Buddhism Beyond Belief with Susan Piver

Latest Episodes:

Do Buddhists Pray? May 01, 2026

Show notes

Here 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 Open Heart Project sangha: do Buddhists pray? If so, to whom?

In a non-theistic tradition, rather than being directed toward an external deity, prayer becomes a way of relating to awareness itself. The images, rituals, and expressions of devotion are not about reaching for something outside us, but about connecting to the wisdom, compassion, and courage already present.

In this episode, I explore prayer as communion rather than asking, and how everyday acts of attention, care, and listening can deepen our relationship with the divine.

Highlights

What it means that Buddhism is non-theistic
Why you can practice meditation without adopting a belief system
Buddhist deities as reflections of your own wisdom mind
Prayer as communion rather than petition
Everyday life as an expression of prayer
Listening, presence, and awareness as the heart of practice

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.

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

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.

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

Recap: The Noble Eightfold Path Apr 17, 2026

Show notes

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In 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.

Highlights

Right View
- Seeing clearly begins in the present moment.
- Meditation helps us loosen our grip on thoughts and recognize we don’t truly know.
- What we seek arises when there is space, not through more thinking.
Right Intention
- Intention matters more than outcome.
- Pause and examine what is driving your actions.
- Let care for others be part of every decision.
Right Speech
- Practice real listening rather than simply reacting.
- Avoid harming self and others through your words.
- Ask: Is it true, beneficial, clear, and timely?
Right Action
- No fixed rules, but the five precepts offer guidance.
- Act with care, compassion, and awareness.
- Letting go reduces the tendency to create more suffering.
Right Livelihood
- Your work is part of the path.
- Avoid harm and consider how you relate to others in the work you do.
- Integrity at work supports the spiritual journey.
Right Effort
- Rather than pushing harder, Right Effort means not giving up.
- Build daily patterns that supports what matters most.
- Include yourself and others in that commitment.
Right Mindfulness
- Not a tool for optimization.
- Practice presence with precision and openness.
- Be with experience as it is.
Right Concentration
- Train attention by returning to a single focus.
- Over time, attention becomes steady and connected.
- Offering full attention is not separate from enlightenment.

Conclusion

This path isn’t linear or something to complete. It’s something to live.

Test it for yourself. Bring your own intelligence to what you hear.

Thoughts?
You can send your questions or reflections via Instagram DM or through our form — I’d love to include them in future episodes.

Fearless Creativity: A Meditation and Writing Retreat

Join me at Drala Mountain Center in the Colorado Rockies for Fearless Creativity, a meditation and writing retreat offering dedicated time for creative work alongside guided meditation and conversation. Writers of all genres and levels are welcome, with no prior meditation experience 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

Music by: Derek O'Brien
©Open Heart Project

The Noble Eightfold Path: Step Eight: Right Samadhi Apr 03, 2026

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This 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 it wanders. From there, it deepens into the ability to give your attention fully to another person. And eventually, it points beyond both of those, toward a loosening of the sense that there is a separate “you” paying attention to something else.

In this episode, I explore Right Samadhi through three lenses: foundational, relational, and transformational.

Highlights

What Right Samadhi actually means beyond “concentration”
Why the ability to focus is becoming rare and why it matters
Meditation as training attention
Attention as the basis of love
What it means to truly listen to another person
The challenge of stepping outside self-focused attention
The possibility of awareness without a subject or object
Right Samadhi as the culmination of the Noble Eightfold Path

Music After Party

This week I share “Steep Hills of Vicodin Tears” by A Winged Victory for the Sullen.

You can also listen here.

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

Thoughts?
You can send your questions or reflections via Instagram DM or through our form — I’d love to include them in future episodes.

Get your copy of The Buddhist Enneagram
From March 10 – April 10, you can receive 30% off the new physical edition of The Buddhist Enneagram when you order directly from Shambhala Publications. Use code ENNEAGRAM30 at checkout. If this book has been on your reading list, or if you know someone who might benefit from this perspective on the Enneagram, this is a great time to pick up a copy. Buy yours here.

If you’d like a free chapter, sign up for my weekly meditation newsletter here.

Fearless Creativity: A Meditation and Writing 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 Noble Eightfold Path: Step Seven: Right Mindfulness Mar 27, 2026

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This 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 problem to solve, but something to notice, release, and return from, again and again.

In this episode, I explore Right Mindfulness through three qualities that arise in practice: precision, openness, and spaciousness.

Highlights

Why mindfulness is not a tool for fixing yourself
The simple meditation formula: notice, let go, come back, begin again
Why thoughts are not the problem
Precision as the foundation of practice
Openness to allowing experience to be as it is
Spaciousness for the true nature of mind
The shift from identifying with thoughts to recognizing awareness itself

Music After Party

This week I share “I Won’t Cry” by Doug Sahm, a true Texas legend.

You can also listen here.

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

Thoughts?
You can send your questions or reflections via Instagram DM or through our form — I’d love to include them in future episodes.

If you’d like a free chapter, sign up for my weekly meditation newsletter here.

Fearless Creativity: A Meditation and Writing 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 Noble Eightfold Path: Step Six: Right Effort Mar 20, 2026

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This 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 yourself. From there, it becomes a practice of directing your energy wisely, caring for your inner world, and recognizing that even difficult states of mind can contain seeds of wisdom.

In this episode, I explore Right Effort through three lenses: foundational, relational, and transformational.

Highlights

Why Right Effort is not about striving or pushing yourself
A personal story about learning not to give up on myself
The role of daily structure in supporting what truly matters
How meditation helps us reclaim agency over our attention
The effort required to remember our shared humanity
What it means to “look deeply” at difficult emotions
How anger, desire, anxiety, and spaciness can contain seeds of wisdom

Music After Party

For the after party, I share a short song called Regular Rabbit by Stephen Spencer. He writes songs based on stories told by his young daughter, and they capture something simple and reassuring about being human. This one brings me joy every time I hear it.

You can also listen here.

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

Thoughts?
You can send your questions or reflections via Instagram DM or through our form — I’d love to include them in future episodes.

If you’d like a free chapter, sign up for my weekly meditation newsletter here.

Fearless Creativity: A Meditation and Writing 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

A Powerful New Take on the Enneagram (from my new book) Mar 13, 2026

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This 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 Buddhadharma and the Enneagram.

Highlights:

Why compassion is central to Buddhist teaching and why it can be most difficult in our intimate relationships
Nine patterns of attention through which we experience the same world
How understanding these patterns can transform conflict with partners, family, and colleagues
A personal example of how different Enneagram types notice different things in the same situation
The three centers of intelligence in the Enneagram: instinctual, emotional, and mental
How each center responds differently when life does not go our way
The three instinctual drives that shape each type: self-preservation, social, and intimate connection
Why these combinations create 27 nuanced ways of being
How each type carries both an idealization and an avoidance
Using the Enneagram not to label people but to understand them and remain connected
How the system can support genuine compassion in everyday life

Music selection:

I share a recording of “Black Night,” most famously associated with musician Charles Brown. The version we listen to features Willie Nelson and Dr. John from the album Milk Cow Blues. I talk about the extraordinary musicians on the track, including producer and guitarist Derek O’Brien, who created the theme music for this podcast. You can also listen to it here.

If you’d like a free chapter, sign up for my weekly meditation newsletter here.

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

Thoughts?
You can send your questions or reflections via Instagram DM or through our form — I’d love to include them in future episodes.

Fearless Creativity: A Meditation and Writing Retreat

Learn more a

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 Noble Eightfold Path: Step Five: Right Livelihood Mar 06, 2026

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In 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 tradition to investigate what Right Livelihood might mean for us now.

Highlights

Why your job belongs on a path aimed at awakening
The foundational teaching: avoid professions that cause harm
Work as relational practice, the workplace as a practice community
Right Livelihood as Bodhisattva activity in daily life
Protection, money, and the spiritual function of financial stability
When Buddhism meets consumer culture
How business and interdependence might inform one another

Music After Party

In our after-party, I share “Le Bien, Le Mal” from Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 by Guru, featuring MC Solaar.

Their collaboration feels like a true exchange. Two artists building something together, each sharpening the other. You can hear the mutual respect.

You can also listen here.

Thoughts?
You can send your questions or reflections via Instagram DM or through our form — I’d love to include them in future episodes.

Fearless Creativity: A Meditation and Writing 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

The Noble Eightfold Path: Step Four: Right Action Feb 27, 2026

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In 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 investigate what right action might mean in our lives right now.

Highlights

Why Right View is about seeing beyond our education, insights, and intelligence
How Right Intention arises from recognizing interconnectedness
Why there is no universal playbook for Right Action
The Five Precepts as a foundational guide: no killing, no stealing, no lying, no intoxicant abuse, no sexual misconduct
Right Action through the Mahayana lens: loving kindness, compassion, and taking joy in others’ happiness
The Vajrayana perspective: karma, karmic seeds, and the possibility of planting none at all
Letting go as a radical form of action
How meditation reveals the mind noticing itself
“Mind resting in mind” and the end of karmic momentum

Music After Party

In our after party, I share “Feel Like Going Home” from the album Folk Singer by Muddy Waters, produced by Willie Dixon and featuring Buddy Guy. It is spare, intimate, and timeless.

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

Thoughts?
You can send your questions or reflections via Instagram DM or through our form — I’d love to include them in future episodes.

Fearless Creativity: A Meditation and Writing 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

The Noble Eightfold Path: Step Three: Right Speech Feb 20, 2026

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In 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 shapes the words we send out into the world.

We look at the classical categories of unskillful speech and then discuss four questions you can ask yourself before you speak. At the heart of it all is the rare and vulnerable skill of listening. I also reflect briefly on a teaching from the Heart Sutra about how one’s capacity to listen can create deeper insight in others.

Highlights

The “Marcus Syndrome” and the illusion that we are listening when we are really rehearsing
How Right View and Right Intention give rise to Right Speech
Why listening may be the highest communication skill
The four forms of unskillful speech
- Lying, including half truths and things we repeat without certainty
- Abusive speech, and the difference between harm and skillful anger
- Divisive speech that separates people from one another
- Idle speech that fills space without purpose
Four questions to ask before speaking
- Is it true
- Is it beneficial
- Is it clear
- Is it timely
The power of presence and how good listening is contagious

Music After Party
A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke

I share why this song feels like a masterwork of sorrow and strength. It is a statement of grief and hope held in the same breath.

You can also listen here.

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

Thoughts?
You can send your questions or reflections via Instagram DM or through our form — I’d love to include them in future episodes.

Fearless Creativity: A Meditation and Writing 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

The Noble Eightfold Path: Step Two: The Power of Intention Feb 13, 2026

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When 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 meditation teacher changed the way I understand right intention, karma, and the mysterious consequences of our actions.

This conversation explores right intention through personal experience and Buddhist teachings, moving from practical self examination to a much larger, more mysterious view of how our actions ripple through the world. I also share a personal story about illness, healing, and what it means to work with karma without knowing how or when it will resolve.

Highlights

The early days of my business and an opportunity that forced a difficult ethical decision
A Tibetan Buddhist teaching that reframed how I think about success and failure
What right intention really means beyond good outcomes
Right view and the radical idea of interconnectedness
The three cycles of Buddhist teaching and how each understands intention
How our actions move into the world like wave forms, not straight lines
A personal story about injury, illness, and how it impacted my view of karma
Three ways to understand right intention in daily life
Letting go of expectations while still acting with care and responsibility

Music After Party

I share one of my all time favorites, Bobby Blue Bland’s recording from 1961, Two Steps from the Blues. I talk about why this album is such a turning point in blues and R & B history, and why Bland’s voice remains unforgettable to me. I also reflect on hearing him live while working at Antone’s in Austin, the reverence he inspired, and the joy of recently meeting his son, Rodd Bland, who continues the legacy in his own powerful way.
You can also listen here.

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

Ask me a question
You can send your questions via Instagram DM or through our form — I’d love to include them in future episodes.

Fearless Creativity: A Meditation and Writing 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