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Send us Fan Mail How 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 to us, and eating food that nourishes us. Highlights: Why working with our environment influences how we work with our mindsCreating a personal ritual to connect with what mattersHow cleaning and caring for our space can restore a sense of dignityHow our clothing affects our state of mindNourishing our bodies as an expression of self-loveHow our environment can become a source of stability and strengthWatch this episode on video If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here. New Program: 7 Days of Fearless Creativity Join me and Crystal Gandrud for 7 Days of Fearless Creativity (October 18–25), a week of daily meditation and creative practice for writers, artists, and anyone with something they've been putting off making. No plan or talent required — just curiosity and a willingness to show up. Learn more and register here. My new book is now available - in print, e-book, and in audio formats Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics, is available for purchase. Explore the spiritual path through 7 principles which run counter to conventional wisdom on mindfulness.  Learn more and buy your copy here. 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 [email protected] Produced by Citizens of Sound Music by: Derek O'Brien ©Open Heart Project

Send us Fan Mail How 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 emotionsWhen stepping away is helpful, and when it becomes self-aggressionHow difficult emotions can deepen compassion for othersFinding wakefulness, focus, and wisdom within angerThe difference between experiencing a feeling and repeating its storyHow meditation trains us to bring attention back to our livesWatch this episode on video If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here. New Program: 7 Days of Fearless Creativity Join me and Crystal Gandrud for 7 Days of Fearless Creativity (October 18–25), a week of daily meditation and creative practice for writers, artists, and anyone with something they've been putting off making. No plan or talent required — just curiosity and a willingness to show up. Learn more and register here. My new book is now available - in print, e-book, and in audio formats Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics, is available for purchase. Explore the spiritual path through 7 principles which run counter to conventional wisdom on mindfulness.  Learn more and buy your copy here. 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 [email protected] Produced by Citizens of Sound Music by: Derek O'Brien ©Open Heart Project

Send us Fan Mail In 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 believe. Highlights: How Sam and I became spiritual friends more than 30 years agoRecognizing a teacher through experience rather than analysisHow meditation can make space for clearer seeingDeities as expressions of awakened qualitiesFaith as investigation, verification, and practiceWhy the Dharma is about waking up, not self-improvementMentioned in this episode Rude Awakenings: An Unconventional Guide to the Buddhist Path by Samuel Bercholz  Watch this episode on video If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here. My new book is now available - in print, e-book, and in audio formats Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics, is available for purchase. Explore the spiritual path through 7 principles which run counter to conventional wisdom on mindfulness.  Learn more and buy your copy here. 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 [email protected] Produced by Citizens of Sound Music by: Derek O'Brien ©Open Heart Project

Send us Fan Mail In 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 someone who embodies it. Stay tuned for Part Three next week.  Highlights: Why dharma does not require scientific validationThe three yanas Emptiness as fullness, not nihilismWhat egolessness actually meansDevotion as appreciation, trust, and openness to guidanceHow a teacher-student relationship forms through investigation and experienceHow Sam met Chögyam Trungpa RinpocheWhy he named his business Shambhala Publications Mentioned in this episode Rude Awakenings: An Unconventional Guide to the Buddhist Path by Samuel Bercholz Inexplicable Joy: On the Heart Sutra by Susan Piver Meditation in Action by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche Watch this episode on video If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here. My new book is now available - in print, e-book, and in audio formats Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics, is available for purchase. Explore the spiritual path through 7 principles which run counter to conventional wisdom on mindfulness.  Learn more and buy your copy here. 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 [email protected] Produced by Citizens of Sound Music by: Derek O'Brien ©Open Heart Project

Send us Fan Mail I 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 lives up to its subtitle: An Unconventional Guide to the Buddhist Path. It was written by someone who has known and published almost all of the great Buddhist (and other) masters of our lifetime, checked everyone’s sincerity and realization, and drawn, as far as I can tell, impeccable conclusions about the true dharma and who and what to trust.  I trust him deeply. In addition to his extraordinary accomplishments, he is my closest spiritual friend. Sam  taught me how to meditate more than 30 years ago and is still my meditation teacher. He gave me the refuge vow (by which one formally commits to the Buddhist Path), taught me how to give this vow, and, most importantly, introduced me to my root teacher, Tulku Thondup Rinpoche.  In this first of 3 short episodes, we talk about his beginnings as a practitioner, the centrality of Guru Rinpoche and Yeshe Tsogyal, wakefulness, lineage, and why the relationship with a teacher is so important in Vajrayana Buddhism. We also look at how to find a teacher without becoming confused by cultural forms or an individual’s charisma.  Highlights: Why did Sam write this book?Who are Guru Rinpoche and Yeshe Tsogyal and how do you invoke them?What is the 7-Line Supplication?How do you find a teacher? What qualities do you look for?The relationship between teacher, lineage, and awakened mindWhy a teacher is indispensable in Vajrayana practiceHow to investigate a potential teacher with both intelligence and heartThe difference between Buddhist teachings and the cultures in which they developedFor more on my personal thoughts about Chögyam Trungpa and other teachers who have influenced me, please listen to episode 8, “Who Can You Trust in the Spiritual World?”Mentioned in this episode:  Traleg Kyagbon Rinpoche Thinley Norbu Rinpoche Ogyen Chowang Watch this episode on video If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here. My new book is now available - in print and in audio format Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics, is available for purchase. Explore the spiritual path through 7 principles which run counter to conventional wisdom on mindfulness.  Learn more and buy your copy here. 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 [email protected] Produced by Citizens of Sound Music by: Derek O'Brien ©Open Heart Project

Send us Fan Mail Heartbreak 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 impermanence shows us the preciousness of each momentWhy heartbreak reveals our deep connection with other peopleHeartbreak as love unbound from an objectBeing with what is, without trying to change itMentioned in this episode:  My book, The Wisdom of a Broken Heart Watch this episode on video If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here. My new book is now available - in print and in audio format Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics, is available for purchase. Explore the spiritual path through 7 principles which run counter to conventional wisdom on mindfulness.  Learn more and buy your copy here. 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 [email protected] Produced by Citizens of Sound Music by: Derek O'Brien ©Open Heart Project

Send us Fan Mail When 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 shut it downWorking with the intensity of heartbreak without insisting that it disappearHow loving-kindness can turn suffering into compassionExtending our wish for relief for ourselves, those we love, strangers, difficult people, and all beingsWhy caring for others can bring back a sense of strength and agencyWatch this episode on video If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here. My new book is now available - in print and in audio format Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics, is available for purchase. Explore the spiritual path through 7 principles which run counter to conventional wisdom on mindfulness.  Learn more and buy your copy here. 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 [email protected] Produced by Citizens of Sound Music by: Derek O'Brien ©Open Heart Project

Send us Fan Mail Heartbreak 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 naturally in times of emotional upheaval. Highlights: Why some heartbreaks cannot be solved or pushed away quickly The three yanas as three different ways to work with heartbreakThe first step is learning to work with your mindWhat heartbreak can show us about love, compassion, and being of benefitMentioned in this episode:  My book, The Wisdom of a Broken Heart More on the yanas in this podcast episode, Episode 26, How to Choose a Meditation Teacher Watch this episode on video If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here. My new book is now available Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics, is available for purchase. Explore the spiritual path through 7 principles which run counter to conventional wisdom on mindfulness.  Learn more and buy your copy here. 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 [email protected] Produced by Citizens of Sound Music by: Derek O'Brien ©Open Heart Project

Send us Fan Mail How 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 outer, inner, and secret teacher represent in Buddhist practiceWhy real learning is often based in recognition rather than picking up new informationHow expectations color the voice of the inner teacherA story from a Heart Sutra retreat and an unexpected teaching on joyHow music shows three different ways of knowingWhy the outer teacher's job is to point us toward the wisdom we already haveMentioned in this episode: The Heart Sutra Watch this episode on video If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here. My new book is now available Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics, is available for purchase. Explore the spiritual path through 7 principles which run counter to conventional wisdom on mindfulness.  Learn more and buy your copy here. 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 [email protected] Produced by Citizens of Sound Music by: Derek O'Brien ©Open Heart Project

Send us Fan Mail It'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 boundaries. This is not about bypassing. It is about retaining life force to fight the good fight and respond to your world with intense clarity, compassion, and purpose. Please have a listen to this episode to learn more.  Highlights: Why meditation helps set strong mental boundariesReclaiming your attention from distraction and overwhelmHow working with the breath builds discernment and agencyWhy protecting your attention is a radical actThe difference between reacting to the world and responding on purposeHow protecting your energy lets you be of greater benefit to othersReferenced in this episode: Buddhist Cosmology: The Six Realms of Being (Episode 12) Watch this episode on video If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here. My new book is now available Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics, is available for purchase. Explore the spiritual path through 7 principles which run counter to conventional wisdom on mindfulness.  Learn more and buy your copy here. 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 [email protected] Produced by Citizens of Sound Music by: Derek O'Brien ©Open Heart Project

Send us Fan Mail This 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 understand death, presence, and what it means to simply be there when a loved one is dying. Highlights: Why my meditation practice rests on the out breathThe link between breathing out and letting goMy own near-death experience and how it colors the way I am accompanying my motherThe impossibility of knowing what is right during such moments Watch this episode on video If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here. My new book is now available Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics, is available for purchase. Explore the spiritual path through 7 principles which run counter to conventional wisdom on mindfulness.  Learn more and buy your copy here. 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 [email protected] Produced by Citizens of Sound Music by: Derek O'Brien ©Open Heart Project

Send us Fan Mail What 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, emptiness shows the fullness of all phenomena and the compassion that comes from recognizing it. Highlights: The Zen teaching of "Mu" A story of my own broken heart that pointed out the nature of emptinessWhy emptiness does not mean meaninglessnessMind as relationalThe link between emptiness and compassionWhy meditation is about more than improving your thoughtsListener Question How do you work with someone who pushes your buttons? I share Pema Chödrön's advice “to feel the feelings and drop the story,” and why staying with the felt experience can change how we relate to difficult situations. Send me your questions: You can keep the conversation going or send your reflections via Instagram DM or through our form — I’d love to include them in future episodes. Music This week's song is Along Comes Mary by The Association, a pop classic with astonishing lyrics, unforgettable harmonies, and what may be the greatest handclaps ever recorded. Mentioned in this episode: My book The Wisdom of a Broken Heart: How to Turn the Pain of a Breakup into Healing, Insight, and New Love Watch this episode on video If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here. New course: 30 Days of Dharma For 30 days, beginning September 13th, I’m offering a chance to practice all of this together with a small group of people who want to take the dharma off the cushion and into ordinary life. We'll create a personalized daily routine, meditate, study the teachings, and look at how wisdom, compassion, and power actually show up at home, at work, and in our relationships. Every participant will have one-on-one time to consult with me and my co-teacher, Crystal Gandrud, about your practice before, during, and following the program. You don't need to be a Buddhist. You only need a willingness to begin where you are and be yourself. Space is limited. Learn more here. Proclaiming Basic Sanity: Living the Bodhisattva Path Retreat  Let’s practice together in person at Drala Mountain Center, up in the Colorado Rockies, for a retreat on the bodhisattva path: what it takes to live with real courage and an open heart in the middle of our ordinary, chaotic, beautiful lives. We'll talk honestly about how to recognize and rouse basic sanity right where we already are. Everyone's welcome, and you don't need any prior meditation experience. Learn more and register. My new book is now available Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics, is available for purchase. Explore the spiritual path through 7 principles which run counter to conventional wisdom on mindfulness.  Learn more and buy your copy here. 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 [email protected] Produced by Citizens of Sound Music by: Derek O'Brien ©Open Heart Project

Send us Fan Mail This 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 such a thing.  Highlights: How the Four Reminders create a trustworthy foundation for spiritual practiceWhy your life really, really mattersHow impermanence brings clarity to everyday livingA practical way to understand karma The weird way that acknowledging suffering actually helpsHow these contemplations can deepen any meditative or contemplative practiceListener Question Can we get so focused on spirituality that we lose touch with the “real world”? I talk about the difference between real practice and spiritual bypassing, and why the path is never separate from ordinary life. Ask me a question You can send your questions via Instagram DM or through our form. Music This week's track is "Okie Dokie Stomp" by the musical miracle known as Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. Mentioned in this podcast: Episode 12, Buddhist Cosmology: The Six Realms of Being Also mentioned: great contemporary blues artist Sue Foley’s live version of Okie Dokie Stomp My new book is now available Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics, is available for purchase. Explore the spiritual path through 7 principles which run counter to conventional wisdom on mindfulness.  Learn more and buy your copy here. Watch this episode on video If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here. New course: 30 Days of Dharma For 30 days, beginning September 13th, I’m offering a chance to practice all of this together with a small group of people who want to take the dharma off the cushion and into ordinary life. We'll create a personalized daily routine, meditate, study the teachings, and look at how wisdom, compassion, and power actually show up at home, at work, and in our relationships. Every participant will have one-on-one time to consult with me and my co-teacher, Crystal Gandrud, about your practice before, during, and following the program. You don't need to be a Buddhist. You only need a willingness to begin where you are and be yourself. Space is limited. Learn more here. Proclaiming Basic Sanity: Living the Bodhisattva Path Retreat  Let’s practice together in person at Drala Mountain Center, up in the Colorado Rockies, for a retreat on the bodhisattva path: what it takes to live with real courage and an open heart in the middle of our ordinary, chaotic, beautiful lives. We'll talk honestly about how to recognize and rouse basic sanity right where we already are. Everyone's welcome, and you don't need any prior meditation experience. Learn more and register. 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 [email protected] Produced by Citizens of Sound Music by: Derek O'Brien ©Open Heart Project

Send us Fan Mail It’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 know is that millions of practitioners over thousands of years have reported that it is so.   In this episode, we look at the seven principles of living as a mystic, hiding in plain sight.  In this episode: Why meditation is a spiritual path, not a self-help projectA common misconception about meditation and how it keeps people from practicingHow your everyday life provides the perfect gateway to magicAn introduction to a Buddhist teaching, the three kāyas, and how it all relates to the magic of meditationSensing what is under the surface is just as “real” as whatever is on the surfaceHow meditation helps us relate to ourselves, others, and the worldMusic This episode closes with "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" by Blind Willie Johnson, a recording that seems to come from somewhere else.  Send your questions or reflections via Instagram DM or through our form — I’d love to include them in future episodes. My new book is now available Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics, is available for purchase. Explore the spiritual path through 7 principles which run counter to conventional wisdom on mindfulness.  Learn more and buy your copy here. Watch this episode on video If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here. New course: 30 Days of Dharma For 30 days, beginning September 13th, I’m offering a chance to practice all of this together with a small group of people who want to take the dharma off the cushion and into ordinary life. We'll create a personalized daily routine, meditate, study the teachings, and look at how wisdom, compassion, and power actually show up at home, at work, and in our relationships. Every participant will have one-on-one time to consult with me and my co-teacher, Crystal Gandrud, about your practice before, during, and following the program. You don't need to be a Buddhist. You only need a willingness to begin where you are and be yourself. Space is limited. Learn more here. Proclaiming Basic Sanity: Living the Bodhisattva Path Retreat  Let’s practice together in person at Drala Mountain Center, up in the Colorado Rockies, for a retreat on the bodhisattva path: what it takes to live with real courage and an open heart in the middle of our ordinary, chaotic, beautiful lives. We'll talk honestly about how to recognize and rouse basic sanity right where we already are. Everyone's welcome, and you don't need any prior meditation experience. Learn more and register. 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 [email protected] Produced by Citizens of Sound Music by: Derek O'Brien ©Open Heart Project

Send us Fan Mail This 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 conspiracy theory-y! It just seems obvious that a lot of money is being spent to capture attention spans as so much consumerist fodder. What could possibly go wrong?! Besides everything!  In this episode, I talk about the importance of maintaining sovereignty over your inner world, in no small part because it enables you to keep dreaming…visioning…imagining…remaining connected to what is possible–not as a means of escaping reality but of laying the ground for creating a new reality, one that includes decency, sanity, and care for others.  There are many who simply cannot dream right now, and for very understandable reasons. Many are under siege. Homeless. Hungry. Living in a fire of rage.  Right now, we are able to dream. This may not always be so, but while it is, we could dream on everyone’s behalf. Because what we cannot imagine, we cannot build.   Highlights: In the Heart Sutra, the Buddha's meditative absorption stirs a student, Sariputra, to ask an important question.Because none of us is truly separate, your practice affects everyone around you.Plenty of beings cannot dream right now because they are besieged, hungry, sick, or without a home, so the rest of us can hold dreams for them.If we cannot dream something, we cannot build it, and there are forces that would rather their dreams of money and power become ours. Don’t do it!!Meditation is how I keep my own mind: I notice a thought, call it a thought, and come back to the the present.Listener question From Kim, a parent who wants to stay informed for the sake of conversation with her children, but is deeply disturbed by all the things happening in  2026 America.. Send your questions or reflections via Instagram DM or through our form — I’d love to include them in future episodes. Music  "A Girl Like You" by Edwyn Collins, a mid-90s hit I love for its weird, fuzzy guitar tone. Idiosyncratic guitar playing FTW. My new book is now available Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics, is available for purchase. Explore the spiritual path through 7 principles which run counter to conventional wisdom.  Learn more and buy your copy here. Watch this episode on video If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here. Proclaiming Basic Sanity: Living the Bodhisattva Path Retreat  Come practice with me at Drala Mountain Center, up in the Colorado Rockies, for a retreat on the bodhisattva path: what it takes to live with real courage and an open heart in the middle of our ordinary, chaotic, beautiful lives. We'll talk honestly about how to recognize and rouse basic sanity right where we already are. Everyone's welcome, and you don't need any prior meditation experience. Learn more and register. If this one meant something to you  Please subscribe, leave a rating or review, and/or send it to someone who's curious about meditation, spiritual practice, or the Buddhist path. Or just feeling better, really. Free meditations: my free weekly newsletter  Come be in community: the Open Heart Project sangha  More about all of it: openheartproject.com 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 [email protected] Produced by Citizens of Sound Music by: Derek O'Brien ©Open Heart Project