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Four ways to react to the situations we encounter

February 5, 2024   |   8 Comments

Audio only version is here
Meditation begins at 7:40

Dear, wonderful Open Heart Project, Hello, I hope you are well and finding sources of peace within yourself and around yourself. Did you know that within the OHP there is something called the Open Heart Project Sangha? We explore a different theme each month and recently that theme was something called the Four Karmas which describe four different ways to... READ MORE

Am I still a spiritual person even if I feel anger, irritation, and even hatred? 3 ways to work with “negative” emotions.

January 15, 2024   |   9 Comments

Audio only version is here
Meditation begins at 12:00

Dear wonderful Open Heart Project, I hope your year is off to a wonderful start and you are able to find peace within and around yourself.  It’s possible you thought, as did I, that meditation would help you feel…less. Less rage. Less sorrow. I’d have even settled for less crankiness. No such luck–I’m still a human being. I made this... READ MORE

How to cultivate a consistent meditation practice

August 28, 2023   |   1 Comment

Audio only version is here. Meditation practice begins at 10:32 Hello, dear meditator. How are you? I hope you are well and feeling happy. Basically everyone I have ever known finds it difficult to be consistent with their practice and, further, basically everyone thinks this is because they lack discipline. I suggest that this is probably not the issue. Before... READ MORE

Meditation Practice: 3 Steps into the Sacred

August 21, 2023   |   5 Comments

Audio-only version is here. Meditation practice begins at 11:59. Dear Open Heart Project, I know that meditation is counseled as a way to de-stress, develop greater powers of concentration, and get a better night’s sleep. All true! However, it is also a path to true, lasting joy. All we have to do, at least from time to time, is jump... READ MORE

Traits of the Awakened Mind, Part 3: Power

August 14, 2023   |   Leave a reply

Hello wonderful Open Heart Project, We’ve discussed two of the three aspects of the awakened mind—compassion and wisdom. Today I’d like to offer just a few thoughts on the third quality—power. When we think about the quality of power, I’m sure many things come to mind. Some are positive—the certainty of a strong ruler or the beneficence of a saint.... READ MORE

Traits of the Awakened Mind, Part 2: Wisdom

August 7, 2023   |   Leave a reply

Hello Open Heart Project, According to Buddhist thought, the awakened mind has three qualities. The first is compassion. The second quality, wisdom, is the topic of today’s post. When it comes to what it really means to be wise, it’s easy to posit all sorts of definitions from really, really smart to deeply insightful to maybe simply being old and... READ MORE

Traits of the Awakened Mind, Part 1: Compassion

July 31, 2023   |   Leave a reply

Hello Open Heart Project, According to Buddhist thought, the awakened mind has three qualities. Although I’ve said many times that having goals for your practice is a bad idea, I’m now going to suggest that there actually are goals and they are to realize these three qualities. However, the path is not accomplished by conventional means. Interestingly, these qualities arise... READ MORE

On attention

June 26, 2023   |   1 Comment

Hello Open Heart Project, Seth Godin, the marketing genius, writer, teacher, and all-around awesome person is one of my idols. I receive his blog posts every day and, although our topics are different, in many ways I model my work on his for its clarity, usefulness, and soulfulness. He wrote a wonderful post about how empathy is the most important... READ MORE

Meditation and Fearlessness

June 5, 2023   |   1 Comment

In the Shambhala Buddhist lineage, we say that meditation trains us to be warriors in our lives—fearless, open hearted, and genuine. Today I want to talk about fearlessness and its connection to meditation practice and I’ll start out by relating a story I heard Pema Chödrön tell in one of her books. It is about her teacher, the founder of... READ MORE

The Spiritual Path: Part Three

May 29, 2023   |   1 Comment

Audio-only version is here. Meditation practice begins at 17:44. Dear Open Heart Project, Hello and welcome to video #3 in this series on the three steps, or yanas, of the spiritual path. Today we discuss the third step. (If you missed the first two or would like a refresher, the first video is here and the second video is here. While... READ MORE

The Spiritual Path: Part Two

May 22, 2023   |   3 Comments

Audio-only version is here. Meditation practice begins at 26:21. Dear Open Heart Project, Hello and welcome to the second video in this series on the three steps of the spiritual journey. Today we discuss the second step. While the first step focused on stabilizing your personal situation (and practice), the second step is about the heart opening that ensues organically.... READ MORE

The Spiritual Path: Part One

May 15, 2023   |   5 Comments

Audio-only version is here. Meditation practice begins at 22:23. Dear Open Heart Project, When it comes to our spiritual practices (whatever they may be), both uncertainty and possibility are always present so in some sense, we are in the perfect training ground for awakening. In the Buddhist view (and no one has to be a Buddhist to make this information... READ MORE

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