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The Grateful Podcast with Jack Wagoner
Episode 65
Guesting Susan Piver
What if meditation wasn’t about fixing yourself—but about discovering who you truly are?
In this soul-expanding episode of The Grateful Podcast, Jack Wagoner sits down with Susan Piver, bestselling author, longtime Buddhist practitioner, and founder of the Open Heart Project, the world’s largest virtual mindfulness community. Together, they explore the magic of meditation—not as a productivity tool, but as a profound path toward truth, love, self-compassion, and awakening.
They unravel the paradox of non-attachment in a goal-obsessed culture, reframe suffering through the Buddhist lens of dukkha, and dive into the difference between improving yourself and becoming yourself. If you’ve ever felt like meditation was supposed to calm you down—but instead opened something deeper—you are not alone.
This is not your typical “5 tips to meditate better” kind of conversation. This is a re-enchantment of mindfulness. A reminder that presence is magic. That sitting quietly might be the most rebellious, loving act in a noisy world.
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⏱️ Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro: Who is Susan Piver?
01:38 – “If attachment is suffering, how do we pursue anything?”
06:25 – The Western misunderstanding of meditation
11:04 – Dukkha as dissatisfaction, not suffering
14:12 – What is meditation really asking of us?
18:30 – When data flattens the soul of the practice
22:41 – The danger of meditating with an agenda
27:20 – Can American meditators call themselves Buddhists?
31:18 – What does it mean to live without a self?
35:55 – Meditation as a path to love, not self-improvement
39:02 – “You don’t need to know”: Wisdom in unknowing
42:30 – Final reflections on joy, truth, and the path ahead
🧘♀️ Follow Susan Piver
Website: https://susanpiver.com
The Open Heart Project: https://openheartproject.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susan.piver
Books: The Wisdom of a Broken Heart, Start Here Now, The Four Noble Truths of Love
📺 Watch the full episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/JcAf9zKsmyE
Subscribe for more deep conversations with thinkers, seekers, and soulful creators. 🙏
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🧠 More from Jack:
Newsletter (Magic, Meaning & Momentum): https://magic.beehiiv.com/v1/aa6b0945-43aa-43c8-b320-0fde6998f852?email=%7B%7Bemail%7D%7D
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jack_wagoner_/
1:1 Coaching & Dream-Chasing Guidance: [email protected]
💬 If you found this conversation meaningful, send it to a friend and leave a review. It really helps more people find this kind of soul-nourishing content.
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🎙️ About Jack:
I’m an 18-year-old high school student with a big dream: to show the world that you can be grateful and ambitious at the same time. Through The Grateful Podcast, I explore what it means to live a meaningful life—one deep conversation at a time.
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🧠 More from Jack:
► Website: https://jackwagoner.co
► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jack_wagoner_/
► 1:1 Coaching: [email protected]
📺 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jack_Wagoner
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🎙️ About Jack:
I moved to France alone at 16, started my first business at 17, and launched this podcast because I kept meeting people who had the answers to questions I didn't even know I was asking. My philosophy: you can set massive goals while being deeply fulfilled right now. That's the duality of gratitude and ambition.
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Stay grateful, stay hungry.
