10% Happier with Dan Harris
10% Happier with Dan Harris

Surviving the News: Buddhist Strategies for Staying Sane, Engaged, and Not Completely Furious | Pascal Auclair

October 2, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Dan Harris opens the episode with a confession: he is feeling stressed and anxious about the upcoming midterm elections. He brings on Buddhist meditation teacher Pascal Auclair not to escape that feeling, but to learn how to stay engaged without losing his mind. Auclair, a co-founder of True North Insight and a teacher on Harris’s 10% Happier app, argues that the current political moment is not an obstacle to spiritual practice—it is precisely the right environment for it. The episode’s central question is how to hold the tension between being an informed, active citizen and maintaining enough inner stability to function, sleep, and stay kind.

The body as a first refuge

Auclair’s first move is to return to what Buddhism calls the first foundation of mindfulness: the body. When a listener named Karen describes feeling caught in a “dance of outrage, action, frustration, depression,” Auclair zeroes in on the last word of her question: “breathing.” He treats it not as a throwaway but as a teaching. The practice is to notice that the news is happening in your head while your body is actually here, in this room, breathing. That gap—between the catastrophe in your mind and the fact that you are alive and unharmed right now—is where space opens up.

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (00:02) **Introduction & Setup** - Dan Harris introduces the topic of staying sane during the election season and guest Pascal Auclair, a Buddhist meditation teacher.
  • 2 (03:03) **The Dance of Outrage and Breathing** - Pascal responds to listener Karen's question about the "dance" of outrage, frustration, and depression, emphasizing grounding in the body.
  • 3 (05:50) **The War for Your Attention** - Pascal and Dan discuss the battle for attention sovereignty and the importance of consciously shifting focus.
  • 4 (10:34) **Karma as Agency, Not Cosmic Justice** - Pascal reinterprets karma as a teaching on personal response and agency, not a system of cosmic retribution.
  • 5 (16:38) **The Elephant in the Room: Trump and Samsara** - Dan and Pascal discuss the limits of focusing on others' karma and the broader context of a messy world.
  • 6 (22:00) **Meditation is Not Passivity** - Pascal and Dan address the concern that meditation leads to passive observation rather than action.
  • 7 (25:30) **How to Consume News Mindfully** - Pascal and Dan share personal strategies for news consumption that protect the nervous system.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

You don't get to choose what's thrown at you — only how you respond. Karma as a tool for agency, attention sovereignty as a political act, and what to do when you feel completely helpless.

The news is a lot right now. And for most of us, the usual options — doom scroll until midnight, or unplug entirely — don't actually help. Meditation teacher Pascal Auclair joins Dan for a live community conversation on how to stay engaged with what's happening in the world without letting it wreck your nervous system, your relationships, or your sleep.

In this conversation, Pascal Auclair and Dan Harris discuss:

  • Why reading the news can be reframed as an act of love — and why that changes everything
  • What Buddhism actually says about karma, and whether the bad guys get theirs
  • How to balance staying informed with protecting your mental health
  • The difference between passive equanimity and wise, engaged action
  • How much news is too much — and why the answer is different for everyone
  • Why attention itself has become a battleground, and how mindfulness is your best defense

Pascal Auclair has been immersed in Buddhist practice and study since 1997. He was mentored by Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield at IMS and Spirit Rock, where he now teaches retreats. He is a co-founder of True North Insight and one of its Guiding Teachers. Find more of his guided meditations in the 10% with Dan Harris app.

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