Episode 212 - How To Be Calm Amidst Chaos
Buddhism for Everyone with JoAnn Fox
“Praise and blame, fame and shame, gain and loss, pleasure and pain come and go like the wind. To be happy, rest like a giant tree in the midst of them all.” ― Buddha We're exploring a truth so simple yet profound it almost feels like a secret; every problem we have comes from just one thing, our own mind. Specifically, our problems come from misperceiving reality: we see our worries, fears, and stresses as big, immovable mountains. In reality, they're more like clouds, shifting and changing with the winds of the mind. Nothing is as fixed as it seems. Everything depends on perception...
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Episode 211 - Let Love and Hope Rewrite the Story
Buddhism for Everyone with JoAnn Fox
We're exploring a truth so simple yet profound it almost feels like a secret; every problem we have comes from just one thing--our own mind. Specifically, our problems come from misperceiving reality: we see our worries, fears, and stresses as big, immovable mountains. In reality, they're more like clouds, shifting and changing with the winds of the mind. Nothing is as fixed as it seems. Everything depends on perception (even that thing you're stressing about right now). Could we change our perception and enjoy whatever arises? Buddhist Teacher, JoAnn Fox, offers two ways to practice...
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Episode 210 - Aṅgulimāla: Practicing Non-violence
Buddhism for Everyone with JoAnn Fox
In this episode, we practice one of the most powerful antidotes to anger and aversion: compassion. I know—when we’re irritated, hurt, or downright fuming, compassion is usually the last thing on our minds. But in Buddhism, compassion isn't weakness—it’s strength. It’s the most powerful way to interrupt the cycle of harm and start creating peace, inside and out. The Story of Aṅgulimāla The Buddha’s radical teachings on non-violence reveal how to respond rather than react when things get heated. I also share the story of Angulimala—yes, the guy who was literally collecting...
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Episode 209 - No Self: Discovering Limitless Potential
Buddhism for Everyone with JoAnn Fox
Who—or what—are you, really? If you start peeling back the layers, things get interesting fast. You have a body, but you’re not just your body. You have thoughts, but if you were your thoughts, wouldn’t you have disappeared the last time your mind went blank? And if you were your emotions, who were you before that bad mood showed up? Buddhism teaches that the self we cling to so tightly—this solid, unchanging “me”—is actually empty of independent existence. That doesn’t mean you don’t exist; it means you exist in a far more fluid, interconnected, and expansive way than you...
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Episode 208 - Smells like dukkha
Buddhism for Everyone with JoAnn Fox
The Buddha taught that dukkha—suffering and dissatisfaction—doesn't come from the outside world. Our problems don't arise from difficult people or hardships. Our problems come from within our own mind, from the way we react to life. The same is true for happiness. We spend so much of our lives trying to control the world around us—fixing this, avoiding that, chasing after happiness like it's some rare butterfly. But what if we've been looking in the wrong place? What if the source of both our problems and our joy has been inside us all along? in this episode, we explore how...
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Episode 207 - Giving as an Antidote to Attachment
Buddhism for Everyone with JoAnn Fox
Attachment has a sneaky way of making us hold on too tightly—to things, to people, to our own comfort zones. We cling, we grasp, we hesitate to let go, fearing we might lose something essential. But what if the very act of giving could set us free? In this episode, we explore the transformative practice of giving as an antidote to attachment. Discover how generosity can help you break free from the things that hold you back. Buddhism teaches that generosity is not just a nice thing to do; it is a powerful practice of liberation. From the bodhisattva’s perfection of giving to the four...
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Episode 206 - The Buddhist Practice of Giving
Buddhism for Everyone with JoAnn Fox
Giving, or dāna, is one of the most fundamental and beautiful practices in Buddhism. In this episode, we explore how giving is not just an act of generosity—it is a path to freedom, a way to dissolve the tight grip of self-centeredness and open our hearts to others. The Buddha taught that giving benefits both the giver and the receiver, creating the karmic cause for an abundance of whatever we give, be it materially, love, Dharma, or fearlessness. Giving also reduces attachment, and deepens our sense of interconnectedness. Four Ways to Practice Giving: - Materially - Dharma - Fearlessness -...
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Episode 205 - Antidotes to Attachment
Buddhism for Everyone with JoAnn Fox
Attachment is like a rope that binds us—tying our happiness to people, possessions, and circumstances. In Buddhism, attachment isn’t just about clinging to things we love; it’s the grasping, craving, and fear of loss that keep us trapped in cycles of dissatisfaction. The tighter we hold on, the more suffering we create. But don’t worry—there are antidotes to this challenging habit of attachment! In this episode, we’ll uncover practical tools from the Buddhist path to help us shift from attachment to true freedom. How can we love without clinging? Enjoy without suffering?...
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Episode 204 - Tranquility Meditation
Buddhism for Everyone with JoAnn Fox
In the rush of daily life, our minds often feel like restless seas—waves of thoughts crashing, emotions rising and falling. But beneath the surface, there is a deep, still place. Tranquility meditation, or shamatha, is the practice of sinking into that stillness, calming the waters of the mind so that clarity and peace can naturally arise. In this episode, JoAnn Fox guides a tranquility meditation and explores the power of this practice. At its heart, tranquility meditation is about resting in focused awareness. We choose an object like the breath—and gently anchor our attention...
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Episode 203 - Breaking the Barriers to Spiritual Growth
Buddhism for Everyone with JoAnn Fox
The spiritual path begins with a mind conditioned by anger, attachment, and ignorance—and a stirring wish for change. The culmination of the path is a mind liberated—compassionate, boundless, and freed by wisdom. What comes between is unyielding, joyful effort. Buddha himself and his disciples are the living proof that the task is not beyond our reach. They show us that anyone who follows the path can accomplish the same goals. But what is needed is effort. The three obstacles to spiritual effort Procrastination Attachment to what is meaningless or non-virtuous ...
info_outlineThe practice of restraint is a crucial part of the Buddhist path to enlightenment. It involves abstaining from harmful thoughts, speech, and actions that lead to suffering for oneself and others. In this episode, we look at the practice of restraint to protect and help ourselves. The Buddha speaks so much about the wisdom of guarding the sense doors and practicing restraint. For if we don't practice restraint at all, we have no control over where our life is headed. We are like a wheel spinning out of control.
Guarding the sense doors:
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eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind
Restraint is part of the practice of ethical discipline, one of the three pillars of Buddhist training, along with universal compassion and wisdom. Restraint is essential for cultivating virtue and good karma and developing a calm and focused mind. By restraining from harmful actions, we purify our minds and develop a sense of self-control and discipline.
In Buddhism, the practice of restraint is guided by the Five Precepts, which are basic ethical guidelines that many lay followers vow to live by.
These Five Precepts are:
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Refrain from taking the life of any living being
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Refrain from taking what is not given
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Refrain from engaging in sexual misconduct
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Refrain from false speech
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Refrain from taking intoxicants that cloud the mind
In addition to the Five Precepts, there are other guidelines for restraint, such as refraining from harsh speech, divisive speech, and gossip. The practice of restraint is not just about avoiding negative actions, but also about cultivating positive qualities such as kindness, generosity, and compassion, which we will look at in the next episode.
The Week's Mindfulness Practice of Restraint
In your life as it is now, is there Anything you should practice restraint with? Is there Anything you're doing that feeds non-virtue? Are there habits that are harmful to yourself or others?
Examples of guarding the sense doors:
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The ear: Is there some way you should practice restraint in listening? For example, someone may have a bad effect on you; when you talk at length, it encourages you to be angry at others.
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Nose and tongue: restraint regarding food
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Body: restraint in body, sex, stealing, killing, hurting
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Mind: restraint of mind, refrain from thinking and dwelling on something that causes delusion
JoAnn suggests choosing one way to practice restraint in the coming week. Specifically, select the practice of restraint that will bring you the most benefit and peace. You may find that restraint looks like moderation, or it could mean restraining completely from something.
In daily practice, watch for the moment when restraint is called for. Then, with mindfulness, practice restraint as you've planned. But don't be hard on yourself when you slip up! Progress is progress; perfection is enlightenment (and we aren't there yet).
The Story of Five Monks
“While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verses (360) and (361) of this book, with reference to five bhikkhus [monks].
Once there were five bhikkhus in Savatthi. Each of them practised restraint of just one out of the five senses and each of them claimed that what he was practising was the most difficult. There were some heated arguments over this and they could not come to an agreement. Finally, they went to the Buddha to ask for his decision. The Buddha said to them, "Each of the senses is just as difficult to control as the other; but all bhikkhus must control all the five senses and not just one. Only those who control all the senses would escape from the round of rebirths."
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Restraint in the eye is good, good is restraint in the ear; restraint in the nose is good, good is restraint in the tongue. (Verse 360)
Verse 361: Restraint in body is good, good is restraint in speech; restraint in mind is good, good is restraint in all the senses. A bhikkhu [monk] restrained in all the senses is freed from all ills. (Verse 360)
References and Links
Buddha (1986).The Dhammapada: Verses and Stories. Translated by Daw Mya Tin, M.A. (Website). Edited by Editorial Committee, Burma Tipitaka Association Rangoon. Courtesy of Nibbana.com. For free distribution only, as a gift of dhamma.
https://www.tipitaka.net/tipitaka/dhp/verseload.php?verse=360
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