meditation Archives - The Open Heart Project

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Heartbreak is a Gateway

June 8, 2026   |   Leave a reply

Audio only version is here
Meditation practice begins at 13:05

Hello, wonderful Open Heart Project. I hope you are finding joy and ease as much as possible. Before today’s sit, I continue sharing key points from my new book, Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics. It describes 7 principles of spiritual practice.The first point was We Engage in Daily Ritual. The second was We Live as Mystics (Hiding in Plain Sight).... READ MORE

Starting With Who You Are (It is Not an Obstacle to Your Practice)

June 1, 2026   |   1 Comment

Audio only version is here
Meditation practice begins at 10:31

Hello, wonderful Open Heart Project. I hope you are finding moments of ease where you can. Before today’s sit, I continue the conversation I began a few weeks ago about how we view meditation in the Open Heart Project. The first point was that we engage in daily ritual. The second was that we live as mystics hiding in plain... READ MORE

The unmeasurable results of meditation practice

May 25, 2026   |   5 Comments

Audio only version is here
Meditation practice begins at 13:40

Hello, wonderful Open Heart Project. I hope you are finding moments of ease and steadiness wherever you are. Before today’s sit, I continue our conversation about some of the less obvious but deeply felt impacts of meditation practice. Last week we talked about ritual and the way it reminds us that practice is not only about self-improvement. This week I... READ MORE

What Ritual Makes Possible

May 18, 2026   |   4 Comments

Audio only version is here
Meditation practice begins at 11:54

Hello, wonderful Open Heart Project. I hope you are finding steadiness and connection wherever you are. Before today’s sit, I share some thoughts about ritual and why I believe it matters so much in spiritual practice. Meditation can certainly help us sleep better, reduce stress, or become more patient. Those things are real and valuable. But when practice becomes only... READ MORE

There’s more to meditation than feeling better

May 11, 2026   |   Leave a reply

Hello Wonderful Open Heart Project, I heard something the other day in the morning meditation at The Open Heart Project sangha: a thoughtful, well-done study confirms that meditation improves your brain and can make you happier. That’s meaningful and encouraging. It also reminded me that there’s another kind of understanding of meditation, one that comes from thousands of years of... READ MORE

Do Buddhists pray?

May 4, 2026   |   3 Comments

Audio only version here.
​​​​​​​Meditation practice begins at 9:01.

Hello, wonderful Open Heart Project meditator. We moved to a new house recently and the effort to make a relationship to a new space has been front of mind. How do you connect with unseen energies? How do you fill a space with unseen goodness? Alleviate unseen obstacles?  When an Open Heart Project sangha member asked if Buddhists pray, I... READ MORE

Unsettled, but not alone

April 27, 2026   |   1 Comment

Hello Wonderful Open Heart Project, I wrote to you recently about not feeling settled, about living among boxes and in-between spaces, about that strangely tender mix of disorientation and possibility. I had a feeling many of you would understand, but, I didn’t quite anticipate the depth, honesty, and humanity of what you shared in return. A special thanks to all... READ MORE

Meditation is not for self-help. It’s for mystics.

April 13, 2026   |   9 Comments

Hello Wonderful Open Heart Project, I am thrilled and nauseated and delighted to say that I’ve finished the manuscript for my next book. Thrilled, because it was created to honor my extraordinary teachers of the last three decades. Nauseated, because what writer isn’t. Delighted because it’s done. It should be out in the next few months. It will be self-published... READ MORE

Podcast lovers! The Open Heart Project now has a podcast

January 26, 2026   |   1 Comment

Hello, wonderful Open Heart Project meditator. This week’s email is to let you know that the OHP now has a podcast, Buddhism Beyond Belief. I created it to offer further support on your journey. I talk about classical Buddhist teachings and share experiences from my own life about how I have applied (and misapplied) them. I’m linking to a few episodes... READ MORE

Staying Close to What Supports You

January 19, 2026   |   7 Comments

Audio only version is here
Meditation practice begins at 17.23

Hello, wonderful Open Heart Project. I’ve been reflecting on how easily meditation practice can fade into the background when life gets busy or uncertain. Not because it doesn’t matter, but because the very moments when we need it most are often the moments when it’s hardest to remember to turn toward it. What I keep coming back to is this:... READ MORE

How Real Change Actually Happens

January 5, 2026   |   5 Comments

Audio only version is here
Meditation begins at 8:39

Hello Wonderful Open Heart Project, Happy new year! I hope you are well and finding sources of joy, big and/or small. As one year turns into the next, it’s natural to wonder: how do I finally, finally make the changes I long for?! How do I move forward rather than continually taking one step forward, two steps back, and so... READ MORE

When the Ground Gives Way, Wisdom Appears

December 29, 2025   |   Leave a reply

Audio only version is here
Meditation practice begins at 15:42

Hello, wonderful Open Heart Project. What is true wisdom? If you’re like most of us, you might imagine wisdom as something you accumulate, understand, or finally arrive at. But in the Buddhist tradition, wisdom, the sixth paramita, isn’t something you do or achieve. It’s something that unfolds when we practice staying with our lives as they actually are. In the... READ MORE

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