meditation Archives - The Open Heart Project

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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

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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

A Steady Mind in an Unsteady World

December 22, 2025   |   Leave a reply

Audio only version is here
Meditation practice begins at 9:37

Hello Open Heart Project, As we begin a new year, many of us are doing so in the midst of profound heartbreak. Recent violent events alongside the ongoing turmoil and uncertainty within the U.S. government and across the world, can leave us feeling shaken, overwhelmed, and unsure how to hold it all. Feeling deeply is not a personal failure—it is... READ MORE

How to Protect Your Mind and Your Vitality

December 15, 2025   |   5 Comments

Audio only version is here
Meditation practice begins at 16:30

Hello, dear friends, As we move toward the start of Building a Mindful New Year, I want to offer a short preview of one of the teachings we’ll explore together: the fourth paramita, exertion. We’ve spent recent weeks looking at generosity, discipline, and patience—three qualities that can bring tremendous clarity and kindness into our lives. But without exertion, their energy... READ MORE

The Strength of Patience When Everything Feels Uncertain

December 8, 2025   |   4 Comments

Audio-only version is here.
Meditation practice begins at 21:26

Hello Open Heart Project, As we look ahead to Building a Mindful New Year, I’ve been reflecting on the qualities that genuinely support meaningful change. In recent weeks, we’ve explored generosity and discipline as part of the paramita teachings—capacities that help us relate to our lives with steadiness and clarity. This week, our attention turns to the third paramita, patience.... READ MORE

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