“So often we hear of suffering, suffering, suffering.  
The world must be reminded it is beautiful and free.  
But who will teach the world that it is beautiful and free?
This must also come from someone who is beautiful and free.” ~ Mooji

The events last week in Newton, Connecticut pose difficult questions for us who are deeply concerned about making the world a better place.

• How do we create an enlightened society?  
• How can we help alleviate suffering on the planet?  
• Just how do we respond to a dangerous world with hearts of love and compassion?

Last year I stumbled across Susan Piver and The Open Heart Project.  I was attempting to answer these questions in my personal life with sporadic success.  I desired deeply to become a kinder husband and gentler father to my children.  But anxiety and deep uncertainty undermined my daily resolutions. There were major hurdles to overcome.  The biggest one?  My own mind.

Susan Piver created The Open Heart Project — an online meditation group — to help anyone who wanted to learn how to meditate.  She is the embodiment of a bodhisattva warrior.  Bodhisattva is Tibetan name to given to one who has the courage to live from the open heart.  Formally trained in the Shambala lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, her desire is to help everyone in the world develop a meditation practice.  “To be a warrior in the world, a kind of openness is necessary,” Susan teaches.  “Only one who has the courage to live from the open heart is able to change the world.”

Over the following months, her dharma talks and continual guidance drew me deeper into the practice of meditation.  Susan taught me (and I have since experienced) that we are able to shift from fear and uncertainty into a realm of strength and great space.  We are able to discover a mind of stability, clarity, and peace.  And from this stability, we can cultivate love and compassion, even in the face of unthinkable tragedy. 

What I thought was a simple relaxation technique for anxiety blossomed into a powerful method that transformed every area of my life.  It helped improve my marriage.  In fact, every relationship in my life, from my kids to my colleagues, was positively affected.  Sometimes discussions about how to make the world a better and safer place can grow quickly overwhelming.  But if you asked Susan, she would say that there is only one place to go.

We must go in.   By going in, we reconnect to the part of our humanity that is beautiful and free.   And through going in, we rediscover our basic goodness.   This is the beginning of how we can alleviate suffering on the planet. 

For more information about Susan and her teachings, visit Susan’s blog and project website for more information at Susan Piver and the Open Heart project.  Also, check out her Huffington Post articles, Meditation, Relaxation, & the Self-Help Demon  and The Power of Sorrow. 

 ****OWN Ambassador Wayne David: A father, a husband, a thinker, a writer, a science & wilderness observer, a rookie yoga/meditation practitioner, a chess player, an avid reader, a seeker.