Episode 124 - Mindful of Our Own Impermanence
Buddhism for Everyone with JoAnn Fox
Release Date: 12/20/2021
Buddhism for Everyone with JoAnn Fox
We chase happiness like it’s just around the corner. Could our final destination, “happiness,” be hidden in a new relationship, job title, city, or home? But His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with his childlike laugh and mountain-like presence, has let us in on a little secret: the true source of happiness isn’t getting what we want. It’s cherishing others. It’s being kind. The Dalai Lama says, “The basic source of all happiness is a sense of kindness and warm-heartedness towards others.” Buddhist teachings remind us again and again that when we shift the spotlight from...
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This episode is about those moments when life doesn't go according to plan: when things go wrong, fall apart, or just feel too heavy to bear. At these times, mental strength becomes our most valuable refuge. But what does it really mean to be mentally strong? How can we cultivate that strength without becoming rigid or emotionally shut down? We'll be exploring one of my favorite quotes from the great Buddhist master Shantideva: "If something can be done, why worry? If nothing can be done, why worry?" This deceptively simple teaching holds the key to freedom from anxiety, overwhelm, and...
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“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...
info_outlineBuddhism 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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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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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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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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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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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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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?...
info_outlineOur modern culture tends to make us turn away from thoughts about death and even our own aging. Yet death is something that all of us, without exception, will experience. In Buddhism, there is a focus on coming to terms with our own death ans impermanence. This world is not our home, it is said. We are a traveler destined for other worlds, other lives. By becoming mindful of our own mortality, that the time of our death is uncertain, and even that we might die today, we develop a great urgency for spiritual practice. In this episode we look at the many benefits of and do a meditation on a death. Paradoxically, this meditation gives us a great zest for life, and we can do it quite joyfully.
Benefits of mindfulness of death
- Our spiritual practice becomes powerful and pure
- We engage in spiritual peace
- Buddha said that people would never fight or argue if they fully realized they were going to die.
- Reduced attachment
- Gratitude for each moment of our precious human life
- An appreciation of human vulnerability that leads to greater compassion for self and others
- A diminished anxiety about death, the death of our loved ones, and dying in the world around us. This helps us to support others during their dying process and friends and family who are grieving
- A reduced fear of our own death, which can help us die in a state of peace rather agitation
- Greater zest for life
Atisha's contemplations on death:
Death is inevitable.
Our life span is decreasing continuously.
Death will come, whether or not we are prepared for it.
Human life expectancy is uncertain.
There are many causes of death.
The human body is fragile and vulnerable.
At the time of death, our material resources are not of use to us.
Our loved ones cannot keep us from death.
Our own body cannot help us at the time of our death.
Only spiritual practice will help us at the time of death.
“Here I will live during the rainy season,
And here during the winter and summer.”
So the fool ponders
Unaware of the danger.
Intoxicated by children and cattle,
That addict
Is swept away by Death,
As a sleeping village is by a great flood. (Verse 286-287)
Children, parents, and relatives
Are not a protection
For someone seized by Death,
Relatives are no protection
Knowing this,
The wise person, Restrained by virtue,
Should quickly clear the path
To Nirvana, (288-289)
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References and Links
Buddha.The Dhammapada. Translated by Gil Fronsdale. (Kindle). Shambala, Boston and London, 2011, pp. 73 (Link)