Episode 213: How to Be Mentally Strong When Things Go Wrong
Buddhism for Everyone with JoAnn Fox
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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 -...
info_outline
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?...
info_outline
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...
info_outlineMetta, or loving-kindness, is a beautiful practice in Buddhism that calls on the heart to soften, to expand, to reach out with the wish for others’s happiness and well-being. It’s about nurturing love, not just for those who easily come to mind, but for everyone—the stranger, the difficult ones, and even ourselves. Metta practice, at its core, is deeply intertwined with non-violence because it cultivates the kind of love that makes harm unthinkable. In a world that so often pushes us towards division, Metta reminds us to see the shared humanity in each person.
When you practice Metta, you are not just sending love out into the world, but you are transforming yourself. This practice dissolves the walls of anger, fear, and separation that lead to violence. It teaches us to see others not as enemies or obstacles, but as beings deserving of love, just like us. Non-violence isn't just the absence of harm; it’s the presence of compassion. Through Metta, we learn that the peace we long to see in our world begins within—through the quiet revolution of our hearts.
A Practice Metta
Metta Prayer
May all beings be peaceful.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings awaken to the light of their true nature.
May all beings be free.
-
To practice the Metta Prayer begin by sitting comfortably, closing your eyes, and taking a deep breath. As you breathe, let the world fall away and center yourself in stillness.
-
Start Metta with yourself—because, yes, you, too, deserve your own love and kindness. Silently repeat: May I be peaceful. May I be happy. May I be safe. May I awaken to the light of my true nature. May I be free. Let those words settle into your soul. Feel their warmth, their truth.
-
Then think of someone you love dearly, someone who brings you joy. Offer the same blessing to them: May you be peaceful. May you be happy. May you be safe. May you awaken to the light of your true nature. May you be free.
-
Next, turn to someone you feel neutral about, maybe a person you pass by daily but hardly notice. Offer the prayer to them, with sincerity: May you be safe. May you awaken to the light of your true nature. May you be free.
-
Then, in a brave act of compassion, think of someone who has hurt you, someone difficult. Send them these same loving-kind words. This is where true healing begins. May you be safe. May you awaken to the light of your true nature. May you be free.
-
Finally, let your love expand to include all beings everywhere, those you know and those you will never meet. Visualize the world bathed in the light of this blessing: May all beings be peaceful. May all beings be happy. May all beings be safe. May all beings awaken to the light of their true nature. May all beings be free.
You may not change the world in this moment, but you will have changed yourself—and in doing so, you sow the seeds of peace that ripple far beyond what you imagine.
Whoever is not mixed up with
Householders or renunciants,
Who has no abode and few desires, I call a brahmin. (404)*
Having given up violence
Toward beings both timid and strong,
Whoever neither kills nor causes others to kill, I call a brahmin. (405)*
Whoever is unopposing among those who oppose,
Peaceful among the violent,
Not clinging among those who cling, I call a brahmin. (406)*
—Buddha, The Dhammapada
References and Links
Buddha.The Dhammapada. Translated by Gil Fronsdale. (Kindle). Shambala, Boston and London, 2011, pp. 78 (Link)
Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, by Je Tsongkhapa, Volume 1. Pages 222-223. Translated by the Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee. Joshua Cutler, Editor-in-Chief, and Guy Newlan, Editor.
Ruiz, Don Miguel. The Four Agreements. Amer-Ellen Publishing, 2011. pp. 34-38.
Find us at the links below:
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Buddhismforeveryone
Facebook Group:Join our private group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sanghatalk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buddhism.with.joann.fox
Direct link to sign up for classes: Buddhist Study Program