This morning, the Open Heart Project Sangha gathered as we do every day to meditate and reflect together. The group was larger than usual, a clear sign of how shaken many of us are by what is happening in the United States right now.

I began by saying there is nothing I can offer that makes this moment acceptable or less horrifying. There is no teaching that explains it away. What we can do is see and feel the suffering clearly, without denial or false comfort.

We talked about the exposure of cruelty and hypocrisy, while also remembering that this country has held real goodness alongside real harm. I explored the three poisons that distort our response to crisis: grasping, delusion, and aggression. Although we must act and resist, aggression only breeds more aggression. Now what?

Drawing on Buddhist teachings about the realms of existence, I focused on the human realm as the place where we can wake up and respond with sanity. During times that I cannot defeat my enemies, I can still strengthen my friends. That shift restores strength and energy.

I closed by underscoring the importance of continuing to imagine a sane and compassionate world, no matter how far off it may feel. Without the ability to envision what is possible, we lose the ability to create it.

We dream on behalf of others.

Highlights:

• Why this moment calls for community rather than answers
• The danger of responding from grasping, delusion, or aggression
• Remembering both the harm and the goodness in our collective history
• The human realm as a source of strength and responsibility
• Strengthening friends when you cannot defeat enemies
• Why imagining a better world is crucial
• Mixing sanity into situations of profound cruelty
  
  

Music

For the after party, I share “Say It’s Not So” by Angela Strehli, my favorite female blues singer. The track features Derek O’Brien, who also composed the music for this podcast. This song is deeply personal to me, and it cuts straight to the heart every time.
You can also listen here.

Watch this episode on video
If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here.

Ask me a question
You can send your questions via Instagram DM or through our form — I’d love to include them in future episodes.

Fearless Creativity: A Meditation and Writing Retreat

Join me at Drala Mountain Center in the Colorado Rockies for Fearless Creativity, a meditation and writing retreat offering dedicated time for creative work alongside guided meditation and conversation. Writers of all genres and levels

If you enjoyed this episode:

Please rate, review, and share it with a friend who’s curious about mindfulness, spiritual commitment, or the Buddhist path.

For more on Buddhist teachings and how our humanity isn’t necessarily in our way, sign up for my free weekly newsletter or join the Open Heart Project sangha for more connection with community and with me.

If this podcast has been meaningful to you, it would be great if you would subscribe, give it a five star rating and share it with a friend. To join or learn more about The Open Heart Project please visit openheartproject.com.

Thoughts? Email us at info@susanpiver.com

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

In this episode, I introduce the Four Karmas—pacifying, enriching, magnetizing, and destroying—as practical actions for meeting chaos, conflict, and confusion without losing clarity or heart. In this Buddhist framework, karma means action, not fate. These are not strategies for getting your way, but ways to protect the mind, deepen compassion, and interrupt ignorance in real time.

I also explore the “ Māras ,” the obstacles that can distort each karma, and why wisdom sometimes needs to be gentle—and sometimes fierce. Drawing on the story of the Buddha under the Bodhi tree, I reflect on how distraction, shame, and aggression show up in our own lives, and how these four actions help us meet them skillfully.

Highlights

• Karma as action, not reward or punishment
• The Four Karmas as tools for clarity and compassion
• How wisdom can be peaceful or wrathful
• Knowing when to add, wait, attract, or let go
  
  

The Four Karmas (Briefly)

• Pacifying: Settling down to see clearly, often through deep listening rather than fixing.
  Obstacle: Spiritual bypassing.
• Enriching: Adding what genuinely increases vitality and connection, based on what’s actually needed.
  Obstacle: Accumulating without applying.
• Magnetizing: Receptivity—allowing insight, creativity, and help to come toward you.
  Obstacle: Emotional reactivity that obscures perception.
• Destroying: Ending or pruning what no longer serves, without aggression.
  Obstacle: Total shutdown instead of skillful cutting.
  
  

Closing Music

I end the episode with “Waloyo Yamoni (We Overcome the Wind)” by Christopher Tin—a piece that feels vast, direct, and deeply human.

If you found this episode meaningful, please share it or leave a review. It truly helps.

During this episode, I mentioned my upcoming retreat on meditation and writing, Fearless Creativity. You can learn more here.

Watch this episode on video
If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here.

Ask me a question
You can send your questions via Instagram DM or through our form — I’d love to include them in future episodes.

Learn to Teach Meditation

The Open Heart Project Meditation Teacher Training returns this January.
We begin January 17th, 2026.
I teach every session. It’s intimate, rigorous, supportive—and it’s for anyone

If you enjoyed this episode:

Please rate, review, and share it with a friend who’s curious about mindfulness, spiritual commitment, or the Buddhist path.

For more on Buddhist teachings and how our humanity isn’t necessarily in our way, sign up for my free weekly newsletter or join the Open Heart Project sangha for more connection with community and with me.

If this podcast has been meaningful to you, it would be great if you would subscribe, give it a five star rating and share it with a friend. To join or learn more about The Open Heart Project please visit openheartproject.com.

Thoughts? Email us at info@susanpiver.com

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

As we move into a new year, how do we deepen our understanding: of ourselves, our relationships, and our spiritual practice? In this episode, we explore the three essential steps of learning in the Buddhist tradition: hearing, contemplating, and meditating.

Highlights:

• Why the first step, hearing, is more than listening: it’s opening to what’s being offered without judgment or projection.
• How contemplating allows teachings to be tested, weighed, and integrated through experience rather than accepted blindly.
• What it means to meditate in the deepest sense: living a teaching, letting it shape your being.
• A story from a meditation student learning to let go of constant vigilance and just breathe.
• Reflections on Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness and integrating wisdom into daily life.

If you want to learn something deeply—whether meditation, spiritual practice, or life itself—these three steps are your path.

Podcast After Party – Song Feature:

We celebrate music as a form of transmission and joy with a performance by the legendary Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum (also spelled Oum Kalsoum, Om Kalsoum, Umm Kalsoum, Om Kulthoum, Oum Kulthoum, and Umm Kolthoum). Her song Lelat Hob (Night of Love) showcases the power of live music, devotion, and cultural adoration.

For the full version of this song, you can listen here.

Watch this episode on video
If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here.

Ask me a question
You can send your questions via Instagram DM or through our form — I’d love to include them in future episodes.

Learn to Teach Meditation

The Open Heart Project Meditation Teacher Training returns this January.
We begin January 17th, 2026.
I teach every session. It’s intimate, rigorous, supportive—and it’s for anyone who wants to help others work with their own minds and hearts.

Click here to learn more & sign up.

If you enjoyed this episode:

Please rate, review, and share it with a friend who’s curious about mindfulness, spiritual commitment, or the Buddhist path.

For more on Buddhist teachings and how our humanity isn’t necessarily in our way, sign up for my free weekly newsletter or join the Open Heart Project sangha for more connection with community and with me.

If this podcast has been meaningful to you, it would be great if you would subscribe, give it a five star rating and share it with a friend. To join or learn more about The Open Heart Project please visit openheartproject.com.

Thoughts? Email us at info@susanpiver.com

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project