Buddhism Beyond Belief with Susan Piver
Susan Piver 63 episodes Nov 6, 2026
Buddhism Beyond Belief is a podcast hosted by Susan Piver, a longtime student of Tibetan Buddhism and founder of the Open Heart Project meditation community. The show explores traditional Buddhist teachings like the four noble truths and six paramitas, but focuses on making them personally relevant for everyday life. It emphasizes meditation as a spiritual practice for self-discovery rather than self-improvement, moving beyond scientific studies and celebrity endorsements.
Episodes
True Compassion: Beyond Being a Nice Person
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I talk about the two kinds of compassion in Buddhist teachings: relative and absolute. Relative compassion starts with letting ourselves feel what we feel, including anger, sorrow, and frustration. When we soften toward our own experience, we genuinely soften to others and how this softening can expand and expand into the territory of absolute compassion. I tell th
The Five Precepts: A Buddhist Practice for Everyday Life
Send us Fan MailThe Five Buddhist precepts may sound straightforward, even familiar: don’t kill, steal, lie, engage in inappropriate sexual conduct, or use intoxicants. But there is more to these standards of behavior than what you read on the surface. I explore how the precepts invite us to pay attention to what sustains or diminishes life, how we treat others, and the many ways we distract ourse
Seeing Ourselves and Others Through the Five Buddha Families
Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Buddhism Beyond Belief, I explore The Five Buddha Families, a mandala that maps five forms of wisdom and their corresponding expressions of confusion. From the sharp precision of Vajra to the spacious awareness of Buddha, each family offers a way to understand our own patterns, recognize the gifts and challenges in ourselves and others, and cultivate greater comp
The Atlantic Meditation Article: Does Meditation Have a “Dark Side”?
Send us Fan MailA 2026 Atlantic article explored “The Dark Side of Mindfulness.” They published a similar article in 2014 that also discussed negative results from meditation practice, “The Dark Knight of the Soul”. (Not sure why “knight” was used, tbh.) In this episode, I look at both articles and talk about the risks that I’ve seen arise, not from meditation per se, but from meditation practic
The Whole Buddhist Path in Four Sentences
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I look at The Four Dharmas of Gampopa, four short sentences I've recited as part of my daily Buddhist practice for more than thirty years. Together they sketch the whole path: connecting my mind with truth, deepening realization, clarifying confusion, and finding that confusion is not separate from wisdom. You certainly don't need to be a Buddhist to expl
Your Space Shapes Your Mind
Send us Fan MailHow we arrange our outer world can have a surprising effect on our inner state. In this episode, I talk about how creating an environment of stability, simplicity, and respect for objects can help us meet a difficult world with more confidence and strength. I share four simple ways to work with our environment: creating a ritual, caring for our space, wearing clothes that feel good
Pacify, Transform, Discover: A Buddhist Guide to Difficult Emotions
Send us Fan MailHow do we work with strong emotions when the world feels frightening, divided, and uncertain? I look at three Buddhist approaches to difficult emotions: pacifying them, recognizing them as gateways to compassion, and discovering the wisdom within them. The key is learning to let go of the story and feel the feeling.Highlights:Three Buddhist approaches to working with strong emotion
Conversation with Samuel Bercholz, founder of Shambhala Publications and my meditation teacher, Part Three
Send us Fan MailIn Part Three of my conversation with my longtime teacher and spiritual friend Sam Bercholz, we talk about the strange and wonderful ways teachers can enter our lives, and how meditation can help us become more receptive to what is already here. We talk about devotion, wakefulness, Buddhist deities, and faith as something we investigate and put into practice rather than simply beli
Conversation with Samuel Bercholz, founder of Shambhala Publications and my meditation teacher, Part Two
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I continue my conversation with Sam Bercholz. We talk about bringing the dharma into the modern West without reducing it to either cultural imitation or scientific validation. We discuss the three yanas, emptiness and fullness, egolessness, and devotion. Sam shares a way to understand devotion as appreciation for wakefulness and a willingness to be guided by someon
Conversation with Samuel Bercholz, founder of Shambhala Publications and my meditation teacher, Part One
Send us Fan MailI talk with my longest time spiritual friend, Samuel Bercholz, founder of Shambhala Publications and author of the new book, Rude Awakenings. It was written at the request of his second root teacher, Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, who asked Sam to write a book containing everything he learned from his first root teacher, the great and mysterious Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. For me, this book
Three Ways to Work With Heartbreak: Part Three
Send us Fan MailHeartbreak can make our usual strategies for managing pain useless. It can also show us what is true about being human: everything changes, everything ends, and love is precious because it cannot be held onto. In this episode, I look at how heartbreak itself can become part of the spiritual path.Highlights:Bringing heartbreak to the path without trying to turn it into a lessonHow i
Three Ways to Work With Heartbreak: Part Two
Send us Fan MailWhen heartbreak is overwhelming, the instinct is often to make it stop. But what if the practice is not to fix what we're feeling, but to learn how to be with it? In this episode, I continue looking at three ways Buddhism offers us a path through heartbreak. The second way is practicing loving-kindness.Highlights:Learning to make space for a racing mind instead of trying to sh
Three Ways to Work With Heartbreak: Part One
Send us Fan MailHeartbreak is something we have the tendency to want to get rid of as quickly as possible. But some heartbreaks cannot be “fixed” or hurried. In this episode, I look at how Buddhist teachings can help us when heartbreak has a life of its own. We start with the mind: learning to be with what is happening rather than trying to change it. Meditation is a way to let the mind settle nat
Learning is Remembering: The Outer, Inner, and Secret Teachers
Send us Fan MailHow do we recognize a true teacher? In this episode I talk about the outer teacher, the inner teacher, and the secret teacher. Along the way I share a story from teaching the Heart Sutra, reflect on an unexpected lesson about joy, and use a piece of music to show how wisdom can reach us through content, direct experience, and the context in which it all unfolds.Highlights:What the
Meditation: An Act of Rebellion
Send us Fan MailIt's no secret that many forces are competing for your attention, especially online. Some are noble and righteous. Some are not. Trying to track it all is...exhausting.The need for boundaries around our hearts and minds has never been more important. We must preserve our energy so that we can continue to care, dream, and love.Meditation helps establish mental and emotional bou
How Do You Help Someone Who is Dying?
Send us Fan MailThis is a shorter episode, recorded while my family and I accompany my mother through hospice care. I reflect on an instruction I received when I first learned to meditate: resting more fully on the out breath than the in breath. As I prepare to be with my mother at the end of her life, that instruction has taken on new meaning. I share a few experiences that have shaped how I unde
What is Emptiness?
Send us Fan MailWhat does "emptiness" actually mean in Buddhism? It is one of the most misunderstood teachings, often taken to mean nothingness or the absence of meaning. In this episode, I discuss emptiness through the Zen koan "Mu," a personal story of heartbreak, and the Buddhist understanding that we are not separate from one another. Rather than pointing to a void, emptine
Four Reminders that Deepen Spiritual Practice
Send us Fan MailThis week I share one of the central teachings in Tibetan Buddhist practice: the Four Reminders that turn the mind toward the dharma. I had a recent conversation with Lama Sonam Rinpoche who said to me multiple times in the course of a few hour conversation: there is no more important teaching than this. In this episode, I try to offer some insights into why a great Lama might say
How to Live as a Mystic
Send us Fan MailIt’s episode 60! A perfect place to reach a summation of my new book, Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics which posits that meditation is not about becoming a better version of yourself. It is a spiritual practice that opens you to the three qualities of the awakened mind: wisdom, compassion, and power. How do these qualities arise from sitting there, doing “nothing”? All I
We Dream on Behalf of Others: Presence, Agency, and Staying Sane
Send us Fan MailThis episode picks up on the sixth principle of spiritual practice from my new book, Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics: We Dream on Behalf of Others. Meditation protects our minds from the incessant barrage of those who seek our attention, whether for good or, most probably, for ill. Great forces are vying for agency over your thoughts right now. I hope that doesn’t sound
The Inexplicable Magic of Cleaning Up After Yourself
Send us Fan Mail“The first rule of magic is containment,” said the great Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way and many other books. This points to the idea that the world we live in changes the way our minds and hearts work. The more uplifted our world, beginning with our actual home, the more potency we have in our spiritual quest. Why? It’s magic? In this episode, I explore the fifth princ
The Importance of Spiritual Boundaries
Send us Fan MailThe spiritual path asks you to open up, and the more you do so, the more you feel everything: your tenderness, things you’ve been avoiding, your deepest longings. It’s important to stay open to all of this but being open takes judgment. I know people say you shouldn’t judge but I say, hell yes, you’ve got to judge. The deepening vulnerability of the journey requires discernment and
The Wisdom of a Broken Heart
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I explore one of the most persistent misunderstandings about meditation: that it is supposed to make you feel better. From my experience, meditation does not numb heartbreak or smooth out emotional life. It opens us more fully to our experience. I talk about why vulnerability is not a failure of practice, but a sign that something real is happening. I also share th
The Way is Personal
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I reflect on a recent meditation and writing retreat where participants explored grief, heartbreak, violence, loss, and the experiences that shape us most deeply. I talk about why the personal is not an obstacle to spiritual practice but the very material of the path itself. I explore how teachings on egolessness can become distorted into self-erasure, and why real
Ritual Sustains Spiritual Practice
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I explore why spiritual practice becomes sustainable through ritual, not force. I share the story of a month-long meditation retreat where I discovered an unexpected sense of ease in both meditation and writing, and how that experience led me to begin teaching meditation and writing retreats myself. I also introduce the first principle from my new book, Inexplicabl
Starting Over: Meditation for Mystics
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I reflect on a recent conversation in the Open Heart Project sangha about scientific research on meditation. Yes, meditation can improve brain function and mood. But if we stop there, we may miss the point.There’s a much older, deeper body of “research” drawn from lived experience over thousands of years. Meditation is not just about feeling better. It’s about waki
Do Buddhists Pray?
Send us Fan MailHere is a new episode after an unexpected pause. I’m moving to a new house and that has stirred disorientation, emotional complexity, and a break from familiar patterns. The truth is, I just didn’t know if I had anything of use to say. Also, I was in a bad mood? Needy! It happens! It turns out that this unsettled place provided a good context to consider a question raised in our Op
Recap: The Noble Eightfold Path
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I bring all eight steps of the Noble Eightfold Path together. This teaching is a way of living, not a project of self-improvement. This is about how we relate to experience and how that shapes suffering or freedom.HighlightsRight ViewSeeing clearly begins in the present moment.Meditation helps us loosen our grip on thoughts and recognize we don’t truly know.What we
The Noble Eightfold Path: Step Eight: Right Samadhi
Send us Fan MailThis week we arrive at the final step of the Noble Eightfold Path: Right Samadhi, often translated as concentration or absorption. If the earlier steps help us see clearly and act with intention, this final step gathers the mind into a unified experience.Right Samadhi is not about forcing the mind to focus. It begins with learning to place attention on one thing and come back when
The Noble Eightfold Path: Step Seven: Right Mindfulness
Send us Fan MailThis week we explore Right Mindfulness, the seventh step of the Noble Eightfold Path. While the earlier steps shape how we see and act in the world, this step turns us inward again, toward our direct experience.Right Mindfulness is not about self-improvement or optimization. It is a way of relating to the mind as it is. Through meditation, we begin to see that thoughts are not a pr
The Noble Eightfold Path: Step Six: Right Effort
Send us Fan MailThis week we explore Right Effort, the sixth step of the Noble Eightfold Path. While the earlier steps guide how we understand reality and how we act in the world, Right Effort begins to turn inward. It concerns how we work with our own mind and inner life.Right Effort does not mean pushing harder or forcing yourself to improve. It begins with a commitment not to give up on yoursel
A Powerful New Take on the Enneagram (from my new book)
Send us Fan MailThis episode, we pause our exploration of the Noble Eightfold Path before returning next week with Right Effort.This week, Shambhala Publications (my favorite publisher) is reissuing my book, The Buddhist Enneagram. I’m so proud this is happening and I wanted to take this chance to share thoughts on the two wisdom streams that have shaped my life for more than three decades: the Bu
The Noble Eightfold Path: Step Five: Right Livelihood
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I explore Right Livelihood, the fifth step on the Noble Eightfold Path. We began with Right View and Right Intention, then moved into speech and action. Now we turn to how we earn a living. It may sound ordinary, but the way we work, relate, and exchange value in the world can either bind us more tightly or support liberation. I share three lenses from the Buddhist
The Noble Eightfold Path: Step Four: Right Action
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I explore Right Action, the fourth step on the Noble Eightfold Path. We begin with Right View and Right Intention, then move outward into speech. Now we take those steps into how we live and act in the world. Right Action is not a fixed rulebook. It is nuanced, relational, and always evolving. I share three lenses from the Buddhist tradition that help us investigat
The Noble Eightfold Path: Step Three: Right Speech
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I explore the third step of the Noble Eightfold Path, Right Speech, and why it might more accurately be called Right Listening. I begin with a story about the so-called “Marcus Syndrome”, the habit of using someone else’s speaking time to prepare your reply. From there, I revisit Right View and Right Intention, and how the way we hold our inner world naturally shap
The Noble Eightfold Path: Step Two: The Power of Intention
Send us Fan MailWhen I first started my own business years ago, I was full of doubt, excitement, fear, and hope, often all at the same time. Out of nowhere, a major opportunity landed in my lap that could have launched everything forward. There was just one problem. I did not respect the work of the person offering it. In this episode, I reflect on that moment and how a single sentence from my med
The Noble Eightfold Path: Step One: Seeing Clearly
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I begin a conversation about the Fourth Noble Truth, the Noble Eightfold Path, and its first step, Right View. I review the first three Noble Truths and reflect on how Buddhism is often misunderstood as a tool for stress reduction, when it is actually a profound path of liberation from suffering. I explore how suffering arises not simply from loss or disappointment
Strength in a Time of Crisis: What Helps?
Send us Fan MailThis 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 w
Four Karmas: Actions That Protect the Mind
Send us Fan MailIn 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
Three Qualities of Awakening
Send us Fan MailAs 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 projec
Inexplicable Magic: An Excerpt From My Upcoming Book
Send us Fan MailFor the final episode of the year, I am sharing a short excerpt from a book I am writing called Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics. This work grows directly out of the heart of this podcast and its focus on how we actually live–not as monastic meditators, but as householders.In this excerpt, I reflect on the Buddha’s awakening and on meditation as it was originally understo
Buddhism and the Four Immeasurable Qualities
Send us Fan MailAs we close out a year many of us are ready to leave behind, this episode reflects on what we might want to carry forward—and what we can gently let go of. I explore the Buddhist teaching of the brahmavihāras, or Four Immeasurables, as a way of giving our hearts a place to live that is honest, resilient, and humane.The Four Immeasurables—loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy
The Way of Listening: Songs That Stayed With Me
Send us Fan MailIn today’s episode, I’m doing something a little different. Lately I’ve been ending each show with what I called the Podcast After-Party—I share a song I love, along with a few words about why it matters to me. I never meant it to be anything formal. It was simply a delight, a way of sharing the music that has struck some essential chord in my life (no pun intended).I’m not a schol
When Practice Isn’t Enough: A Buddhist Look at Panic
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I speak directly to a question I’m often asked: what can we do when anxiety or panic takes over? While many people associate Buddhism with calming the mind, the path is far more layered than stress reduction. Sometimes the most skillful response is not meditation but something far more ordinary and tender.I share my own experience with severe panic attacks—episodes
Lessons on Right Speech from a Chaotic Morning
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I explore what I believe to be one of the most urgent Buddhist teachings for our current moment: Right Speech. Many people associate Buddhism with stress reduction or calming the mind, and while those benefits are real, the path is far more robust. It offers a way to wake up, to see clearly, and to live everyday life with more meaning, compassion, and courage.I als
Keeping Practice Sacred (Without Getting Weird)
Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Buddhism Beyond Belief, I explore how we can keep our meditation practice genuinely spiritual without making it complicated, performative, or “weird.” After more than thirty years of practice, I’ve learned that depth comes from sincerity, not technique. The simplest form of meditation—just sitting—can open profound dimensions of patience, clarity, confusion, auth
The Seven Characteristics of a Dharmic Person
Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Buddhism Beyond Belief, I explore how we truly enter the path—not through esoteric or “advanced” practices, but by grounding ourselves in simple awareness and presence. After more than thirty years of practice and teaching, I’ve come to see that depth in meditation isn’t about complexity. It’s about sincerity—how fully we can find our breath, sit with our mind, a
A Guided 10-Minute Meditation Practice (plus music)
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I offer a guided meditation and explore what it really means to not be trying—not striving to get somewhere, even in practice. Rather than exerting effort or resisting, meditation invites us to let go again and again and rest in a state of receptivity.We look at how love, insight, and creativity are not things we can get, but things we receive, and how meditation t
Transcending Insanity, Part Six: True Wisdom
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I explore the sixth and final pāramitā—prajna, or wisdom—the one beyond words and concepts. True wisdom isn’t about knowledge but about recognizing the interdependence of all things and walking the Middle Way between eternalism (“something lasts forever”) and nihilism (“nothing matters”).We revisit the first five pāramitās—generosity, discipline, patience, exertion
Meditation is for Mystics (it’s not a life hack)
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I talk about something that’s been making me a little grumpy: how meditation is often reduced to stress relief. While that’s a real benefit, it misses the deeper purpose — waking up to reality itself in order to be of benefit to others.Meditation isn’t a self-improvement plan. It’s a path of presence — one that begins with self-awareness but is meant to open outwar
Buddhism and the Enneagram (with a musical aside)
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I share why I wrote The Buddhist Enneagram and how two life-changing systems—the Buddha Dharma and the Enneagram—can support your journey toward wisdom, compassion, and self-understanding.Contrary to common views of Buddhism as merely stress relief, I explore its deeper invitation: to live more fully, to wake up, and to meet life with an open heart. The Enneagram,
The Antidote to Anxiety: A Buddhist View (With Drugs)
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I share something very personal and deeply resonant for the times we’re living in: how we vacillate between hope and fear, and how the Buddhist path invites us to wake up beyond either one. Also, drugs. Just gotta say that right up front. We often think of mindfulness or meditation practice as a way to feel better, to reduce stress or calm down—and while those bene
How to Choose a Meditation Teacher
Send us Fan MailThinking about working with a meditation teacher? It’s a powerful step—but how do you choose the right one?In this episode, I offer a framework based on the three Yanas (vehicles) of Buddhist practice. Each path reflects a different view of meditation—and can help you clarify the kind of guidance you need.Three Yanas, Three Teaching Styles1. Hinayana – The Foundational PathBest if
Transcending Insanity, Part Five: Meditative Absorption
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I explore the fifth of the six paramitas, or transcendent actions of the bodhisattva path: Meditative Absorption—sometimes just called meditation.But this isn’t your typical “sit on the cushion and follow your breath” kind of conversation. We go deeper into what it means to live meditation—to carry the practice off the cushion and into our everyday experience.Highl
A Rebroadcast of Our First Episode – “On Meditation: An Uncommon View”
Send us Fan MailI'm away this week, so we're revisiting the very first episode of the podcast. Originally titled “On Meditation: An Uncommon View,” it now becomes episode 25.Meditation is often framed as a self-help tool—to reduce stress, manage pain, improve sleep, or boost performance. And yes, science supports all of that. But the original intention, as taught by the Buddha, was somet
Transcending Insanity, Part Four: Exertion
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I dive into the fourth of the six paramitas, or transcendent actions, from the classical Buddhist teachings: exertion. If you’ve been following along with our exploration of the first three—generosity, discipline, and patience—you’ll know these aren’t lofty ideals but practical ways to bring dharma off the cushion and into real life.Here, we go deep into what exert
Transcending Insanity, Part Three: Patience
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, I move on in our exploration of the Six Paramitas (“transcendent actions”) to the third paramita: patience.There is a common misconception that patience means tolerating bad behavior or remaining silent in the face of harm. Instead, patience is a profound and active spiritual practice that can help us transcend aggression and stay present with reality as it unfolds
Transcending Insanity Part Two: Discipline
Send us Fan MailThis 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
Seven Sources of True Wealth
Send us Fan MailIn 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 semi
Transcending Insanity, Part One: Generosity (the Virtue that Produces Peace)
Send us Fan MailThis 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
Choosing the Buddhist Path: How and Why
Send us Fan MailIn 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
The 7 Most Frequently Asked Questions About Meditation
Send us Fan MailIn 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:“Why can’t I stop thinkin
Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind to the Dharma
Send us Fan MailIn 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 its
Egolessness, Self-Kindness & the Buddhist Enneagram
Send us Fan MailIn 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
Five Suggestions for Primordial Confidence
Send us Fan MailIn 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
The Problem with Egolessness
Send us Fan MailIn 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-shami
The Four Noble Truths of Love
Send us Fan MailIn 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 (characte
Buddhist Cosmology: The Six Realms of Being
Send us Fan MailWhich 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 wh
Meditation, Rage, and Other Strong Emotions
Send us Fan MailWhy 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 descr
Why You’re Not Meditating Consistently (and What to Do About It)
Send us Fan MailIn 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 HardIt’s not about will
True Compassion or Idiot Compassion?
Send us Fan MailIn 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 – tryi
Who Can You Trust in the Spiritual World?
Send us Fan MailTrusting 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
Inexplicable Joy: Emptiness, Compassion, and the Heart Sutra, Part 2
Send us Fan MailIn 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 ep
Inexplicable Joy: Emptiness, Compassion, and the Heart Sutra, Part 1
Send us Fan MailIn 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
The Four Noble Truths and the Middle Way: Foundations of the Journey
Send us Fan MailThe Buddha’s Early Life & AwakeningSiddhartha 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 th
The Broken Hearted Meditator
Send us Fan MailPerhaps contrary to popular belief, meditation does not make us feel all zen. Rather, it actually makes us feel more deeply.Discussed in this episode:Meditation Heightens Emotions – It doesn’t numb feelings but makes them more vivid.Trauma-Sensitivity is Important – Meditation can help with grief and sorrow but may amplify trauma. The practice should be handled with great care.Opti
On Road Rage and Compassion
Send us Fan MailIn this (embarrassing) episode, long-time Buddhist practitioner Susan Piver describes an episode of road rage (her own) and the moment her rage turned into compassion. Spoiler: it has nothing to do with remembering Buddhist principles and everything to do with simply being human. Discussed in this episode:What are the Four Immeasurables?Loving-kindness – Recognizing our shared huma
How to Meditate (and Avoid the Biggest Misconceptions)
Send us Fan MailThis episode provides a deep and practical exploration of meditation, defines meditation as something more than mindfulness, it also includes awareness. Common misconceptions are enumerated. The key takeaway is that meditation is not about achieving a specific state but about learning to be with yourself as you are, with openness and curiosity. Includes a 10-minute guided meditatio
On Meditation: An Uncommon View
Send us Fan MailMeditation is most often described as a self-help technique that will support you to improve performance, reduce stress, manage pain, and sleep better. All of this is true. Thank you, science! However, as first transmitted by the Buddha, the practice was not described in any such terms. Rather, it was offered as a way to wake up from suffering, realize true wisdom, extend compassio
Teaser: Buddhism Beyond Belief with Susan Piver
Send us Fan MailBuddhism Beyond Belief is a podcast from Susan Piver, a 30 year student of Tibetan Buddhism and founder of the Open Heart Project, an online meditation community with close to 20000 members.With Susan as a friend and guide, we will look at traditional teachings like the four noble truths and the six paramitas–but not from an academic standpoint. Rather, we will talk about how to ma
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