Buddhism for Everyone with JoAnn Fox

This week we try to practice and improve our patience. The practice of patience is to keep a peaceful state of mind by accepting things as they are— having given up the idea that things should be other than the way they are. Further, this week we will try to untie a knot in our life, something that continuously causes us to become unpeaceful. Will do this by trying to accept the situation and chan...

Whenever we patiently except some suffering, pain or irritation we purify karma that created it. To mindfully harness the power of this process, we can do a karma cleanse . The karma cleans e described in this episode requires we fast from blame—no blame for one week. In particular, we refrain from blaming any living being. It might appear to us that the source of a problem is something a person d...

The teachings of Buddha show us how to develop habits of happiness and peace. By practicing mindfulness we can train our mind and become anyway we want. No matter how confused, lonely, anxious or angry we are habitually, we can change. In this episode, we look at a verse that distill all of Buddha's teaching into three practices: Do no harm Practice what's skillful Purify your mind  The great Tibe...

The habit of attachment gives rise to craving, and craving robs us of our inner peace and happiness in the most deceptive ways. Attachment is on of the main mental afflictions Buddha described. The afflictions of anger and jealousy obviously steal our peace, but attachment might seem like it is creating happiness!  An affliction is defined as a metal habit that, when it arises, disturbs the mind. ...

In Buddhism, generosity is defined as the virtue of a generous attitude and any physical and verbal actions motivated by this intention. Thus, generosity is fundamentally a state of mind. Our goal would be to completely condition our mind to giving. It is conditioning our mind to wish to be the gift, the blessing, the miracle for other living beings. The practice of generosity entails generating,...

Our speech can create the most beautiful, peaceful life if we are mindful to speak with kindness and wisdom. If we lack mindfulness of our words, we can cause another to believe something negative about themselves that they carry their whole lives. We might end a long friendship with only a few sentences motivated by anger. in the episode, we learn how to become mindful of our words and purify our...

Like two wings of a bird, the Buddhist Spiritual path has two essential parts: wisdom and compassion. All the teachings of Buddhism help us to develop and refine these two qualities. Also, we can use wisdom or compassion to help us to work on our problems, like anger, anxiety or an attachment causing us great pain. In this episode, we look at wisdom and compassion and ask ourselves, Who am I? Who...

The world that appears to us depends upon our mind: our mental habits, our views and beliefs. In this episode, Buddhist Teacher, JoAnn Fox, talks about how to purify our mind and specifically how to purify our negative karma. We can create a new mind and a new world by purifying negative karma and taking positive actions toward creating the life we really want.  Karma means action. Actions that ca...

In the last few episodes, we have been looking at the basics of Buddhist tantric practice. In this episode, we try to get a taste of the experience of emptiness— the true nature of reality. The correct view of emptiness is one of three prerequisites for the practice of Buddhist tantra (in addition to renunciation and bodhicitta.) Over time, we try to develop this correct view of emptiness which al...

How a person functions in this world and whether they appear to be a good person or not, depends upon the intentions that most often pervade their mind. This is because intentions cause actions. What is the highest intention a human can have? Only the most benevolent intention can create actions so powerful it can radically transform us. In this episode, we look at a human's ultimate potential and...

The three principal aspects of the Buddhist Path are the prerequisites for the practice of Buddhist tantra. These three are renunciation, bodhicitta and the correct view of emptiness. In this episode, we look at the mind of renunciation. The Tibetan term for renunciation is translated as "definite emergence". What are we emerging from through this practice? We emerge from dissatisfaction and suffe...

Buddhist Tantra is a set of methods to quickly attain realizations of the true nature of reality (emptiness), universal compassion and great bliss. In this introduction to tantric practice, Buddhist Teacher, JoAnn Fox shares some of the fundamentals of the two stages of tantra: generation stage and completion stage.  In generation stage, we imagine dissolving our ordinary sense of self and all our...

Buddhist tantric practice is a method for quickly gaining realizations like great compassion and wisdom. In this episode, we explore the stage of tantra in which imagine our self as an awakened being. Called generation stage tantra, this is a technique for becoming more and more familiar with the thoughts and actions of an enlightened being until awakening is actualized through much-repeated pract...

The root cause of all our suffering that we do not take enough time, through mindful observation, prayer, and meditation to come to know ourselves -- our true, awakened nature. Our true nature is wisdom and great love and compassion. We contemplate death and impermanence as a way to relate to our true nature, which is more than this body and this life. We are a traveler, bound beyond this life. If...

As we conclude the chapter called "Violence" in the Dhammapada, we look at the perfection of patience. What makes this practice of patience a 'perfection' is that it is motivated by bodhicitta. Bodhicitta is the spontaneous wish to attain enlightenment motivated by great compassion for all living beings. A person who has this motivation of bodhicitta is called a bodhisattva. We try to become famil...

Webster's Dictionary defines forgiveness as: "To cease to feel resentment against on account of a wrong committed." Resentment is the continuation of anger. When we think of some harm that was done to us and we dwell on it, causes us to get angry again. In this way resentment keeps the pain with us. It is like someone stabbing us once, and then we keep reopening the wound. Forgiving means putting...

Sometimes anger comes quickest, harshest and most easily with those we love or care about. Unfortunately, with those we love anger can do the greatest harm and wounds made with our words may last for a long, long time. In this episode, we learn what anger is, it's function,  and what causes it We also practice a mindfulness technique to prevent anger from arising. The process that causes anger: We...

            The practice of non-violence Buddha explains in the chapter of the Dhammapada called "Violence" refers to abandoning both the killing of living beings and the violence of our speech. Sometimes we harm other people most with our speech. Unlike a physical wound, hurtful words may cut a person throughout their whole life. Our words our very powerful. As people create their self (a mere pe...

The word "karma" literally means action. Fundamentally, Buddha explained that karma is the law of cause and effect; from actions of our body, speech and mind come results. Yet it is not as simple as saying that from an action of giving comes the result that others will give to us in the future. That will happen, but that action of generosity also changes us. Our actions condition us, shape us, and...

The Law of Karma--as explained by the Buddha--is complex, and yet any understanding that leads to belief will steer our actions in a positive direction without much effort. This is why it is so beneficial to try to grow our belief and mindfulness of karma.  In this episode, we look at how to practice mindfulness on karma in daily life. There is also a simple practice given to help us purify our ka...

The most liberating of all the Buddha's teachings are said to be his teachings on the Two Truths: Ultimate Truth and Conventional Truth. In this episode, we try to understand these two truths a little, and then put them into practice to free our mind of something that currently causes us pain or difficulties. The two truths explain the real nature of reality, as opposed to how we normally perceive...

In this episode, we explore what it means to be a spiritual warrior. We look at what Buddha described as the real enemy of living beings is and how we can help all living beings. Buddha taught that our only real enemy is our mental afflictions, such as our habits of anger, attachment, jealousy and selfishness. These destroy our inner peace and cause us to harm others. As the Buddhist Master, Shant...

In this episode we explore  how to start a daily meditation practice and the basic mechanics of meditation. Many people misunderstand meditation, thinking we are trying to empty our mind of thoughts. Good luck with that! :) There are several different types of meditation, such as breathing meditation, analytical meditation and tantric meditation. In this episode, you're encouraged to try a ten min...

In t his episode we look at how to create a new mind and a new reality for ourselves by purifying negative karma (previous thoughts and actions) and taking positive actions toward creating the life we really want.  Meditation on Your Future Self with an Emphasis on Purifying Negative Karma Imagine your future self (with some profound change for the better). Feel it, experience it vividly. Imagine...

The meditation on your future self is intended to help us create a new reality for our self.  It combines imagining a new, freer, happier version of yourself and the purification of your karma (previous thoughts and actions). This meditation also helps us have some experience of the emptiness of our self, rather than intellectualizing the subtle concept. You begin by deciding what amazing new way...