“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 realit...

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 depen...

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...

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 las...

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 bu...

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...

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 ...

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 ...

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 powe...

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 acc...

What if you could instantly reduce stress, anxiety, and worry—not by changing your circumstances, but by changing how you see them? So much of our discomfort comes from labeling things as "good" or "bad," clinging to what we want and resisting what we don't. But what if these labels aren't inherently true?

In this episode of Buddhism for Everyone, we'll explore the Buddhist teaching that nothing is truly g...

In this episode, we dive into the very heart of Buddhist wisdom: the Four Noble Truths. These foundational teachings illuminate why we experience suffering and dissatisfaction and the path to inner peace and freedom.

Buddha explained that dukkha, translated as suffering or dissatisfaction, arises from craving (attachment) fueled by ignorance. To use these Truths in daily life, Buddhist Teacher JoAnn Fox su...

What does it mean to live generously? In this episode of Buddhism for Everyone, we explore the subtle ways we can practice abandoning stealing—not just materially, but in the countless small ways we might take without realizing it, like stealing time, being late, or complaining.

Living generously is about cultivating a mindset of abundance and integrity. In daily practice, it means transforming our actions...

Buddha taught that "A disciplined mind brings happiness." In this episode, we explore how shedding the habits of mind that are harmful to ourselves or others is the key to our own happiness.

In the stillness of reflection, we may notice how easily the mind clings to habits that bring harm—to ourselves, to others, to the fragile beauty of our relationships. Perhaps it is anger, rising like a sudden storm, t...

The Buddha, in his gentle wisdom, offered us a path to mindful speech through what he called "The Five Gatekeepers of Speech." These gatekeepers stand like sentinels, reminding us to pause before we speak. We ask ourselves:

Is it true?

Is it kind?

Is it beneficial?

Is it necessary?

Is it the right time?

Our speech, whether it lands on another...

Metta, 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 l...

This episode explores how to make mindful choices that lead to happiness and well-being in the future. We can learn how to distinguish between virtuous actions and nonvirtuous actions Virtuous actions are those that lead to positive outcomes, both for oneself and others. They are rooted in wholesome mental states such as generosity, compassion, and wisdom. With mindfulness, we can detect whether our mind is in a virtuo...

In this episode we explore one of the core teachings of the Buddha—the Five Aggregates and their connection to our problems and suffering.

The Buddha taught that life is pervaded by dukkha, which means dissatisfaction or suffering. More specifically, in the First Noble Truth, Buddha taught that “The five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.” These aggregates—form, sensation, perception, mental for...