Which one are you in right now?

In this episode, I explore the six realms of Buddhist cosmology which can be understood as both literal places of rebirth and psychological states we all experience. I also mention how this might help us contextualize the chaos and cruelty of our current political situation in the US. The realms include:

The God Realm - A place of complete abundance where beings have everything they desire but no motivation to seek enlightenment

The Jealous God/Asura Realm - Beings with power and resources consumed by covetousness and aggression, always fighting for more. And more. (Sound familiar?)

The Human Realm - The most fortunate realm with the right balance of suffering and ease for spiritual development. Yay us!

The Hungry Ghost Realm - Represents insatiable desires and cravings that can never be fulfilled

The Animal Realm - Characterized by basic survival needs and limited spiritual capacity, yet capable of love and connection

The Hell Realm - A place of constant suffering with no relief, glimpsed through our experiences of heartbreak and witnessing suffering

Resources Mentioned:

• "A Guided Tour of Hell" by Sam Bercholz - Featuring descriptions and visual depictions of the hell realms
• Join my meditation community, the Open Heart Project Sangha, to practice together and learn how to apply these teachings to everyday life. Would be great to see you there!

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

Why do we turn to meditation when things fall apart—and what are we really supposed to do with all these overwhelming emotions?

In this short episode, we explore three powerful ways to relate to difficult feelings like anger, fear, and anxiety: as afflictive; as bridges to compassion; and as hidden forms of wisdom. All three ways are accurate, though usually only the first is described in Buddhist writings.

In this episode, you’ll hear about how to work skillfully with emotional intensity, not necessarily by escaping it, but by uncovering the fierce clarity and deep humanity that may lie beneath.

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

In this episode, Susan reflects on one of the most common meditation struggles: staying consistent. If you’ve ever wondered, “Why can’t I just do the thing I know is good for me?”—this episode is for you.

The surprising truth? It’s not a discipline problem. It’s a misunderstanding of what meditation really is.

Main Topics Covered:

The Real Reason Consistency is Hard

• It’s not about willpower.
  
  
  
• Most people approach meditation as self-improvement—but it’s actually a spiritual practice.
  
  
  
• Self-help says: “Something is wrong with me.”
  
  Spiritual practice says: “I am already whole.”
  
  
  

Three Spiritual Anchors for a Deeper Practice

• Make Offerings
  
  Small rituals (light a candle, burn incense) open your heart to mystery and devotion. They move the practice from “What can I get?” to “What can I discover?”
  
  
  
• Request Blessings
  
  Call in your lineage: spiritual teachers, ancestors, artists, activists—anyone who’s shaped your path. You’re not sitting alone.
  
  
  
• Dedicate the Merit
  
  Offer the benefits of your practice to all beings (including yourself!). Whatever happens during your session—delight, frustration, sleepiness—it can be of benefit, even though we may not be able to imagine how.

Three Practical Supports for Consistency (aka The Three Jewels)

These are the classic Buddhist “refuges,” and they’re also the structure we need to stay steady:

• Buddha – Your own awakened nature. Sitting down to meditate is a reconnection with this.
  
  
  
• Dharma – Study, reflect, journal—contemplate the deeper why behind your practice.
  
  
  
• Sangha – Practice with others, even virtually. Community is often the missing key.
  
  
  

Final Takeaway:

Consistency doesn’t come from willpower—it comes from aligning with meaning.

When meditation is treated as a way to open your heart rather than a way to “fix” yourself, a deeper magic is glimpsed.

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

In Buddhism (as in most wisdom traditions), compassion is central—but it’s often misunderstood. It’s not about being nice, it’s about being awake. True compassion is wise, fierce, and rooted in awareness.

“Idiot compassion” is a term coined by Chögyam Trungpa to describe misguided kindness that stems from the three poisons:

• Grasping – trying to feel good or be liked.
  
  
• Aggression – trying to control or make something (or someone) disappear.
  
  
• Delusion – trying to avoid seeing what is really going on.

True compassion requires discernment, not people-pleasing. It might mean being sweet, but it could also mean getting angry or saying nothing. The only way to know is by paying attention.

In activism, the same principle applies: if our actions come from hate, they’ll echo hate. If they come from a broken heart longing to ease suffering, different gates will open.

There are two kinds of compassion to consider:

• Relative compassion helps others through kindness and care.
  
  
• Absolute compassion is dwelling in perfect recognition of interdependence. (To learn more about this, see previous episodes on the Heart Sutra.)

The spiritual path is just as much about courage as it is about kindness. It asks us to meet suffering not with spiritual bypassing, but with a heart shattered open and ready to serve.

SM (for Genevieve)

Not all compassion is created equal.

In Buddhism, compassion isn’t about being nice. It’s about being awake.

Sometimes it’s soft. Sometimes it’s fierce. But it’s never about avoiding discomfort.

Chögyam Trungpa called it “idiot compassion” when our desire to help is rooted in:

• Craving (to be liked)

• Aggression (to control or avoid conflict)

• Delusion (pretending everything’s fine)

Real compassion comes from clarity.

It doesn’t always look “spiritual.” Sometimes it sets boundaries. Sometimes it says no. And when rooted in heartbreak for the suffering of the world, it becomes powerful.

Let’s remember that true love can also be fierce. 🔥

#compassion #buddhism #idiotcompassion #fiercelove #spiritualpath #openheart #wakeup #chogyamtrungpa #realcompassion #awareness

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

Trusting a spiritual teacher is one of the most important—and complex—decisions on the path. This talk explores three personal experiences: one with a brilliant but inscrutable and controversial teacher, another with a teacher whose misconduct led to a break, and a third with a humble, quietly extraordinary master who became the true source of guidance.

The central lesson? Let your practice—not personality—be the guide.

Ask yourself:

• Does this deepen my path?
  
  
  
• Do I respect the community?
  
  
  
• Are the teachings centered—not the teacher?
  
  
  

Stay alert to these red flags: charisma, drama, and self-centered authority.

Be patient. Trust your intuition. Protect your mind.

In the end, the Dharma must be passed on with integrity, clarity, and humility—without replicating harmful hierarchies or watering it down into self-help.

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

In the previous episode, we discuss a teaching that is central throughout the Buddhist world: the Prajnaparamita sutra, also known as The Heart Sutra. While being utterly confounding, at the same time it is a perfect primer on the true meaning of emptiness and ultimate compassion. Turns out, these are the same thing. Who knew?! If you missed it, just go back one episode.

In this episode, we go through the Sutra of the Heart of Transcendent Knowledge line by line and look at the various terms (skandha? dhatu?) as well as the main characters (Avalokiteshvara and Sariputra).

There are many translations of this important teaching. The one discussed in this episode is here.

To learn more, check out Susan’s new (very short) book, Inexplicable Joy: On the Heart Sutra

Discussed in this episode:

Introduction to the Heart Sutra

The Heart Sutra is the “pith” or essence of transcendent wisdom.

Begins with “Thus have I heard,” inviting personal inquiry and interpretation.

Narrated by Ananda (known for memory)

The Setting

The Buddha is in deep meditative absorption (samadhi) surrounded by a full assembly:

Monks (wisdom, foundational teachings)

Bodhisattvas (compassion, Mahayana teachings)

The Core Teaching: Emptiness

Avalokiteshvara realizes the five skandhas (form, feeling, perception, formation, consciousness) are empty of inherent nature.

Famous line begins: “Form is emptiness; emptiness is form.”

Radical Negation

Even foundational teachings like the Four Noble Truths are negated:

No suffering, no cause, no cessation, no path.

Even wisdom and attainment are negated—nothing to gain or strive for.

The Power of Emptiness

Realizing emptiness removes mental obscurations and eradicates fear.

This leads to full awakening—just like all Buddhas of the past, present, and future

The Heart Sutra Mantra

The mantra:

Om gate gate pÄragate pÄrasaṃgate bodhi svÄhÄ

(Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond, awakening, so be it.)

Described as the mantra that calms all suffering and is to be known as truth.

Cosmological Context

Gods, jealous gods (asuras), humans, and celestial beings (gandharvas) all rejoice.

The human realm is ideal for practice: enough comfort to contemplate, enough suffering to be motivated.

Personal Reflection

Susan has chanted the Heart Sutra daily for over 30 years.

While her understanding doesn’t always deepen, her love for the sutra does.

Encourages others to form their own love affair with the text

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

In this episode, we discuss a teaching that is central throughout the Buddhist world: the Prajnaparamita sutra, also known as The Heart Sutra. While being utterly confounding, at the same time it is a perfect primer on the true meaning of emptiness and ultimate compassion. Turns out, these are the same thing. Who knew?!

There are many translations of this important teaching. The one discussed in this episode is here.

In part one of this two-part episode, Susan talks a bit about the history of the text, what we can learn from it, and how best to approach a teaching that is both supremely powerful and impossible to understand. Good luck! Come back next week for part two where we break it down, line-by-line.

To learn more, check out Susan’s new (very short) book, Inexplicable Joy: On the Heart Sutra

Discussed in this episode:

Emptiness & No-Self

• These aren't nihilistic ideas — they're about interdependence.
• Nothing exists independently — everything (including “you”) arises from causes and conditions.
• Emptiness isn’t a void — it's a space of infinite potential.
• Like a womb: empty, yet full of creative possibility.

Compassion Arising from Emptiness

• Relative compassion: being kind, patient, helpful — depends on awareness.
• Absolute compassion: rooted in the deep realization that all beings are connected.
• Real compassion arises from presence, not just being “nice.”

Three Ways the Meaning Comes Through

1. The words
2. The sound of the words
3. The environment into which it is spoken

How to Approach the Heart Sutra

• Form a personal relationship with the text.
• Understanding isn't the goal — connection is.
• Heart Sutra’s wisdom is felt, not explained.

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

The Buddha’s Early Life & Awakening

Siddhartha was a protected prince, shielded from suffering by his father.

He encountered old age, sickness, and death for the first time during a trip outside the palace.

This led him to renounce his privileged life and seek liberation from suffering.

He meditated under the Bodhi tree, seeking truth beyond suffering.

Achieved enlightenment, saw through the nature of suffering, and articulated the Four Noble Truths.

The Four Noble Truths (Overview):

1. Life is suffering (Dukkha) – More accurately, life is unsatisfying because everything is impermanent.
2. Cause of suffering – Grasping, clinging, and pretending we can make things unchanging.
3. Cessation of suffering – Let go of grasping, and suffering will cease.
4. Path to cessation – The Noble Eightfold Path (e.g., right view, right speech, right livelihood, etc.).

Three Types of Suffering:

1. Suffering of suffering – Painful experiences like illness and death; inevitable.
2. Suffering of change – Joy and success are temporary; fear of loss brings suffering.
3. All-pervasive suffering – A background unease or existential dissatisfaction, even when life is “good.”

The Middle Way:

Buddhism embraces neither eternalism (belief in eternal divine reward/punishment) nor nihilism (belief in nothing beyond material existence).

The Middle Way is not the mid-point between the two. What is it?

Direct Experience Over Belief:

Don’t take the Buddha’s word for it — verify teachings through your own lived experience.

Belief systems, even Buddhist ones, are seen as potential obstacles.

Wisdom comes from mixing teachings with direct experience, not from intellectualization.

Final Reflection:

The true spiritual path is one’s own journey of discovery.

All teachings are tools; the real teacher is your own mind, inseparable from wisdom itself.

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project