SUSAN’S
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Foundations of the Spiritual Path: The Second Noble Truth

August 31, 2026   |   7 Comments

Audio only version is here
Meditation begins at 13:25

 

Hello Wonderful Open Heart Project, Last week, I began an exploration of the earliest teachings from the Buddha with some thoughts on the First Noble Truth. This week, we move on to the Second Noble Truth: the cause of suffering. What is the cause of suffering? One answer is grasping. Grasping isn’t the same as having feelings, caring about outcomes,... READ MORE

Foundations of the Spiritual Path: The First Noble Truth

August 24, 2026   |   1 Comment

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Meditation begins at 10:41

Hello Wonderful Open Heart Project, Sometimes the best way to deepen practice is to begin at the beginning. The Buddha’s first teaching was the Four Noble Truths. Though I’ve been studying them for decades, I still hear something new every time I return to them. The teachings may be familiar, but my life has changed, and I can hear them... READ MORE

Learning is Remembering: The Outer, Inner, and Secret Teachers

August 10, 2026   |   4 Comments

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Meditation begins at 23:38

Hello Wonderful Open Heart Project, How do you find a teacher? It’s a question I hear often, and the answer is more nuanced than you might think. Every true teacher appears in three ways. There is the outer teacher, the person who offers the teachings. There is the inner teacher, the part of you that recognizes something as true. And... READ MORE

Dreaming as Spiritual Practice

June 15, 2026   |   5 Comments

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Meditation practice begins at 10:22

Hello, wonderful Open Heart Project.  Over the past few weeks, I’ve been sharing what makes our approach to meditation a little different. We engage in ritual. We live as mystics. The personal is not the obstacle, it is the way. We recognize heartbreak. Today I’d like to add another principle: We dream on behalf of others. Dreaming is not an escape from reality, it is how... READ MORE

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

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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

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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

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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

Do Buddhists pray?

May 4, 2026   |   3 Comments

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​​​​​​​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

Ancient Wisdom for Difficult Times: The Eighth Step of the Eightfold Path

April 6, 2026   |   6 Comments

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Meditation practice begins at 13:58

Hello wonderful Open Heart Project, So far in our exploration of the Noble Eightfold Path, we have been laying a foundation for how we see, how we act, and how we meet our lives. We began with Right View and Right Intention, then moved into Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, and most recently, Right Mindfulness, returning to the placement of attention and... READ MORE

Ancient Wisdom for Difficult Times: The Seventh Step of the Eightfold Path

March 30, 2026   |   3 Comments

Audio only version is here
Meditation practice begins at 15:21

Hello wonderful Open Heart Project, So far in our exploration of the Noble Eightfold Path, we have been laying a foundation for how we see, how we act, and how we meet our lives. We began with Right View and Right Intention, then moved into Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood, and most recently, Right Effort, the commitment to... READ MORE

Ancient Wisdom for Difficult Times: The Sixth Step of the Eightfold Path

March 23, 2026   |   1 Comment

Audio only version is here
Meditation practice begins at 4:38

Hello wonderful Open Heart Project, So far, in our conversations about the Noble Eightfold Path, we have explored Right View, seeing clearly; Right Intention, examining our motivations; Right Speech, verifying the honesty of our words; and Right Action, understanding our impact and committing to non-harm; and Right Livelihood, bringing our work and resources into alignment with the path. Now we... READ MORE