This week we continue our exploration of the Six Paramitas (or Transcendent Actions)—the Buddhist teachings on how to go beyond suffering and confusion into wakefulness, compassion, and liberation. I talked about the first paramita, Generosity, in a previous episode. Now we look at the second: Discipline.

This isn’t the harsh, rigid discipline of making yourself do things you don’t want to do. Here, discipline is a joyful, courageous return to presence—a practice of continuously coming back to your intentions, your inner world, your experience, and your humanity.

Highlights:

• Why discipline must be paired with generosity to avoid self-aggression.
• The Buddhist definition of discipline as “coming back” over and over, especially in meditation.
• How thinking for yourself and not outsourcing wisdom is a powerful form of discipline.
• The three forms of discipline:
  • Binding Yourself – Committing to opening up, even when it's uncomfortable.
  • Gathering Virtuous Dharmas – Continuing to deepen your understanding through study, reflection, and practice.
  • Benefiting Sentient Beings – Shifting focus from self alone to bringing care for others into your experience
• The three-step method of learning in Buddhist tradition: Hearing, Contemplating, and Meditating. (We usually stop at hearing, regurgitating, and then forgetting.)
• How including others in your awareness brings joy, strength, and clarity, even in chaotic times.

“Discipline is synonymous with joy. Not yippy joy—but the joy of not hiding from your life.”

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 [email protected]

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

In this episode, I explore a little-known yet profoundly practical Buddhist teaching: The Seven Riches of the Universal Monarch. I warmly invite you to look beyond the modern view of mindfulness as merely a stress-relief tool; rather, consider your practice as a transformative lens on how to live fully, wisely, and with meaning.

Drawing from classical Buddhist teachings, my own seminary training, and over 30 years of personal practice, I share how these "seven riches" can serve as guiding principles for cultivating intimacy, purpose, vitality, and inner wisdom in daily life. I even share a story about lying on a couch mid-conversation and realizing my ideal form of social interaction.

Highlights:

• Why mindfulness is more than just stress relief – It’s a path to living with depth, presence, and authenticity.
  
  
  
• Introduction to the obscure yet profound teaching of the Seven Riches of the Universal Monarch, possibly rooted in the indigenous Bön tradition of Tibet.
  
  
  
• The 7 Riches unpacked:
  
  
  
  1. Consort – The value of intimate connection (romantic or platonic) rooted in trust and love.
     
     
     
  2. Minister – Having a trusted source of wisdom or guidance (a person, study, or tradition).
     
     
     
  3. General – A sense of protection, whether from people, community, or even financial stability.
     
     
     
  4. Horse – The wellspring of vitality and momentum, from energy to inspiration.
     
     
     
  5. Elephant – Living with purpose and steady, grounded intention.
     
     
     
  6. Wish-Fulfilling Jewel – Deep self-knowledge and compassion as the truest wealth.
     
     
     

The Wheel – Integration of all six riches into a cohesive, supportive whole.

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 [email protected]

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

This episode starts off a new series on the Six Paramitas (Transcendent Actions). 

Focusing on the first paramita: generosity, I share how this quality—often misunderstood as mere niceness or material giving—is actually the foundation for waking up,  finding sanity, and increasing the sanity of this world. 

I talk about three forms of generosity:

• Ordinary generosity – Giving material things with an open heart
  
  
• The gift of dharma – Sharing wisdom in a humble, useful way
  
  
• The gift of fearlessness – Helping others feel stronger and less alone, often through the simple act of listening
  
  
  

Highlights:

• Why generosity is the gateway to all other Paramitas
  
  
• How practicing generosity transforms the way people respond to you
  
  
• What it really means to lead with offering, rather than seeking
  
  
• A beautiful, powerful definition of listening: “When you stop thinking your thoughts and start thinking mine.” –Catherine MacCoun
  
  
• Practical ways to embody generosity in daily life—emails, conversations, arguments, and more
  
  

As always, don’t take my word for any of this—reflect on these teachings yourself, and see what arises.

This is a rich and grounding episode for anyone interested in living more deeply, whether or not you identify as Buddhist.

Next week, I’ll share about the second paramita, discipline (Shila), or how to stay intentional without becoming rigid.

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 [email protected]

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

In this new episode, I explore what it actually means to become a Buddhist through the Refuge Vow. Potentially misunderstood as a formality or an unnecessary label, I discuss the spiritual and practical significance of the vow.

Refuge is taken in the Three Jewels—Buddha (awakening), Dharma (wisdom/path), and Sangha (community). What do they mean? I also share about my own journey in taking the vow in 1993, how I was trained and given permission to offer the vow myself, and the internal changes that often follow taking the vow.

Taking refuge isn't about labeling yourself—it's about recognizing a path you're already on.

Highlights:

• What the Refuge Vow actually is—and isn’t
  
  
• The meaning and power of the Three Jewels
  
  
• When (and if) you know you're ready to take the vow
  
  
• Personal stories of transformation, doubt, and commitment
  
  
• How taking the vow changes your relationship with life

“The best time to take the Refuge Vow is when it simply feels like a recognition of something that has already happened.”

Resources & Links:

• Visit Susan’s Substack & continue the conversation: Susan Piver on Substack
  
  
• Learn more or join her community: The Open Heart Project
  
  
• Mentioned in podcast: Episode 8: Who Can You Trust in the Spiritual World?

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 [email protected]

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

In today’s episode, I take a deep dive into the meditation questions I’ve been asked the most over the past three decades—as a student, as a teacher, and now, as someone who teaches others to teach.

We talk about the real stuff. The messy, wonderful, confusing, luminous questions that arise when you sit down on your cushion and meet your own mind.

Highlights:

1. “Why can’t I stop thinking?”
    You’re not supposed to. That’s not a failure—it’s reality. Thoughts are not the enemy.
   
   
   
2. “Why do we keep our eyes open during practice?”
    Eyes open helps us stay here, in this life, not some special spiritual realm. We’re not retreating. We’re engaging—with softness and awareness.
   
   
   
3. “I feel like I’m hyperventilating… or I’m weirdly obsessed with my breath or eyes—what’s happening?”
    You’re just noticing more. That wide open space you’ve created isn’t empty—it’s your awareness. And yes, it’ll settle.
   
   
   
4. “What if I have a really good idea during meditation?”
    The real answer is: call it thinking, let go, return to the breath. But… I also share my (slightly quirky) workaround involving my thumbs.
   
   
   
5. “Can meditation help with depression, anxiety, or trauma?”
    This is an important and delicate topic. Meditation is not a cure-all, and it is essential to proceed gently, and ideally with guidance from a trusted healthcare provider.
   
   
   
6. “I’m overwhelmed by feelings when I meditate. Isn’t this supposed to calm me down?”
    Not always. Sometimes the most compassionate choice is to not meditate. Or to gently make your feeling—rather than your breath—the object of attention.
   
   
   
7. “How do I know if I’m doing it right?”
    Because, let’s face it, it feels boring. But the answer is not on the cushion—it’s in your life. Are you more kind? More patient? More real? Then yes, you’re doing it right.

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 [email protected]

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

In this episode, I explore a classical teaching throughout the Buddhist world, The Four Reminders, also known as the Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind to the Dharma. When I first heard them, I thought how can I forget what I just heard?! Turns out, I can’t. Warning: once you hear them, you can’t unhear them either. They are at once brutal and deeply compassionate. Much like life itself. 

Highlights:

• The Four Thoughts are uncomfortable but essential contemplations that help you see with what truly matters. They are:
  • Precious Human Birth – It's rare and valuable simply to be here. If one person in your line had done something different, you would not be you!
  • Impermanence and Death – Death is real (but only 100% of the time) and comes without warning.
  • Karma is real – Actions have results, whether or not in this lifetime.
  • Samsara is an ocean of unavoidable suffering. Sure, there are also great things, but even they come with suffering because they all eventually dissolve.
• Remembering these truths can turn your mind toward wisdom, compassion, and a life of generosity.
• Even if you don't identify as Buddhist, these reflections can offer clarity in how to live more deliberately and kindly.

With personal stories and my best insights, I hope to share how remembering these truths can shift your priorities and bring you back to what matters most.

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 [email protected]

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

In this episode, I explore the tension between spiritual teachings on egolessness and the deeply personal need for self-understanding. I talk about how meditation reveals both the illusion of self and the reality of who we are. I also share how the Enneagram—a system of personality types—has been an invaluable tool for fostering compassion and clarity in myself and my relationships.

Highlights:

1. The Problem with Egolessness

• Teachings on “no self” can feel like a shaming of personal identity.
  
  
  
• Meditation helps us see both our egoless nature and our genuine self.
  
  

2. Meditation as Friendship with Self

• Encourages self-awareness and emotional honesty.
  
  

3. The Enneagram as a Spiritual Tool

• Describes 9 personality types; not limiting but illuminating.
  
  
  
• Helps identify personal patterns and build self-compassion.
  
  
  
• Integrated with Buddhist values like loving-kindness.
  
  

4. Three Enneagram Frameworks to Understand Yourself and Others

• Centers of Intelligence:
  
  
  • Mental: Thinkers → anxiety under stress.
    
    
    
  • Gut: Intuitive types → anger under stress.
    
    
    
  • Heart: Emotional types → neediness or withdrawal under stress.
    
    
• Instinctual Drives:
  
  
  • Self-preservation: Focused on safety and comfort.
    
    
    
  • Social: Motivated by group belonging.
    
    
    
  • One-to-One: Seeks deep personal connection.
    
    
• Stress Responses (Karen Horney’s model):
  
  
  • Toward: Seeks harmony.
    
    
    
  • Against: Confronts conflict.
    
    
    
  • Away: Withdraws from tension.
    
    

Understanding your own wiring—how you think, feel, relate, and react—is not a detour from spiritual growth, but part of its foundation. Tools like the Enneagram, when combined with meditation, become powerful aids in cultivating compassion for yourself and others. True spiritual insight begins with self-acceptance.

For more on the enneagram from a Buddhist perspective, check out my book, The Buddhist Enneagram: Nine Paths to Warriorship.

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 [email protected]

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

In this very, very crazy world, it’s easy to feel powerless. But from my decades of Buddhist practice, I've learned that it’s not just an inside job– you can actually arrange your outer world to give you strength.

1. Clean Up Your Space I know this sounds like a scold but it isn’t. When you walk into chaos, you feel chaotic. When you walk into a space that's been tended to—not perfect, just cared for—you feel elegant. Your care then perfumes the environment.

2. Wear Nice Clothes Not fancy or expensive—just clean clothes that you actually like. When you pick something off the floor (and we all do this sometimes), you're already starting your day feeling a little defeated. But when you choose something you love—the color, the fabric, how it makes you feel—you're clothing yourself with respect.

3. Eat Good Food This isn't about being vegan or gluten-free or whatever diet advice everyone's shouting about. It's about getting the best quality you can afford and eating it with kindness toward yourself. If you want smoothies, get good ingredients. If you want a cocktail, make it carefully. Appreciate the details that go into preparation and clean-up. Most important, as best you can, relax aggression (from self or others) about food.

4. Spend Time with People Who See You Clearly We all have people who make us feel small—your boss, that difficult sibling, the friend you don't know how to break up with. Minimize time spent with such people, as you are able to do so. Maximize time with people who, when you look at yourself through their eyes, you see someone lovely and smart and kind. That's very empowering.

5. Connect with the Natural World When I swim at Barton Springs here in Austin, even in the midst of Texas political insanity, I remember that there's a power at work that has its own logic, that doesn't care what I think. Being part of something larger—even feeling small in it—is actually delightful.

Friends, these aren't just good habits. They're ways to create a world that holds you, that gives you strength instead of requiring you to manufacture it from scratch every single day. And right now, when everything feels shaken, that might be exactly what we need.

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 [email protected]

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

In this episode, I take a deep dive into a topic that a lot of people (myself included) find confusing; what does it mean to be egoless? Drawing from my 30+ years of experience, I share my own issues with the call to transcend ego within the Western cultural backdrop of individualism, shame, and self-judgment.

Key Points:

"Ego as the enemy" can reinforce cultural self-shaming:  Broadly speaking, we are wired to monitor, scrutinize and “fix” our flaws and mitigate our failings. This kind of self-focus in our culture makes it easy to see so-called ego as a problem to solve and our very own self as an obstacle on the journey.

Relating to our wounds and pursuing spiritual insight are not mutually exclusive:  Both are essential and can coexist.

Meditation fosters receptivity, not self-improvement: Rather than fall into the trap of using meditation to solve your problems, allow your practice to make the space for the wisdom that’s already a part of you. It will arise naturally.

Egolessness is about openness, not self-denial: Genuine egolessness is not about prioritizing everyone else and abandoning yourself entirely. Our practice of letting go, being present; this is more helpful when it comes to realizing egolessness. It’s not about forcing yourself out; rather, it’s about being with what is (you are a part of what is) and receiving the love, wisdom, and insight that reveal rather than force egolessness. 

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 [email protected]

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project

In this episode, I share my personal adaptation of Buddhist principles for relationships, "The Four Noble Truths of Love." Drawing from my own 26-year marriage and moments of deep disconnection, I talk about how Buddhist wisdom helped me navigate challenges. 

Key Points include:

Love Affairs vs. Relationships: There is a fundamental difference between love affairs (characterized by romance, intensity, desire, and perhaps some drama) and relationships (characterized by intimacy, closeness, deep knowing, and sometimes irritation).

The Buddha’s Four Noble Truths

1. Life is suffering/unsatisfying
2. Grasping causes suffering
3. There is a cessation of suffering
4. The Noble Eightfold Path

The Four Noble Truths of Love (made up by me)

1. Relationships never stabilize (what?!)
2. Thinking they should stabilize creates instability
3. Meeting the instability together is love
4. Viewing all disconnects (barring abuse of any kind)  as ways to deepen intimacy helps

For more on this topic, check out my book,  The Four Noble Truths of Love 

NOTE: We'll be taking a two-week break. The Buddhism Beyond Belief Podcast will return with a new episode on June 13. Mwah!

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 [email protected]

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien

©Open Heart Project