Susan Piver's Blog, page 2

The Practice of Knowing You’re Enough As You Are

Hello wonderful Open Heart Project,

It’s an impossibly difficult time right now, and I send you my love.Last week, I talked about discipline, the second paramita (transcendent action), as a true source of joy. Before that I shared some thoughts about the first paramita, generosity.This week, we move on to the third paramita, patience. In this view, know that patience is not about endless forbearance or putting up with craziness. Transcendent patience has the power to move mountains. You’ll notice this is an older video, but I’m sharing it because it says what I want to say about patience and it shows how whatever we wish we weren’t feeling isn’t forever.Let me know what you think. I always love hearing from you.With love,
Susan

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Recording: Info Session on the Sunday Sanity Summit

I’m grateful to everyone who registered for this info session on the Sunday Sanity Summit. I hope the real magic of this practice is of benefit to you.

If your heart has been nudging you toward joining us for the Sunday Sanity Summit, please do! It would be great to see you there.

We’ll gather on Zoom from 3:00–4:00 PM ET for the four Sundays starting July 6, to reflect, reconnect, and begin the week from a place of clarity and strength.

No pressure to be insightful. No need to prepare. Just bring yourself, as you are.

Here’s what our hour together will include:

10 minutes of guided meditationReflective journaling with gentle promptsSmall breakout groups for optional sharingA closing circle + dedication of merit

This is a space for remembering that you’re not alone and reorienting your mind and heart for the week to come.

Register here

Investment: Pay What You Can
Suggested payment: $80
Please offer what makes sense for you. Whether it is $1 or $1 zillion dollars, your contribution will support the Open Heart Project to grow and thrive. Thanking you in advance.

With love and respect,
Susan

P.S. You don’t have to attend every week. Come when you can.

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The source of joy is…

Hello, wonderful Open Heart Project. I hope you are well and I send you my love.

Last week, I shared a few thoughts about the first paramita (transcendent action) which is generosity. This week, we move on to the second paramita, the joyless-sounding discipline. However, in this view, discipline is synonymous with joy itself. Please have a listen and let me know what you think.

Stay strong! Stay beautiful!

With love,

Susan

PS: From last week’s video, I learned that I share a love of K-Dramas with so many of you!! What a delight. ❤️

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When it’s hard to be generous to others…

Hello, wonderful Open Heart Project. I hope you are well and I send you my love.

Before today’s sit, I share a few thoughts about the first paramita (transcendent action) which is generosity. The remaining transcendent actions–discipline, patience, exertion, meditative absorption, and wisdom–would not be possible without some sense of your own richness and indestructible kindness. But when times are difficult (aka now), these qualities seem to move away from us. It does not have to be this way. Please have a listen and see what you think.

Stay strong! Stay beautiful!

With love,
Susan

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How to make (real) magic with your meditation practice: Part 3

Hello Open Heart Project,

I recently read an article about a new meditation app that purports to offer meditation instruction via AI generated content meant to teach Dzogchen and Mahamudra. My friends, I literally could not sleep that night. I was so upset. Dzogchen and Mahamudra are among the highest teachings in all of Buddhism. They are never taught without arduous preparation and a strong relationship with a true teacher. Those most qualified to teach it actually never talk about it. This is just one more example of how our meditation practice keeps getting pulled out of the realm of the sacred and into a world of vast materialism. When it is, the magic of the practice drains away.

As I was taught, there are three steps we can take to keep the magic intact.. They are extremely simple. No one has to “be a Buddhist” to utilize them.

We talked about the first step, make offerings two weeks ago. Last week, we discussed the second step, request blessings and today we reach the third step, to dedicate the merit.

What do you think? I always love to hear from you.

With love,
Susan

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How to make (real) magic with your meditation practice: Part 2

Hello, I hope you are well!

Last week, I mentioned that there were three steps we could take to keep our practice firmly rooted in the realm of the spiritual–the mysterious, the sacred, the deeply personal–rather than the realm of self-help which can turn quite aggressive. Our practice is so powerful, but the real scope is glimpsed only when we can relax our self-criticism (which self-help is built on), even to some small degree.

The first step, as mentioned, was to make offerings. Today we look at the second step which is to request blessings. From whom or what? That is up to you. The more personal, the better. This is about your lineage. Your ancestors. Your longings. There are beings who have come before who embody what you now seek. To request their blessings (which is actually a very traditional thing to do) is to deepen your connection to them and the magic of true transformation.

Don’t take my word for this! Or anything! Please have a listen to this talk and then make up your own mind. That is of utmost importance.

Thoughts? I always love to hear them.

With love,
Susan

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How to make (real) magic with your meditation practice

Hello wonderful Open Heart Project,

A long time ago, I was talking to my own meditation teacher (of now more than 30 years) about how to create an environment that invites the magic of transformation. Like most meditation teachers, I want to help you go beyond whatever your current challenges may be. To do so, you have to see something you have been unable to glimpse thus far. Something new has to appear. Like I said, magic.

He said, “oh, it’s simple. All you have to do is make offerings, request blessings, and dedicate the merit.”

These steps actually create magic. Not woo-woo wizard hat magic, but what some Buddhists call “ordinary magic.” When I begin my meditation by making offerings (as described in the video), attempts to use my practice for self-improvement fall away. Instead, I enter into some kind of mysterious dialog with wisdom greater than my own. My practice becomes, not about trying to “fix” myself, but a wish to relate more deeply to the brilliance of what inspires me. I relax. I feel more spacious about who I am and what my life is about. I see a different reality. Like I said, magic.

Three simple steps. Today I share some thoughts about the first one, making offerings. We’ll cover the other two in subsequent videos.

Thoughts? I always love to hear them.

With love,
Susan

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3 Qualities of Awakening, Part 3: Power

Hello wonderful Open Heart Project,

We’ve discussed two of the three aspects of the awakened mind—compassion and wisdom. Today I’d like to offer just a few thoughts on the third quality—power.

When we think about the quality of power, I’m sure many things come to mind. Some are positive—the certainty of a strong ruler or the beneficence of a saint. Some are not so positive—the authoritarianism of, say, teachers or bosses, or those who have influence over us due to wealth, beauty, or position.

However the Buddhist view of power has nothing to do with becoming a ruler or a saint (not that there is anything wrong with that), nor is it about authority, influence, or control. The Buddhist definition has more to do with the ability to see clearly.

This superpower is the quality of precision. The very definition of power here is the ability to cut through delusion and see clearly. When you are around someone who can do this, you can feel their power. It doesn’t come from yelling or storming about or tripping out on you in some way. It comes from their ability to know themselves, turn toward you, look into your eyes, and see you. The magnetizing property of clear seeing cannot be overstated. This is the power we seek, are drawn to, and that leaves us feeling naked and vulnerable on one hand, and completely, finally at home on the other.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen imagery of so-called “wrathful deities” in Buddhist iconography. These are the beings with multiple heads, fangs, wrapped in animal skins, perhaps clutching skulls or gyrating within a circle of flames. They are quite fierce and ready to fight. Their enemy? Ignorance. When you are being ignorant, they attack. You. When ignorance attempts to attack your mindfulness-awareness, this energy can be counted upon to attack on your behalf.

Power comes from synchronizing mind and body, over and over, from moment to moment. With such an effort the three forms of ignorance: passion, aggression, and delusion have no way to gain hold. And when you are free of these three poisons, there is nothing left but power.

Know that as we practice meditation, as we continuously place attention breath and synchronize our mind and body, we are also making a connection with the source of pure power and the tremendous well of energy that stokes it.

Where have you witnessed true power in your own life?

Love,
Susan

PS: Here’s a 10 minute meditation so we can practice together today:

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3 Qualities of Awakening, Part 2: Wisdom

Hello Open Heart Project,

According to Buddhist thought, the awakened mind has three qualities. The first is compassion. The second quality, wisdom, is the topic of today’s post.

When it comes to what it really means to be wise, it’s easy to posit all sorts of definitions from really, really smart to deeply insightful to maybe simply being old and thus knowledgeable from experience.

Buddhism certainly has many definitions of wisdom and one of them is this: the ability to see beyond concept to the way things really are. Moment by moment, perception by perception, we let go of our judgments, opinions, and projections—which seems impossible, I know. Still, we have each had moments where we have been able to grasp the clear, empty, luminous, still, vast space that lies beyond our conventional minds.

One such glimpse came to me after I first moved to Manhattan some years ago. I moved to NYC for a job and found a totally cute and very tiny apartment near Union Square. I loved my job, loved, loved, loved NYC, and my apartment felt snug and safe. One problem: I couldn’t sleep. Every time I lay down, I tuned into the constant buzz that is almost inescapable in Manhattan: the hum of traffic, the blare of sirens, the beep-beep-beep of trash trucks, and on and on. I tossed. I turned. I wondered how anyone could possibly sleep through this. Friends assured me that you get used to it, but after 7 or 8 nearly sleepless nights, I was pretty doubtful.

One night, totally exhausted, I lay in bed, restless and teary. As anyone with insomnia knows, sleep doesn’t come from pleading and stressing out. I tried to lie still. Instead of attempting to block out the sound, I just gave up and let it wash over me. In that moment, I noticed that there was something going on besides noise and that was silence. Underlying the noise was an unchanging bed of silence. I trained my ear on the silence rather than the noise—and fell asleep.

Now, I don’t know much about absolute wisdom, but my hunch is that it has something to do with tuning into the space and silence around your thoughts and concepts rather than refining your thoughts and concepts.

Wisdom and compassion are inseparable. They are actually twin manifestations of the same thing. On a relative level, this means that wisdom is not wisdom when compassion is not also present (it is simply intellect) and compassion is not compassion when wisdom is not also present (it is some kind of foolishness). On an absolute level, the union of wisdom and compassion is nothing more or less than our true nature, the silence that gives rise to all sound and the space that exists between all thought.

Our meditation practice is the way we cultivate a connection to this profound wisdom. As we sit, we practice letting go, over and over, thought by thought. When we space out, something comes from somewhere, completely fresh and utterly spontaneous, to say, “hey, come back.”

We can trust our practice, implicitly and completely. Wisdom is as omnipresent as space itself. To see it, all we have to do is relax.

How do you experience the way compassion and wisdom are intertwined in your own life?

Warmly,
Susan

PS: As an indication of how much I love Manjushri, allow me to share with you my badass tattoo which is Manjushri’s seed syllable, “DHIH”:

 

PPS: Here’s a 10 minute meditation so we can practice together today:

 

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3 Qualities of Awakening, Part 1: Compassion

Hello Open Heart Project,

According to Buddhist thought, the awakened mind has three qualities.

Although I’ve said many times that having goals for your practice is a bad idea, I’m now going to suggest that there actually are goals and they are to realize these three qualities. However, the path is not accomplished by conventional means. Interestingly, these qualities arise spontaneously when we let go of our other agendas, no matter how well-thought out.

Meditation is, of course, the path.

The first of the three aspects of the enlightened mind is compassion.

Compassion is often confused with soft-heartedness. We might think that compassionate people are super sweet and always feel sorry for you. However, there is nothing sappy or weak about true compassion.

Compassion is an expression of the greatest strength. You are so confident that you can allow the sorrows of other people to touch you.

It is a gesture of bravery. You are so fearless that you can extend yourself to others.

It is an act of joy. You are able to connect, heart to heart, and, as far as I can tell, there is no other source of joy.

Some people might call this vulnerability, and it is. But here, vulnerability is synonymous with pure warriorship.

At the same time, it is extremely, heart-breakingly ordinary. We have all had the experience of compassion at some point in our lives.

I want to share a story from my book, “How Not to Be Afraid of Your Own Life.” It remains for me a visceral experience of compassion.

When I was a little girl, my father taught me how to fly a kite. We were on the beach in Atlantic City and I was running up and down with my kite. I was so happy—the connection with the sky, the love of my father, the feeling of mastery. At one point, though, the kite got away from me and blew out to sea, higher and higher. I ran after it as hard as I could. I chased it until it was completely invisible. I was heartbroken, devastated. If you’ve ever chased anything that moves away from you on the wind and into another sphere (and I’m sure you have), then you know how shocked and hopeless I was. I remember the loss until this day.

One other person also remembered it to the end of his life—my father. Many, many years later, somehow the day of the lost kite came up and he called it one of those moments in his life that pierced his heart the most. He never, ever forgot the look on my face. He watched the kite fly out of sight, too. He longed to get it back, too. He would have done anything, anything to get it back for me. My sorrow was his. My loss was his.

My father didn’t have to stop and think, “Oh, my little girl has lost something that brought her happiness. I feel sad for her.” He didn’t have to do any math, like, lost kite + no hope = unhappy child, thus: I feel sad. There was no gap between my feelings and his, my experience and his, my loss and his. They were the same.  This is what compassion is. It is spontaneous. It arises as love and pain, mixed together, exactly 50-50.

If you have children, I’m sure you already know about this and, on behalf of all daughters and sons, I thank you. Know that this is the state of mind our meditation practice is urging us toward and which the great beings of this world, the meditation masters, saints, yogis, and enlightened ones feel for beings, on the spot, without thought.

How, you might ask, do they not fall apart completely? It is so terrifying to be this open and this vulnerable. Well, yes and no. The opposite is actually the terrifying option and our meditation practice, fortunately, thankfully, teaches not only how to open our hearts, but how to stabilize within the open state so that every time we are touched, we are not also knocked down. Instead, we are strengthened in our resolve and ability to be even stronger in our vulnerability.

This is true strength—the ability to remain soft and open under all circumstances, not just in those that are made to order.

I’d love to hear your stories of true strength—what comes to mind when you imagine a time you witnessed or exhibited strength?

Love,

Susan

PS: Here’s a 10 minute meditation so we can practice together today:

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