Buddhism Beyond Belief with Susan Piver

Latest Episodes:

What is Emptiness? Jul 17, 2026

Show notes

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 emptiness
Why emptiness does not mean meaninglessness
Mind as relational
The link between emptiness and compassion
Why meditation is about more than improving your thoughts

Listener 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 info@susanpiver.com

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien
©Open Heart Project

Four Reminders that Deepen Spiritual Practice Jul 10, 2026

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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 practice
Why your life really, really matters
How impermanence brings clarity to everyday living
A practical way to understand karma
The weird way that acknowledging suffering actually helps
How these contemplations can deepen any meditative or contemplative practice

Listener 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

Proclaiming Basic Sanity: Living the Bodhisattva Path Retreat

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.

Thoughts? Email us at info@susanpiver.com

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien
©Open Heart Project

How to Live as a Mystic Jul 03, 2026

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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 project
A common misconception about meditation and how it keeps people from practicing
How your everyday life provides the perfect gateway to magic
An introduction to a Buddhist teaching, the three kāyas, and how it all relates to the magic of meditation
Sensing what is under the surface is just as “real” as whatever is on the surface
How meditation helps us relate to ourselves, others, and the world

Music

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

Proclaiming Basic Sanity: Living the Bodhisattva Path Retreat

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.

Thoughts? Email us at info@susanpiver.com

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien
©Open Heart Project

We Dream on Behalf of Others: Presence, Agency, and Staying Sane Jun 19, 2026

Show notes

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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.

Thoughts? Email us at info@susanpiver.com

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien
©Open Heart Project

The Inexplicable Magic of Cleaning Up After Yourself Jun 12, 2026

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“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 principle from Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics: We Clean Up After Ourselves. I also answer a listener's question about why the Buddha described friendship, not as helpful along the way, but as the way. And for the podcast after party, we check in with the great Ini Kamoze.

Highlights

Why caring for your environment is a spiritual practice
How the "container principle" shapes meditation and daily life
What it means to clean up after yourself — in your space and in your relationships
Repairing small moments of disconnection
Why the Buddha taught that spiritual friendship is the whole of the path
The role of sangha in practice

Music

Listen to "Here Comes the Hotstepper" by Ini Kamoze and tell me you somehow remained seated.

Mentioned in this podcast: Fake Buddha Quotes

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.

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.

New 7-Day Program Starts June 14th

Seven Days of Inexplicable Magic is a chance to immerse yourself in post-meditation practice, aka the rest of your life. What happens when practice follows you into your relationships, home life, bill-paying, creative pursuits? Together, we will find out.. The program follows the arc of my new book, and I'm co-leading it with my friend, Crystal Gandrud. Come find out more.

Proclaiming Basic Sanity: Living the Bodhisattva Path Retreat

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.

Thoughts? Email us at info@susanpiver.com

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien
©Open Heart Project

The Importance of Spiritual Boundaries Jun 05, 2026

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The 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 self-protection.

In this episode, I explore the fourth principle from my new book, Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics: We Are Boundaried. I discuss healthy boundaries, the importance of relying on teachers who can introduce you to your own wisdom (not theirs alone), and a traditional teaching called the Seven Treasures that help us establish protection, agency, and trust in our knowing.

Highlights

• Why boundaries matter

• Meditation as ground, path, and fruition

• The three qualities cultivated through practice: compassion, clarity, and courage

• Three teachers: outer, inner, and secret

• The line between a community that supports you and one that seeks to take you over

• The Seven Treasures as a framework for protection and self-trust

• A listener's question about progress in meditation, and where to actually look for signs your practice is working

Music

For the after party I'm playing "Who Do You Love" by Bo Diddley. It's deep and full of swagger, from one of the true original rockers.Have a listen.

My new book is now available

Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics, is available for purchase. Explore the spiritual path through 7 principles which go 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.

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.

New 7-Day Program

A new 7-day programSeven Days of Inexplicable Magic is an immersion into what happens when practice gets off the cushion and into the rest of your life. It follows the arc of the new book, and I'm co-leading it with my friend, Crystal Gandrud.Come find out more.

Proclaiming Basic Sanity: Living the Bodhisattva Path Retreat

Learn more and register 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.

Thoughts? Email us at info@susanpiver.com

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Music by: Derek O'Brien
©Open Heart Project

The Wisdom of a Broken Heart May 29, 2026

Show notes

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In 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 thoughts on heartbreak as a path of awakening, the connection between heartbreak and compassion, and why meditation with eyes open benefits everyday life.

Highlights:

• Why meditation makes you feel more, not less

• The connection between heartbreak and awakening

• Softening toward yourself as the root of compassion

• Why vulnerability is part of the spiritual path

• Reestablishing agency when the mind runs wild

• The difference between looking to receive love and looking to offer it

• How awareness “cuts through” during meditation

• Why I teach meditation with eyes open

Music After Party

I talk about the song “Dark End of the Street” by James Carr and why it remains one of the most heartbreaking songs about longing and love ever recorded.

Also from me on Buddhism and heartbreak: The Wisdom of a Broken Heart

Watch this episode on video
If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here.

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.

New Book & New Program

For more on the topic of meditation and heartbreak, please look for my new book, Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics, out June 1. It explores meditation not as self-improvement, but as a spiritual path rooted in ritual, heartbreak, creativity, vulnerability, and awakening in everyday life.

You’re also invited to join Seven Days of Inexplicable Magic, an immersive program exploring how meditation practice can move beyond the cushion and into every aspect of your life. Learn more here.

Proclaiming Basic Sanity: Living the Bodhisattva Path Retreat

Join me at Drala Mountain Center in the Colorado Rockies for a meditation retreat exploring the bodhisattva path and what it means to live with courage, compassion, and clarity in everyday life. Through guided meditation, teachings, and conversation, we’ll reflect on how to recognize and express basic sanity in the midst of our actual lives. All are welcome, and no prior meditation experience is required.

Learn more and register 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.

Thoughts? Email us at info@susanpiver.com

Produced by Citizens of Sound

The Way is Personal May 22, 2026

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In 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 transformation begins by turning toward our experience with curiosity, courage, and love.

I also answer a listener question about non-duality, discuss why it may be impossible to “understand” intellectually, and share thoughts on how wisdom comes to us through openness rather than effort.

Highlights

Why difficult personal experiences are often the doorway into creativity, insight, and connection
The transformative power of being witnessed and deeply heard
How teachings on egolessness can become confused with shame or self-rejection
Why your suffering, brilliance, confusion, and history are part of the spiritual path
“What you seek does not come from you. It comes to you.”
How ritual creates receptivity in meditation practice
Why spiritual practice does not remove heartbreak, but changes our relationship to it
Non-duality and why it may be experienced rather than understood

Music After Party

I share my love of 1980s reggae and dancehall through Wayne Smith’s “Under Mi Sleng Teng,” a track that helped transform reggae music through its groundbreaking digital riddim.

Watch this episode on video
If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here.

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.

Proclaiming Basic Sanity: Living the Bodhisattva Path Retreat

Learn more and register 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.

Thoughts? Email us at info@susanpiver.com

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Ritual Sustains Spiritual Practice May 15, 2026

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In 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, Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics: We engage in daily ritual. Through the Buddhist teaching of the three jewels, Buddha, dharma, and sangha, I explore how wakefulness, contemplation, and community create the conditions for practice to truly take root.

Highlights

Why meditation retreats can unlock creativity, focus, and flow
How structure and repetition create a container for spiritual practice
The first principle of Inexplicable Magic: we engage in daily ritual
Buddha as wakefulness itself, not just a historical figure
Dharma as reflection, contemplation, and connection to wisdom
Why community, or sangha, is essential for sustaining practice
What really happens when meditation becomes difficult or boring
Simple ways to bring the three jewels into daily life

Music After Party

I share “Uncloudy Day” by The Staple Singers, featuring the extraordinary guitar playing of Pops Staples and the unforgettable voice of Mavis Staples.

Watch this episode on video
If you’d like to watch the podcast, the video version is here.

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.

Proclaiming Basic Sanity: Living the Bodhisattva Path Retreat

Learn more and register 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.

Thoughts? Email us at info@susanpiver.com

Produced by Citizens of Sound

Starting Over: Meditation for Mystics May 08, 2026

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In 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 waking up, opening fully to life, and discovering a freedom that goes far beyond conventional thought.

I share seven core principles from my upcoming book Inexplicable Magic: Meditation for Mystics that challenge the self-improvement framing of practice.

Highlights:

Meditation is not a tool to fix what’s broken. We begin from wholeness, not deficiency.
Practice is rooted in ritual
The personal is not the problem
Turning toward sorrow opens the door to real compassion
Boundaries are part of spiritual life
Cleaning up your environment strengthens your inner life
We practice for others, not just ourselves
Live as a mystic in everyday life
The middle way is not a compromise but a lived reality beyond rigid frameworks and extremes

This episode is an invitation to look at meditation’s deeper proposition.

Mentioned in this episode:

The Middle Way: To learn more, please check out our episode #5.

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.

Proclaiming Basic Sanity: Living the Bodhisattva Path Retreat

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.

Thoughts? Email us at info@susanpiver.com

Produced by Citizens of Sound