. 

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On this podcast, we talk a lot about meditation, but it’s far from the only way to connect with the deepest part of yourself and build a stable, joyful mind. There are so many other paths to reach that same inner stillness: spending time in nature, practicing yoga, exercising, making music, writing, or creating art.

For Scott, art was his meditation long before he ever learned to sit in silence. Our friend John Simon Jr. feels this connection just as deeply, so much so that he wrote a whole book about it called Drawing Your Own Path.

Scott and John first met years ago through their shared love of creating art with computer software. Recently, they reunited at John’s home in New York State to talk about how drawing by hand (the old-fashioned way) can be a profound meditation in itself. It’s a beautiful reminder that creativity, presence, and peace can flow through any form of expression.

Episode 207: Drawing As Meditation with John Simon Jr. 

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How can we use pleasure in our meditation practice? Buddhism offers specific techniques for meditating on pleasure as a way to deepen our qualities of concentration, fearlessness, loving-kindness, and even our understanding of the ultimate nature of reality.

Episode 85: Guided Meditation on Pleasure

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Pleasure is often viewed as a hindrance to the spiritual path, a hotbed of craving and attachment, but what if we told you that pleasure can actually be a positive part of the spiritual path, a portal to love and happiness?

Episode 84: Pleasure and Buddhism: Food, Sex and Netflix on the Path to Enlightenment

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In this imaginative and hopeful episode, Rob Hopkins—founder of the Transition movement and author of How to Fall in Love with the Future—guides listeners through a vivid meditation envisioning the year 2030. Drawing on years of community activism and storytelling, Rob invites us to step through a metaphorical door into a future shaped by collective action, resilience, and radical imagination. What might our cities, communities, and daily lives look like if we did everything we could to build a better world? This episode offers a powerful glimpse into that possibility.

Episode 206: Meditation on Falling in Love with the Future—Rob Hopkins

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Rob Hopkins is one of the people doing the most to assure that humanity has a healthy, thriving, and happy future. I was blown away by his new book, How to Fall in Love With the Future, which describes a radical new type of climate activism he's invented. Instead of bemoaning the current state of the world, he invites us to imagine the world we want to live in—that's just around the corner—and then do everything we can to make it a reality.

Join me now to find out how to fall in love with the future.

Episode 205: How to Fall in Love with the Future—Rob Hopkins

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