I recently wrote about the benefit of choosing one meditation path and sticking with it. I received a lot of really interesting feedback from you, including this question from an Open Heart Project member:

Will Buddhist meditation practice interfere with the commitment to my Christian faith? Meditation is making a very positive difference in my life and, to me, enhances my faith. I don’t want to be made to feel that I’m going to have to choose. Will I?

This is a very wonderful and important question and I have a two-part answer to it.[]

1 No. You will never have to choose. It is entirely possible to be a life-long meditator and a life-long Christian (or Jew, Muslim, atheist, and so on). Buddhism is a non-theistic religion. In fact, it might better be called a philosophy. There is no God to believe in or outside power to worship, so there should be no conflict. A fellow Buddhist and Facebook friend reminded me that our teacher, Sakyong Mipham, has said that a mind that is tamed, not wild (as the practice of meditation teaches) will serve us on any journey we wish to undertake. In this sense, a meditation practice is likely to be wholly compatible with your religious affiliation–because they aren’t attempting to occupy the same spot in your spiritual life.

This is akin to saying that just because you’re married, you don’t have to give up all friendships with other people. You could have as many friends as you like. Good friends do not interfere in your primary relationship and can serve as a fantastic support when you need some perspective.

When it comes to choosing a meditation path, I’m not talking about choosing one religion over another, more like one practice over another. We may run into difficulties if we move from practice to practice or create a hodge-podge by choosing aspects of different practices and blending them. The point I wanted to make was that when it comes to traditional practices that are thousands of years old, we can trust that all the details are there for a reason and the benefits of meditation practice come when we go deep rather than broad.

1a The second part of the answer is “maybe.” If you decide at some point that you want to actually become a Buddhist, then it is important to make a clear commitment to the path. This is akin to getting married, which you only do when you find someone with whom you’d like to share your life. Obviously this option only works if you’re head over heels in love.

Check it out! Learn to meditate. Sign up for The Open Heart Project.

Check the little video below about my upcoming meditation + writing retreat in beautiful San Miguel de Allende and meet the program coordinator, John Perkins. John has lived in San Miguel with his family for several years. I know a lot of folks are nervous about traveling to Mexico these days, so I asked him to say a few words so we could all feel like, hey, he seems like a nice guy! San Miguel seems like a cool place! We are unlikely to get involved in drug traffic-related incidents there.

I am so excited about this program!!

Email me with any questions about the retreat itself.
Email John with any questions about travel, accommodations, food, and so on.

March 23 – 29, 2012
San Miguel de Allende Shambhala Meditation Group
More info

Click here to view the embedded video.

The other day, I received an email from a member of the OHP who was wondering about continuing to do shamatha meditation (the practice we do together) while also participating in a local Zen center’s introductory course. The Zen center had requested of its students to forego other practices during this training. But this student enjoys both practices. She loves getting the OHP newsletters and practicing with my instruction. But she also felt drawn to Zazen and was appreciative of finding any place in her small town that would offer personal instruction. What to do? Should she abandon one practice for the other? Which one should she choose? Could she study at the Zen center but secretly continue to practice shamatha? Choose those elements from each tradition that felt most potent and combine them into her own personal meditation style?

This is such an awesome topic. I have two different answers: one for those who like to take it one step at a time and another one for those who want to fast track it. Both approaches have merit. I know which one is for me. How about you?

Answer #1 is to check out all sorts of meditation practices. Experiment. Dabble. See if you like the practice you are being taught and, as important, the culture that surrounds it. For example, in most Zen centers, the practice is very, very precise (as it ought to be) and the atmosphere tends to be austere, bare bones, stripped down. Simplicity is the order of the day. Gorgeous stillness. When in doubt, remove an accessory. Profound minimalism that is also very, very earthy and real. The community may hold as its highest values sharpness of mind and heart, brevity, incisive teachings, and good humor. What’s not to love? If you are already drawn to such an aesthetic, you would immediately feel at home and know: this is the place for me. Similarly, if you are frightened of such an aesthetic because you tend to be all over the place and have little idea how to apply clean, crisp edges to your outer and inner environments, you may look around and go: This is so not me. This is exactly what I need.

On the other end of the spectrum stylistically would be someplace like the Shambhala Buddhist community I practice in, which is a Tibetan tradition. (Most Zen centers in the West tend to be associated with Chinese, Japanese, or Vietnamese orders.) Our practice absolutely focuses on precision, just as Zazen does, but there is also emphasis right from the start on spaciousness. The community may hold as its highest values sharpness of mind and heart, bravery, curiosity, and good humor.Perhaps because of this, our meditation instruction is not as strict as it is in Zazen—which simply means that if your foot falls asleep during Zazen, tough noogies. Sit with it. Hang in. Not aggressively, but with a continuous sense of softening and accepting. If your foot falls asleep in a Shambhala center, wiggle your toes for a moment until it goes away. It is perfectly acceptable. Just do it mindfully. That said, the two practices are way more similar than they are dissimilar. The environments, however, are quite different. In Zen centers, most often the décor is black, white, and gray. In Tibetan centers, there is a lot more plumage, a lot more display. You will see gold and orange and red and purple and blue. There will be dramatic iconography on the walls, depicting deities who sway, gesticulate, or growl. There will be beings with two faces and many arms who may ride on tigers or bare their genitals. The emphasis is not so much on stripping away everything non-essential in order to find stillness, but is more on relaxing (without preference) within the extraordinary and vast display of the phenomenal world—and thus finding stillness. If you enjoy a rich and varied environment, you may feel right at home here. But if, like me, you are the kind of person who is already wrapped a bit too tight, you may look around and go: This is so not me. This is exactly what I need.

So answer #1 is all about checking things out, seeing how you feel, and trying to figure out if the point of a particular tradition is what appeals to you, or the counterpoint. Take your time. Give all (reputable) traditions a shot—until you know.

A few very important caveats to go along with answer #1:

Only go to meditation centers that are based in lineages that are older than, oh, TWO THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED YEARS. Seriously. No made-up practices. Yeah that’s right, I’m calling you out, new age bullshit.

Pay close attention to your heart (or gut) reaction to a particular place. Do you feel happy there? Do you feel a sense of “these are my people?” Do the dharma talks make you go, “I have so wanted to know that, only I didn’t know it until right this second?” Do you look at the senior teachers and think, yes, I would really like to have what they’re having? The way you feel about (or in) a particular environment is at least as important as what you think, know, or read about it.

Don’t make shit up. This is a very important one and I’m sorry to have to rely to cussing to make my point. If you go to a Zen center and they say, “please only do our practice while studying with us,” then do so. If you go to a Vipassana center and they say, “we practice with our eyes closed,” close your eyes. If you go to a Shambhala Center and they say, “we practice with eyes opened,” open your eyes. Don’t embellish or diminish in any way the technique. As best you can, follow it to the letter. Don’t mix ‘n match.

OK, now for answer #2. I will confess, this is the answer I chose but in no way am I saying it’s for everyone.

Answer #2 is to find yourself exposed to a tradition that you know is the wisest, most brilliant, tender-hearted, and utterly challenging path you have ever heard of (and beyond) and commit to it wholeheartedly on the spot even though everyone thinks you may be crazy. That’s what I did in 1995 and I can honestly say I have not had a moment of doubt or regret since that time. Good karma. I have no idea why. Just lucky, I guess.

If you choose the fast track, everything in your life will, well, speed up. There will be less of a sense of 2 steps forward, 9 steps back and so on. I’m not saying it will speed up in a good or bad way, just that your particular karma will ripen as if the great eastern sun suddenly rose up in the sky, stopped right out side your bedroom window and hung there, bigger and brighter than a thousand suns.

There is only one caveat for answer #2: It has to be the right path. For you.

Q. This Shamatha meditation you are teaching is giving me good results (I become more compassionate to myself and to other people around me, and I become more objective with my feelings and thus not easily bruised).

I have joined a Zen Meditation group (where I live), and there is a requirement of giving up other meditation practices while doing the orientation course for their group.

I am confused…I feel as though your guided meditations are complementary to their Zen meditation practice as these are all Buddhist meditations. Am I being unfair by doing both Shamatha and Zen and keeping to to myself?

Maybe they are afraid of conflicting instructions confusing the new students of Zen making it harder for them to teach.

So could I just do both quietly and see what happens? Well, I couldn’t just drop one over the other, as I need a group and I need a more detailed instructions. Can you please give some input on my this?

A. I understand completely why the Zen group would want you to give up other practices while doing their orientation. Both Zazen and shamatha are very precise. The techniques are very specific and, while not easy, are very simple. It is very common for us beginning practitioners to complicate them by making little adjustments to the technique. This is our egoic mind trying to interfere with the arising of our wisdom mind. As we practice, we will find all sorts of reasons why we can’t do this or that part of the technique and may even seek to combine the elements we like best from each practice we learn. This does not serve our awakening.

In this sense, the requirement to give up other meditation practices is an act of compassion–exactly as you say, to avoid conflicting instructions that make it harder for students.

Zazen and shamatha are very similar. Yet there are distinct stylistic differences. This is a vast over-simplification, but one could say that Zen practice emphasizes precision first and spaciousness second while shamatha emphasizes spaciousness first. The culture of Zen is more austere. Shamatha (as taught in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage) is more colorful. Both are excellent. Both can lead you to enlightenment. It is a matter of which style resonates with you.

That said, don’t practice half-heartedly. If you choose to continue with the Zen group, please follow their instructions exactly. That way you (and they) will derive the most benefit. If you want to continue to practice shamatha after the orientation, you will be in a better place to make that choice having given your Zen practice your whole heart.

If you want to continue to use The Open Heart Project material, that is fine. Just listen to the dharma talks I give and when it comes time to practice, do your Zen practice rather than following my instruction. Does this make sense?

Keep me posted!

You can’t go wrong with either of these paths!

Best, Susan

Every week The Open Heart Project grows. This weekend, we passed the 3,800 mark. THAT’S 3,809 AWESOMELY COOL PEOPLE WHO HAVE MADE THE AWESOMELY COOL DECISION TO MEDITATE!! Or at least try to because, hey, we all screw up from time to time. Thank you, one and all.

Because of the recent influx—and just because it’s good to do—I thought I’d review a few key points about beginning your practice. And, let’s face it, whether you’ve been practicing for 20 years or this is your very first time, we’re all starting over. So we’re all practicing together for the first time.

There are basic 4 points to keep in mind.

1. The meditation practice that we do is called Shamatha meditation. Shamatha is a Sanksrit word that means The Practice of Calm Abiding or The Practice of Tranquility. Which sounds pretty great, I know. And also pretty impossible. I mean, we’re all so busy and so stressed. You might think that in order to peacefully abide, you’d have to get through your to-do list, fly to the Caribbean, or at least turn out all the lights and bolt the door. Au contraire. There is a place that is always available to you for peacefully abiding and that is in your own mind. “Not bloody likely” you may say to yourself, “that’s where all the anxiety is in the first place.” Well maybe so on one very conventional and mundane level. But on another, once you relax, you see that your mind is so much vaster and more beautiful and brilliant than you ever imagined, and that your stresses are only a piece of the landscape.

2. Meditation practice is about the placement of attention. All it is, is substituting for your discursive mind (you know, the you that is always going “I have so much to do, We need a new dishwasher, Does my butt look fat in this, Should I break up with my girlfriend, I wish I understood Mandarin…” and so on) another object of attention. In some practices, that object is an image, something you gaze at over and and over and when your attention strays, you bring it back. In other practices, that object is a mantra, a sound that you say to yourself and when your attention strays, you bring it back. In our practice, that object is your breath.

Now, what is this mysterious attention? How do you locate it and how do you determine where to place it? It is quite simple. Right now, without moving or looking, place your attention on your left big toe. You can do it, right? Now, without moving or looking, place it on your right earlobe. Doable, right? Now, pitch it behind you. Place it on the tip of your nose. Each time you switch location, something moves. That something is your attention. That is what you place on breath during practice.

3. The biggest misconception of all time about meditation is that it means you’re supposed to stop thinking and “clear the mind of thought.” Now, really. Why would you want to do that? Our minds exist to produce thought and trying to make it stop would be like opening your eyes and telling them not to see. Please. Try to do that right now. Try to look out through your eyes and not see anything. It’s very frustrating. And, really, not very practical. Our practice is actually quite practical. Rather than teaching you how to stop thinking (or think only happy thoughts), it teaches you how to relax with all of your thoughts exactly as they are and remain open minded, clear-eyed and softhearted. Now that is practical.

4. The #1 problem most of us bring to our practice is the tendency to make it more complicated than it really is. This practice is more than 2,500 years old. It has been used by countless individuals over the millennia and while I’m not saying it’s for everyone, I am saying that you can trust it completely. It has been honed and perfected and remarked upon by the most brilliant minds imaginable. Zillions of people just like you and me have both screwed it up completely and used it to transcend the wheel of suffering. We can learn from all of them. No aspect of the technique is there without reason. So, if you catch yourself saying, “well this eyes-open thing doesn’t make sense, so I’ll just close mine” or “she says we should let thoughts go, but that one was too important and I’m going to write it down,” take a pause. Reapply yourself to the technique. Resist attempts to embellish or remake it, at least for a few lifetimes—you know, until you really know the practice inside and out. Though it isn’t easy, it is very, very simple. So when in doubt, do less. Apply the technique wholeheartedly. And get ready for your life to change.

If you are interested in joining please do! Sign up here.

What is it?

Several years ago, I was wrapping up teaching a particularly moving week-long meditation and writing retreat. My small group (about 15 people) had committed to spending 7 days in the Rocky Mountains, learning to meditate and working on personal writing projects. There were no phones, no TVs, and no internet service. To cap off the sense of remove, we experienced an early October blizzard—not unheard of certainly, but also not expected. The skies opened up and dropped two feet of snow on the land, effectively closing up all roads leading into or out of our retreat center. The outside world of 24/7 stimuli was officially locked out. Our practices deepened and deepened. Most were new to meditation and were excited to develop a connection to the practice.

As part of my “going home” talk, I strongly suggested to anyone who wanted to continue to meditate that they find a meditation instructor, someone with whom to discuss the ups and down of practice. I suggested visiting a local Shambhala, Zen, or Vipassana center to find such an instructor. One of the students raised her hand and said, “I live in Omaha, Nebraska. We have no places like this. What should I do?” There were nods from her fellow students, from small towns in Kansas and Utah and Mississippi. It was then and there that the idea for The Open Heart Project popped into my mind. Of course most people do not live near a dharma center! Over the following weeks, I received emails from others looking for support for their meditation practice—in Bosnia, Brazil, and New Zealand. I decided to try to figure out how I could offer support to them and The Open Heart Project was born.

On February 22, it will be one year since I started offering meditation instruction via twice weekly videos. It has actually become the focal point of my creative and spiritual practices. It is at the very center of my own heart. There are now nearly 3,800 members (well, 3,756 as of right now, but who’s counting) who are practicing together. I am very excited to enter year two of the OHP and am planning to also offer a book club, evening workshops, and so forth.

Stay tuned! And please sign up for the program and/or forward this link to anyone you know who might like to practice meditation together in this very simple and direct way. xo S

Some (really lovely) things people have said about The Open Heart Project.

My meditation practice began quite clumsily. It was not fun to watch, as I struggled to stop moving…keep my eyes still…and quiet my mind. I read everything I could find on meditation, and that brought me to Susan Piver. How lucky I was to find such a grounded, authentic individual, who’s meditation teachings spoke to my heart. Susan’s virtual meditation guidance came to me “free” of cost; yet I felt as though I had invested my life and all it’s worth to get it. That was approximately six months ago. Meditation has given a new voice to my heart and soul, and become part of my every day love. It is no longer a “chore”…but now an “almost” effortless gift I give to myself each day! -MD

Thanks for The Open Heart Project. It came into my life at the absolute perfect time. I have been saying I want to meditate for years and never made it work. I’ve been on sabbatical with some extra time, so it’s fit into my life. I’m preparing to start my own business, helping people clear clutter, both physical and mental. When I was meditating at first, I found I was so judgmental of myself. Your words to come back to breath after noticing that I’ve been thinking, and do that kindly was an “aha” moment for me. I have to let go of judgment of myself before I can do it with others. I cannot help people well if I am judgmental of them.Thanks so much for sharing your gifts with the world! -LK

Your meditation tips have been so awesome and helpful. It is refreshing to hear that you get aggravated and annoyed, just like the rest of us. Not that I want you to be aggravated and annoyed. It is just nice to know that I am not the only one. That I am not alone. -LA

It is a great comfort to learn meditation from someone who is both inspiring and down to earth. I suffer from anxiety and have found that using your meditations are enormously helpful in gently encouraging me in a healthier direction. I love meditating along with someone else in my own home. Many heartfelt thanks. -MD

I so look forward to your emails. Every day you send one it seems to fit perfectly for that day. I first came across you last year when I read your book The Wisdom of a Broken Heart. It helped me through a rough patch, and I came out a better person. Please keep up the good work. I love meditating with you, as I am new to meditation. -CT

I have wanted to meditate for some time. I tried different books and cds, but nothing ever felt right or clicked for me. I often wondered if I was “doing it right”, or if I was being too picky, or expecting too much, or if I just had a commitment problem, or… etc etc etc. But YOU, wonderful Susan! You have taught me to meditate! You make me LOOK FORWARD to meditating! And I no longer wonder if I’m doing it right. I sit with you and it feels good. I let go and I breathe, and it has made me feel so peaceful. Meditating is helping me to be calm, and to think before speaking, and to notice beauty in the world, and these are all things I struggle with. Thank you for your generosity with your time and your wisdom. Thank you for the Open Heart Project. -LG

mindfulness and awareness

practice and study

form and emptiness

precision and letting go

unconditionality and tenderness

word and story

voice and song

concentration and intuition

luminosity and emptiness

What do these pairs of words have in common?

As we practice shamatha meditation (sometimes translated as the practice of tranquility), we come to see that it is actually comprised of two elements that are 100% inseparable. The first is called mindfulness and the second is called awareness.

The word mindfulness is often used to describe all meditation practices–and it is a great word. However, it is only a part of the equation. The practice we are doing together is actually better described as mindfulness-awareness practice.

Mindfulness is the act of placing attention on our breath, over and over. When attention strays, as we notice it has done so, we simply let go of this “other” object of attention (a thought, bodily sensation, emotion, sense perception), and return attention to breath.

When you think about it, this is an amazing thing to be able to do.

When I give instruction, I often begin by asking students to put their attention on their left big toe, say. You can each do that, right? Then, without moving or changing anything, now place your attention on your right earlobe. You can do that too, yes?! Ask yourself: what is that thing that moved between toe and ear? It is very distinct. It doesn’t come from any physical shift. It requires no training. We all know exactly how to do this. Given that, we can place our attention wherever we like by simply requesting it to move.

The problem comes in when we try to hold our attention on any one particular thing. I mean, we all know what it’s like to want to write (*ahem* *cough*), say, but find ourselves instead making labels for all the spices in the spice drawer. In meditation practice, we are cultivating the ability not just to place our attention where we like but to hold it there–not as an act of aggression or self-correction, but for whatever reason we choose. This is mindfulness.

In addition, as you practice, I’m sure you have noticed (or will notice) that a certain clarity of mind presents itself in flashes. An insight may arise during practice or, more likely, as you go about the rest of your life (called “the post-meditation experience” by practitioners). In addition to spontaneous moments of “knowing,” you may also experience spontaneous moments of feeling: you are more readily touched by both the sorrows and joys of others. You notice a homeless person and feel desperation in your bones–you wish you could help. You see a couple looking into each other’s eyes with love and you feel delight in your own heart. This is also a form of insight. When insight arises in our thoughts, we could call it wisdom. When it arises in our feelings, we could call it compassion. Altogether, these spontaneous arisings could be called awareness. Somehow, this too is cultivated in your meditation practice. It’s not just increased concentration that results–so does a more panoramic view. Our practice is simultaneously one-pointed and quite spacious.

Mindfulness naturally gives rise to awareness. Awareness is predicated on mindfulness. They are completely inseparable.

An easy way for many of us to relate to this is by looking at analogies in creative endeavors, which are basically endless. When you write, for example, you can only write one word at a time. Word. Word. Word. Each one a gesture of precision. Still, you have to know what to say. Where does this knowledge come from? Somehow, when you check within (on a good day), you find that suddenly you have something to say–but only if you let go of your ideas about what you have to say. A kind of letting go into complete spaciousness always precedes a moment of inspiration. This is awareness. In writing (or in music, painting, dance, and so on) we are constantly navigating between gesture and inspiration, precision and letting go, mindfulness and awareness.

Please sign up for The Open Heart Project for (free) meditation instruction.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In the sort of spiritually materialistic world we live in, we could find many suggestions for how to achieve such a state of implacability. Some of them are about avoiding dangerous situations (physical, emotional, spiritual) altogether by just staying home. Some direct you to assert yourself in the face of difficulty by taking strong action, fighting back. Some revolve around restructuring the way your mind works so that you only think the thoughts that make you happy and “attract” good things—or, when bad things happen, you replace your sad and weary thoughts with perkier, brighter ones.

There is nothing wrong with making efforts along these lines. It is vitally important that we take precautions against danger by safeguarding ourselves on all levels. We should react boldly when it is called for. And of course we should examine our thoughts for self-sabotage and try to craft an inner environment of joy and positivity.

However. If we do so with the intention of creating a life where anger, sorrow, and fear have no place, then I’m afraid we will be quite disappointed.

My dear friends. Please know that I wish for you only peace, joy, and love. But it is impossible to avoid the sorrows of being human and actually, if it were, we would cease to be human. At the core of anger is great vitality. At the heart of sorrow is love. Underneath fear is sadness, which is soft and workable. When you turn toward anger, sorrow, and fear, in some way you are gaining access to vitality, love, and great tenderness. You can’t separate them.

It would be a very small being indeed who could tolerate only the so-called positive feelings. You are capable of a vast range of emotion and connecting with this storehouse also connects you to poetry, passion, and your own brand of utter brilliance. We have a choice: feel it all or go home.

So it behooves us greatly to learn to meet our difficult emotions and our meditation practice can help in two ways:

First, by teaching you how to sit (literally) with yourself as you think, feel, and experience whatever arises, always returning to breath, you learn to ride the waves of grasping, aggression, and avoidance with equanimity—not by ignoring them, but by allowing them to be exactly as they are.

Second, your meditation practice gives you a tool for encountering those strong emotions that you simply cannot let go of, no way, no how. Sometimes it happens during practice that deep, deep emotions arise and it is not possible (or advisable) to “just let them go.” In this case, your can slightly alter the meditation technique for as long as you need to. Rather than make your breath the object of awareness (as it is in classical shamatha practice), you could make your emotion the object of awareness. Not the story of the emotion (I feel this way because…. I wouldn’t feel this way if… I could stop feeling this if only…) but the feeling of the feeling: the heat or chill or constriction or weight of it. Make that the object of awareness and, when attention strays, which it will, just as in normal shamatha practice, bring it back. Place your attention on your feeling over and over until the feeling begins to dissolve—and then come back to breath.

In this way, as meditators, we are learning to create a world for ourselves where we are unafraid of anger. Unafraid of sadness. Unafraid of fear. It’s not that we don’t feel such things, but they do not knock us down. This is a far more expansive, joyful, and and humane way to live. And, as Chogyam Trungpa writes in Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior. “The key to warriorship is not being afraid of who you are. Ultimately, that is the definition of bravery.”

Please sign up for The Open Heart Project to receive meditation instruction.

Hello everyone. Yesterday a member of the Open Heart Project asked me how I became a Buddhist and I told her I would answer the question in a post.

Each of us comes to our spiritual path in a unique way and, as the poet Rumi said, there are a million ways to kneel and kiss the ground. There is no single way that applies to all. For example, some people (such as myself) benefit most from a proscribed, traditional path. We need structure and rootedness because we are already too prone to flying off into outer space. Other people may already be too earth-bound and strict and may require, perhaps, a less-structured path in order to free their minds.

However, it is very tricky because we’ll pretty much go to any lengths to remain confused about reality and so my counsel is always this: when in doubt, go traditional. All the wisdom we require to relieve our suffering already exists and if we open our hearts, we can hear it.

So please hear my mini story with a grain of salt. It is in the video above.

Have you found your personal spiritual path? What does it look like? What are your doubts or concerns? What about your path makes the most sense to you?

Click here to view the embedded video.

That one day, we will live in a world where we recognize all beings as one family.

I have a dream that on that day, when any one of my brothers or sisters, be they known to me or unknown, seen or unseen, animal or human, finds themselves in sorrow for any reason, a dark blossom will flower in my own heart and in yours and yours, until all of creation sways in the darkness of night, together, and together we sing the song of love.

I have a dream that when a brother or sister knows joy for any reason, I find myself also standing under that cascading waterfall and so do you and you and we are each refreshed, nourished, and cleansed by it together, and together we sing the song of love.

I dream that all beings of all the times in all realms have utterly open hearts and are thus capable of living in the great equanimity free from delusion, free from grasping, and free from hatred.

You have a dream.

What is it?