Talks
Dhamma talks, most of them given on retreat.
2026
- MN 20 Removal of Distracting Thoughts- Do you Destroy or Torture your Wandering Mind?
Delson reads through MN 20 (Vitakkasanthana Sutta, the removal of distracting thoughts) and explains its five methods: replace an unwholesome sign with a wholesome one, examine its danger…
- MN 19 Two Kinds of thought - Good vs Bad results-Dvedhavitakka Sutta
Delson reads and comments on MN 19 (Dvedhavitakka Sutta), in which the Buddha divides thoughts into two classes: sensual desire, ill will and cruelty on one side, and renunciation, non-ill…
- Day 8 Dependent Origination Pt 2 Going deep...
Delson continues his teaching on dependent origination, picking up from feeling and tracing the chain forward through contact, the underlying tendencies, craving, clinging and becoming.
- MN 18 The Honeyball - Perceptions and Notions - Self Being Created-Madhupindika Sutta
Delson reads and explains MN 18, the Madhupindika Sutta (the Honeyball), covering the Buddha's answer to Dandapani, Maha Kachana's detailed exposition, and Ananda's closing remarks.
- He Meditated 30,000 Hours. The End of Suffering Isn't What You Were Promised | Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong responds to the question of whether the end of suffering is possible, especially for householders.
- Day 6 Transcendental Origination
Delson explains transcendental dependent origination as the chain of conditions that leads to liberation of the mind.
- Day 7 Dependent origination Part 1 of 2 The Craving and Clinging Mind
Delson presents dependent origination as an elaboration of the Four Noble Truths, retelling the Buddha's awakening story and then tracing suffering back through birth, becoming, and…
- Day 5 The Jhanas -Aug Retreat with Delson Armstrong
Delson explains the jhanas as a map of a progressive meditative process, not a set of goals to reach, and walks through the first to the eighth jhana, from vitakka and vicara through piti…
- Day 2 Sila - The Foundation of the Meditation -Why do we take refuges/precepts? Excellent Talk
Delson explains why the retreat's morning ritual of three refuges, eight precepts, five recollections and a Dhammapada reading is part of the meditation practice.
- Day 4 Enlightenment Factors and 6Rs
Delson continues from yesterday's talk on the Eightfold Path by explaining the seven awakening factors (mindfulness, discernment, energy, joy, tranquility, collectedness, equanimity) as…
- AN 7.57 –- The Seven Benefits of Giving -Talk 1 of 3 -Generosity Challenge
Delson reads and interprets AN 7.57, the Siha Sutta, in which the Buddha lists the benefits of giving.
- Day 3 8-Fold Path - Aug Retreat - Delson Armstrong at DSMC
Delson walks through the Noble Eightfold Path as the spine of the practice, taking each factor in turn: right view, right intention, right speech, right action and right livelihood (sila)…
- Day 1 Intro Aug 13-23 Tranquil Wisdom Insight Retreat at DSMC-Intro to Delson
Delson opens a retreat by giving his background and explaining the 6R's (Recognize, Release, Relax, Re-smile, Return, Repeat) as the method of right effort for letting go of distraction.
- Day 6 Last Day Thoughts -High Altitude Retreat
Delson closes a retreat by arguing that the real practice begins when people return to ordinary life, where enthusiasm and plans often fail and situations test patience and surrender.
- Day 5 High Altitude Retreat - Energies & Enlightenment Factors
Delson explains energy as the movement of awareness, following where attention goes, and links this to jhanas, the seven enlightenment factors, and the eleven links of transcendental…
- Day 4 High Altitude Retreat -Remember the Knowingness
Delson encourages listeners to rest in the knowing awareness they touched on the previous night, rather than trying to reach or return to it.
- Day 2 High Altitude Retreat -A story, Clinging, Bhava and Dying
Delson explains how craving and clinging arise from preferences and how the mind builds a sense of self and a personality (bhava) around them.
- Day 1 High Altitude Meditation Retreat with Delson Armstrong and Doug Kraft-Lessons From the Flood
Delson recounts being caught in a flash flood at Dhammasuka Meditation Center, where he nearly drowned in his cabin, cut his foot, and was rescued on foot.
- MN 17 Jungle Thickets - Are We Being Supported? - Vanapattha Sutta
Delson reads and comments on MN 17, the Vanapattha Sutta, which describes when a monk should stay in a jungle thicket and when he should leave, depending on whether mindfulness and…
- 8 Fold Path - The Path to Stream Entry- All of the Signposts
Delson presents the Noble Eightfold Path as the spine of the Dhamma and walks through each factor.
- 8 fold Path as the Path to Stream Entry- The Buddha's Path Laid Out to Awakening
Delson presents the Eightfold Path as the spine of the Dhamma and walks through its eight factors in order, from right view through right collectedness.
- MN 15 Anumana Sutta Majjhima Series with Delson Armstrong-Admonished by the Buddha
Delson teaches MN 15, the Anumana Sutta, in which Maha Moggallana lists sixteen qualities that make a monk difficult or easy to admonish.
- MN 16 -Five Wildernesses -Weaknesses to be overcome -Cetokhila Sutta
Delson walks through MN 16, the Cetokhila Sutta, which lists five wildernesses in the heart (doubt about the Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha and training, plus resentment toward fellow…
- Day 8 DN31 Advice to Lay-People
Delson reads and comments on DN31, the Sigalovada Sutta, in which the Buddha gives a young householder advice on living as a lay person: abandoning the four defilements of action, avoiding…
- Day 6 AN 6.63 Penetrative Discourse -The workings of Karma
Delson works through AN 6.63, the Penetrative Discourse, which lists six subjects to be understood: sensual pleasures, feelings, perceptions, the taints, karma, and suffering.
- Day 4 Understanding Formations & How to Attain Cessation -Excellent!
Delson reads and comments on SN 41.6 (Kamabhu Sutta), in which the monk Kamabhu answers the householder Chitta's questions on the three formations, the attainment of cessation of…
- Day 5 The Higher Jhanas -The Signless SN 41.7 Godattasutta
Delson reads and comments on SN 41.7 (Godatta Sutta), in which the householder Citta explains the difference between four liberations of mind: by the measureless, by nothingness, by…
- Day 3 July Retreat MN 134 -A Fine Night - The Concept of Self
Delson reads and comments on the Loma Sakangiya Bhaddekaratta Sutta (MN 134) and its stanza on the "single excellent night," which says not to revive the past or build hopes on the future…
- Day 2 Setting in Motion the wheel of Dhamma -8 Fold Path
Delson introduces the morning refuges, precepts and recollections as a way of setting intention for practice, then reads SN 56.11, the Buddha's first sermon on the middle way and the Four…
- Day 1 July 2-12 Advanced Retreat-Orientation and Instructions
Delson gives the orientation for a ten-day advanced TWIM retreat.
- MN 14 -The Shorter Discourse on the Mass of Suffering
Delson reads and comments on MN 14, the Culadukkhakkhandha Sutta, in which Mahanama asks why greed, hate and delusion still invade his mind after he has seen the danger in sensual pleasures.
- MN 13 The Greater Discourse on Suffering - Majjhima Series w/ Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and comments on MN 13, the Greater Discourse on Suffering (Maha Dukkhakhandha Sutta).
- MN 12 Greater Discourse on the Lion's Roar- Sunday Sutta Session
Delson reads through MN 12, the Greater Discourse on the Lion's Roar, in which the Buddha answers Sunakkhatta's claim that he has no superhuman states or knowledge worthy of the noble ones.
- Day 9 Dependent Origination Pt 2 - Karma Discussion
Delson explains the middle links of dependent origination, starting from the Bhaiya Sutta (Ud 1.10) and moving through feeling, contact, name and form, consciousness, formations, ignorance…
- Day 10 Last Day - AN 10.1 - The Path from Suffering to Awakening
Delson gives the last-day talk of a retreat, asking students to carry discipline and consistency back into daily life.
- Day 8 Intro to Dependent Origination-6 Craving links - Craving, Clinging, Tendencies, Birth -Part 1
Delson explains the middle links of dependent origination, from craving and clinging through becoming (bhava) and birth, as the wisdom that shows how suffering arises and ceases.
- Day 7 Higher Arūpa Jhanas 5-8 leading to Stream Entry
Delson explains the higher jhanas (the formless states of infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, and neither perception nor non-perception), building from the fourth jhana…
- Day 5 What is Mindfulness - 4 Foundations of Mindfulness-Not McMindfulness
Delson explains the four foundations of mindfulness (satipatthana) as body, feeling, mind and mind objects, and says they are anchor points for the mind rather than stages to pass through…
- Day 6 Introduction to Jhanas 1-4 -Keys to Entering the Jhana
Delson reads from DN 2 (Samaññaphala Sutta) to set out what the Buddha says must be in place before the mind naturally enters jhana: ethical conduct, guarding the sense doors, contentment…
- Day 4 Right Effort - 7 Enlightenment Factors -June Retreat at DSMC
Delson explains right effort as abandoning the unwholesome and cultivating the wholesome, and frames this as the core work of samadhi.
- Day 3 8 Fold Path June Retreat with Delson Armstrong
Delson explains the Buddha's first sermon (SN 56.11) and walks through the Noble Eightfold Path as a foundation for meditation, starting with right view and ending in right collectedness.
- MN 11 The Shorter Discourse of the Lion's Roar - Only one Path to the Unconditioned
Delson works through MN 11, the Culasihanada Sutta (the Shorter Discourse on the Lion's Roar).
- Day 2 What is Meditation - The Brahmviharas
Delson explains what meditation is for in the TWIM practice, distinguishing meditation with an object from objectless observation and framing the aim as a collected, clear mind in which…
- The Brahma Viharas are explained - this is the first part of the Buddhist path to awakening
Delson explains what the Brahma Viharas (the divine abodes) are and why they are used as meditation objects.
- What is the "I" Concept - Paramatthaka Sutta -Clinging to Views
Delson Armstrong reads and comments on the Paramatthaka Sutta (Sutta Nipata 4.9), on transcending views and not clinging even to Dhamma views.
- MN 10 Part 2 Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta-Feeling -Majjhima Series w/Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong continues his reading of the Satipatthana Sutta (MN 10), covering contemplation of feeling, mind, mind objects (the five hindrances, the aggregates, the six internal and…
- Day 9 Transcendental Dependent Origination - Last Day Advice
Delson walks through the links of transcendental dependent origination from SN 12.23 (the Upanisa Sutta), reading the chain in reverse from the destruction of the taints back through…
- Day 8 Dependent Origination Part 2 - Very Interesting!
Delson continues his teaching on dependent origination, moving from contact and feeling through craving, clinging, becoming and birth to suffering, and describing the seven underlying…
- Day 7 Introduction to Dependent Origination -Clinging-Craving
Delson introduces dependent origination (paticca samuppada) as the core of the Buddha's teaching on causality and conditionality, and as an elaboration of the Four Noble Truths.
- Day 6 "The Jhanas 5-8" with Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong teaches the four formless attainments (ayatanas, or arupajhanas) as he understands them: infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, and neither perception nor…
- Day 4 Foundations of Mindfulness and the Hindrances -Retreat Talk
Delson explains that hindrances should be released and relaxed rather than pushed away, using the six R's as the practical method.
- Day 5 "The Jhanas 1-4" with Delson Armstrong
Delson explains the jhanas as stages of collectedness (samadhi) that develop once the hindrances have eased, and walks through the first four jhanas and their factors.
- Day 3 8 Fold Path - The Journey w/Delson Armstrong
Delson retells the Buddha's life from the four sights through the years of indulgence and asceticism to the Middle Way, and presents the Noble Eightfold Path as the path the Buddha taught…
- Day 1-2 Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha- The Foundation to the Path
Delson opens a retreat by explaining the daily interviews: four simple questions about the object of meditation, the best sit, its length, and how the practitioner returns to the object.
- Delson Armstrong on cessation vs jhanas vs anaesthesia
Delson Armstrong answers an interviewer's questions about cessation, which he distinguishes from ordinary sleep, general anaesthesia, the awareness of awareness described in non-dual…
- Delson Armstrong: awakening is individual, & the future of dharma
Delson Armstrong, in a long interview, explains why he has moved away from the codified TWIM system toward a more individual and less dogmatic approach to awakening.
- Delson Armstrong on questioning dogma
Delson Armstrong answers a question about how Buddhist traditions can move forward in the West, and he warns against dogmatic attachment to scripture, institutions and gurus.
- Delson Armstrong: the buddha on if consciousness is primary
Delson Armstrong responds to a host's question about whether consciousness or matter is primary, saying the debate is partly intellectual gymnastics.
- MN 10 Pt1 '4 Foundations of Mindfulness'-Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta - Majjhima Series with Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong opens his study of the Satipatthana Sutta (MN 10) by explaining the meaning of the word satipatthana as anchors for the mind in the present moment, with sati as…
- MN 9 Right View - Majjhima Series with Delson Armstrong
Delson walks through MN 9, the Sammaditthi Sutta (which he calls the Samadhiti Sutta), on right view.
- MN 8 Conceit Purifying the mind. -Sunday Sutta Series with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and comments on MN 8, the Salekha Sutta (Effacement), in which Maha Cunda asks how views about self and world are abandoned.
- MN 7 Vatthupama Sutta -The Simile of the Cloth with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and explains MN 7, the Simile of the Cloth, which compares a defiled mind to a stained cloth that takes on the colour of any dye, and a pure mind to a clean cloth that takes…
- MN 6 Akankheyya Sutta - PRECEPTS ARE THE BASIS OF AWAKENING!
Delson reads and explains MN 6 Akankheyya Sutta, in which each "if a bhikkhu should wish" clause ends with the refrain to fulfill the precepts, develop samadhi and insight, and dwell in…
- MN 5 Unblemished - Sunday Sutta Series with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and explains MN 5, the Anangana Sutta (Unblemished), in which Sariputta distinguishes inferior and superior persons who have or lack a blemish, depending on whether they…
- MN 4 'Fear and Dread" Sunday Sutta Series with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads through MN 4, the Bhayabherava Sutta (Fear and Dread), in which the Buddha describes how he stayed in remote forests and shrines without fear, relying on purified conduct…
- MN 3 'Heirs in the Teaching" Sunday Sutta Series with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads MN 3 (Dhammadayada Sutta), in which the Buddha asks his monks to be heirs in the Dhamma rather than heirs in material things, and uses the example of two monks who receive…
- MN 2 Sabbasave Sutta-Taints -Sunday Series with Delson Armstrong
Delson walks through MN 2, the Sabbasava Sutta, on the taints (asavas) and the Buddha's teaching that they are abandoned in six ways: by seeing, restraining, using, enduring, avoiding…
- MN 1 Majjhima Nikaya Series Number 1 with Delson Armstrong-Sunday Series
Delson walks through MN 1, the Mula Pariyaya Sutta, which contrasts the untaught ordinary person, the trained bhikkhu, the arahant and the Tathagata in how each relates to earth, water…
- The Arhant & Khemaka Sutta with Delson Armstrong-(Revised)
Delson Armstrong reads and comments on two suttas, SN 1.25 (the Arahant, a deva asks the Buddha whether an arahant would still say "I speak") and SN 22.89 (Khemaka, who has let go of…
- The 37 Requisites to Enlightenment -Sunday with Delson
Delson reads from the Maha Parinibbana Sutta (DN 16), where the Buddha gives his final instructions, and uses it to introduce the 37 requisites for awakening.
- "Gems" The Ratana Sutta -Inspiring Sunday Talk with Delson Armstrong
Delson opens with photos from a recent trip to Sarnath, Varanasi and Prayagraj, where he and his group offered food and supplies to a line of about 120 Thai monks walking across northern…
- "Refuge" How To Practice for Arahatship -Crossing of the Flood-Sunday with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and comments on AN 4.170, where Ananda lists four paths to arahatship, and on SN 1.1, Crossing the Flood.
2025
- AN 1.306-309 Wrong View is always Unwholesome -Sunday with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads a series of Anguttara Nikaya suttas (AN 1.306-309) on wrong view and right view, explaining that wrong view leads to unwholesome states and suffering while right view…
- MN 41 'Conduct leading to Heaven or Hell' -Sunday Sutta Series - Good Conduct leads to Nibbana.
Delson reads through MN 41, the Sala Brahmins discourse, in which the Buddha lists bodily, verbal and mental conduct that is skillful or unskillful and explains how each leads toward a…
- Preview of Delson's New Book
Delson previews his new book on the Moksha Hridaya, presenting moksha as liberation of the heart.
- Did The Buddha Teach No-Self? SN 22.47 Ways of Regarding Things
Delson reads and comments on SN 22.47, arguing that the Buddha did not simply teach 'no self' but taught that the five aggregates should be seen as not-self, and that this seeing liberates…
- In the SEEN there is Only the SEEN - Sunday Sutta Session Udana 1.10 Bāhiya Sutta
Delson presents his own rendering of the Bahiya Sutta (Udana 1.10), focusing on the instruction 'in the seen, only the seen', and explains it as experiencing without a sense of 'I' that…
- "Dozing" Sunday Sutta Session AN 7.62 with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads AN 7.61 ("Dozing"), in which the Buddha coaches the Venerable Maha Moggallana through drowsiness with a graded list of remedies: change the object, reflect on the Dhamma, rub…
- Day 7 - Seven Days at St Francis: The Final Chapter
Delson closes a seven-day series by recapping the seven enlightenment factors as the basic ingredients of practice, with mindfulness at the base, leading to tranquility, collectedness and…
- Day 6 "Karma - Misperceptions" Oct 26-Nov2 Retreat at St Francis
Delson explains karma as intention and separates the Buddha's teaching from other Indian views, such as fatalism and the Jain idea of karmic dust.
- Day 3 "Gates of Liberation" Oct 26-Nov2 Retreat at St Francis
Delson gives a retreat talk on transcendental dependent origination, working backward from the final link, knowledge of liberation, through the links that lead to it.
- Day 4 "Dependent Origination Part 1" Oct 26-Nov2 Retreat at St Francis
Delson continues a retreat talk on dependent origination, presenting the first two noble truths, suffering (dukkha) and its causes, as a way to see how each link can be released into…
- Day 5 "Dependent Origination Part 2" Oct 26-Nov2 Retreat at St Francis
Delson continues his review of the links of dependent origination from the latter half of the chain, covering feeling, the underlying tendencies, contact, the six sense bases…
- "Gates of Liberation" Sunday Sutta Series with Delson Armstrong
Delson explains the Gates of Liberation, the three meditations of emptiness, signlessness and undirectedness, drawn from SN 43.4, as three doors into the unconditioned (nibbana-dhatu).
- DN 2 Oct 12, 2025 DN 2 Delson Armstrong Sunday Sutta Series
Delson reads from the Samannaphala Sutta (DN 2), section 42 onward, and explains the path it lays out from morality through sense restraint, mindfulness and contentment to the abandoning…
- Austria 2025 | Escaping the Matrix
Delson continues a series on dependent origination, starting with vedana (feeling, which he prefers to call experience) and how it leads to craving through the underlying tendencies.
- Austria 2025 | Mechanics of Karma
Delson explains the first and second Noble Truths by unpacking dukkha as instability or "bummer" and its three categories: dukkha-dukkha, viparinama dukkha and sankhara dukkha.
- Austria 2025 | Karma for Dummies
Delson explains karma as the Buddha taught it: intention is karma, and the fruit of past actions (vipaka) arises through causes and conditions.
- Austria 2025 | Tathātā
Delson explains the three characteristics of existence (anicca, dukkha, anatta) and the three gates of liberation (signlessness, undirectedness, emptiness) as a sequence that begins with…
- Austria 2025 | Awakening Intuition
Delson explains the seven factors of awakening (mindfulness, discernment, energy, joy, tranquility, collectedness and equanimity) and how they run alongside the Eightfold Path.
- Austria 2025 | The Awakened Lifestyle
Delson explains the Eightfold Path as a practical, non-religious lifestyle and walks through each factor in turn, grouping them under sila, samadhi and panna.
- Austria 2025 | Introduction - Just Relax!
Delson gives the opening instructions for a retreat on the Brahmaviharas, starting with metta as friendliness based on recognising one's own innate goodness and that of other beings.
- MN 70-Health & Attainments - Sunday Talk with Delson Armstrong
Delson works through MN 70, the Kitagiri Sutta, beginning with the Buddha's advice to abstain from eating at night and the monks who refused it.
- Delson Armstrong -Bio
This entry is a promotional bio of Delson Armstrong, not a recorded teaching.
- Is the World Eternal or....MN 63 - Sunday Talk with Delson Armstrong
Delson teaches from MN 63, the Cula Malunkyovada Sutta, in which the monk Malunkyaputta refuses to train unless the Buddha answers speculative questions about the world and the Tathagata…
- The Buddha's Uneasy Truth About Family Life-MN 87 with Delson
Delson reads MN 87, the Piyajatika Sutta ("Born from those who are dear"), and explains the Buddha's teaching that grief, sorrow and despair arise from those we hold dear.
- Ocean SN 35.228 - Drowning in the Ocean of the Senses - Sunday Talk with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and comments on two short Samyutta Nikaya suttas (SN 35.228 and 35.229) that call the six sense bases an ocean.
- MN 48 Kosambiya Metta Leading to Nibbana- Sunday Talk with Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong reads and comments on MN 48, the Kosambiya Sutta, in which the Buddha addresses monks in Kosambi who were quarreling and calls them to acts of loving-kindness toward their…
- Aug 10 Sunday Series -AN10.6-7 Samadhi Sutta & Sariputta
Delson reads AN 10.6 (the Samadhi Sutta) and AN 10.7 (the Sariputta Sutta), in which Ananda asks how a monk can reach a concentration where he no longer perceives the elements, the…
- Aug 3 -AN9.20 Velama -Power of Giving -Sunday Series
Delson reads and comments on AN 9.20 (the Velama Sutta), in which the Buddha contrasts giving done respectfully and mindfully with giving done carelessly, and then ranks the results of…
- Summary of Jhanas 1-4 -Rupa Jhanas - W/Delson Armstrong
Delson summarises the four rupa jhanas, the meditative absorptions.
- Day 3 Adv Retreat -SN 35.95 Malunkyaputta Sutta - I need to know now!
Delson introduces the Bahiya Sutta (Ud 1.10), where the Buddha gives a brief teaching that in the seen there is only the seen, and then reads and explains SN 35.95, the Malunkyaputta…
- Day 7 First 6 Links of Dependent Origination
Delson walks through the early links of dependent origination, starting from suffering and tracing back through craving, feeling, the underlying tendencies, contact, the six sense bases…
- Day 9 Last Day -Ending Samsara
Delson closes his final retreat talk by asking listeners how they will carry the practice back into ordinary life, with its pain, difficult people and habitual reactions.
- Day 4 Adv Retreat MN 109 Full Moon Night -Amazing Talk-Consciousness and Karma
Delson reads and comments on MN 109, the Mahapunnama Sutta, the full moon discourse, on the five aggregates affected by clinging.
- Day 8 What is Karma? Delson Armstrong
Delson explains karma as the Buddha taught it: intention (chetana) is karma, expressed through body, speech and mind, while vipaka is the result that is experienced.
- Day 6 "Dukkha to Tanha" the Links of Craving and what they are.
Delson continues his teaching on dependent origination (paticca samuppada), linking it to the Four Noble Truths.
- Day 3 'The First 4 Jhanas" Progressing on the Path to Nibbana -Excellent
Delson explains the first four jhanas as the mind experiences them in TWIM practice: the factors of the first jhana (vitakka, vicara, piti, sukha, ekaggata), how the second, third and…
- Day 5 Path to Nibbana - Upanisa Sutta-Transcendental DO - Delson Armstrong
Delson recaps the higher jhanas (the arupa ayatanas, from infinite space through neither-perception-nor-non-perception) and how the mind moves through them toward cessation.
- Day 4 'The Higher Jhanas (5-8)+Nibbana" - Progressing on the Path to Nibbana-Excellent
Delson explains the higher jhanas, from the fifth through the eighth attainments, which he presents as an extension of the fourth jhana into the four ayatanas: boundless space, boundless…
- Day 4 'The Higher 4 Jhanas (5-8)+Nibbana" - Progressing on the Path to Nibbana-Excellent
Delson explains the higher four jhanas, which he describes as the four ayatanas (infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, and neither perception nor non-perception), and how…
- July 27 AN 3.65 Kalama Sutta Sunday Sutta Series-Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and comments on AN 3.65, the Kalama Sutta, in which the Buddha advises the Kalamas to judge teachings by what they know for themselves to lead to harm or welfare.
- Day 2 AN 50 'Blocks to the Luminous Mind' - Delson Armstrong
Delson explains the Anguttara Nikaya passage on the luminous mind, which says the mind is naturally luminous but is obscured by adventitious defilements.
- July 20 AN 4.24 - Kaleka Sutta -Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and comments on AN 4.24, the Kalaka Sutta, in which the Buddha says he has directly known whatever is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, reached, sought after and examined by the…
- Day 6 DN 16 'Take Care of the Dhamma... Delson Armstrong
Delson reads from the Mahaparinibbana Sutta (DN16) the "mirror of Dhamma," in which the Buddha describes how a noble disciple can know for themselves that they are a stream-winner.
- Day 5 Adv Retreat -Sn 41.7 With Godatta -Liberations -Delson Armstrong
Delson reads SN 41.7, the Godatta Sutta, in which Venerable Godatta asks whether the measureless, nothingness, emptiness and signless liberations of mind are one in meaning.
- June 13 -Day 9...Last Day Talk With Delson Armstrong
Delson closes a retreat with advice on keeping the practice going after it ends.
- Day 2 All the Taints MN 2 -Hindrances!- Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and comments on MN 2, the Sabbasava Sutta, on the taints (asavas) and the six ways they are abandoned: by seeing, restraining, using, enduring, avoiding, removing and…
- Who is Delson? From Yoga to Buddhism - My personal Journey -From India to the US
Delson Armstrong tells his personal story: an early start in Hatha and Kriya yoga and study of yoga philosophy in the Himalayas, then his move to Buddhism through the Brahmaviharas and…
- From Yoga to Buddhism - My personal Journey -From India to the US
Delson Armstrong traces his path from Hatha and Kriya yoga in India and the Himalayas, through the Yoga Sutras, to Brahmavihara practice taught by Bhante Vimalaramsi.
- Day 1 Adv Retreat AN 3.32 To Ananda -The Mind Stilled
Delson opens a seven-day advanced retreat by reading AN 3.32, the Ananda Sutta, in which Ananda asks whether a bhikkhu can reach a state of mind with no conceit (mana) toward the body or…
- June 29 SN 35.63 'Craving is a Partner' - Migala Sutta
Delson reads and discusses SN 35.63 (Migajala Sutta), in which the Buddha contrasts a lone dweller with one who dwells with a partner, the partner being craving.
- June 29 AN 35.63 'Craving is a Partner' - Migala Sutta
Delson reads and discusses Samyutta Nikaya 35.63, the Migajala Sutta, in which the Buddha defines a "lone dweller" as one who does not delight in, welcome, or hold on to sense experiences…
- June 11 -Day 7...Karma -Delson Armstrong
Delson explains karma as the Buddha taught it: karma is intention, and it is the basis for how old and new karma arise, ripen and can cease.
- June 22 AN 5.57 -5 Reflections - Sunday Sutta Study-Delson Armstrong
Delson reads AN 5.57, the five reflections: I am subject to aging, to illness, to death, I must be parted from what is dear, and I am the owner and heir of my karma.
- June 15 SN 41.6 "With Kamabu" Cessation and its attainment. Sunday Sutta Study
Delson works through SN 41.6, the discourse with Kamabhu, in which the householder Chitta asks about the three formations, how the attainment of cessation of perception and feeling comes…
- June 10 -Day 6...Formations to Feeling-Paticca Samuppada-Delson Armstrong
Delson continues his series on dependent origination, picking up from feeling (vedana) and working back through contact, the six sense bases, nama-rupa, consciousness and the formations.
- June 9 -Day 5...Tanha to Dukkha-Paticca Samupada-Delson Armstrong
Delson explains dependent origination (paticca samuppada) as the mechanics by which suffering and karma arise, beginning with aging and death and tracing back through birth, becoming…
- June 7 -Day 3 -In Depth Jhana Talk- Excellent! Delson Armstrong
Delson explains the jhanas as taught in the Suttavada approach, distinguishing jhanas that keep a person in samsara from the right meditation (samma samadhi) that leads to liberation.
- June 8 -Day 4... '12 Step' to Enlightenment -Delson Armstrong
Delson presents the Upanisa Sutta (SN 12.23) and AN 10.1-10.4 as a "12-step" sequence running from faith through gladness, joy, tranquility, comfort, samadhi and equanimity to…
- June 8 -Liberations SN41.7 Sunday Sutta study with Delson Armstrong
Delson studies SN 41.7 (Gaudata's question to Chitta the householder) asking whether the measureless, nothingness, emptiness and signless liberations of mind differ in meaning or only in…
- June 6 -Day 2 -First Day Blues-Origin of Hindrances
Delson explains, on the second day of a retreat, that the difficulties beginners meet in sitting come from hindrances: the five basic distractions of sensual craving, ill will…
- Day 1 June 5 -Why are you Retreating? Orientation Talk Jun5-14th 2025
Delson gives an orientation talk for a meditation retreat, explaining right intention (nekkhama, avyapada and avihimsa) and why the precepts, samadhi and wisdom form an integrated path…
- May 25 All is Burning Adhittasutta Sunday Sutta study with Delson Armstrong
Delson works through SN 22.61 (Adittasutta, "Burning"), which says form, feeling, perception, volitional formations and consciousness are all burning, and that seeing this leads to…
- Link of Bhava - What is it?: AN3.76 Bhava Sutta
Delson works through AN3.76 and AN3.77 on bhava (becoming), reading the sutta's repeated lines about karma as the field, consciousness as the seed and craving as the moisture for existence…
- Unlock the Mystery of Bhava in Buddhism -AN3.76 Bhava Sutta -Delson Armstrong
Delson reads AN3.76 and refers to AN3.77 on bhava (becoming), following the Buddha's answer that existence in each realm arises when karma ripens, with consciousness as the seed and…
- Apr 13 2025 Inspiring Sign AN 47.10 & SN 22.37 Delson Armstrong
Delson reads SN 47.10 about nuns established in the four foundations of mindfulness who perceive successively loftier stages, and explains that the 6R's act as an inspiring sign that…
- Apr 6 2025 Sunday Suttas "Origin of Suffering" AN 6.63 Penetrative Discourse w/Delson Armstrong
Delson works through AN 6.63, the Nibbedhika Sutta (Penetrative Discourse), which lists sensual pleasures, feelings, perceptions, taints, karma and suffering as things to be understood…
- Mar 30 MN 2 Sabbasava Sutta with Delson Armstrong - Sunday Zoom
Delson reads MN 2, the Sabbasava Sutta, on the taints (asavas) and the seven ways they are abandoned: by seeing, restraining, using, enduring, avoiding, removing and developing.
- Mar 30 2025 Sunday Sutta Study "All the Taints" MN 2-Delson Armstrong
Delson reads MN 2, the Sabbasava Sutta (All the Taints), and comments on it section by section.
- Mar 23 2025 Sunday Suttas "Devouring and Deforming Form" The Five Aggregates w/Delson Armstrong
Delson works through the Khajjaniya Sutta (SN 22.79), reading the Buddha's description of the five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, consciousness) and…
- Dissolving the Karma Police. Dharma Himalaya Session 01 with Delson Armstrong
Delson responds to a questioner who finds that effort and intention seem to push out the relaxed state, and that kindness appears to be undercut by the idea that everything arising just…
- 2025 AN 10.76 'Incapable" with Delson Armstrong Sunday Sutta study
Delson reads AN 10.76 ("Incapable") and explains its chains of qualities, each of which must be abandoned before the next can be.
- Mumbai Retreat February 2025 | Day 2 - Dealing with Hindrances
Delson Armstrong gives a day-two retreat talk on the five hindrances (sense craving, aversion, sloth and torpor, restlessness and remorse, and doubt) and how to work with each one.
- Mumbai Retreat February 2025 | Day 6 - Levels of Cessation
Delson explains the jhanas as levels of cessation, moving from the first jhana, where the hindrances fall away, through the four formless ayatanas of infinite space, infinite…
- Mumbai Retreat February 2025 | Day 5 - The Steps to Liberation
Delson explains liberation in Buddhist terms as the destruction of greed, hatred and delusion, and describes a path to it through relaxation, tranquility, comfort, collectedness…
- Mumbai Retreat February 2025 | Day 7 - Dependent Origination
Delson explains dependent origination as an elaboration of the Four Noble Truths that shows how the mind creates its own suffering.
- Mumbai Retreat February 2025 | Day 9 - Practice after Retreat
Delson gives the final Dharma talk of a Mumbai retreat, on how to carry the practice back into daily life.
- Mumbai Retreat February 2025 | Day 3 - Mindfulness
Delson explains mindfulness (sati) as bare observation of what arises and passes away, together with clear comprehension (sampajanna) of where attention is.
- 2025 SN 12.15 'Origin of Suffering'; Sn12.26 'Existence' with Delson Armstrong Sunday Zoom Series
Delson reads and explains two Samyutta suttas on dependent origination, SN 12.26 (Upavana) and SN 12.15 (Kaccanagotta).
- Origin of Hindrances and Cessation as a Pleasant Abiding with Delson Armstrong
Delson walks through AN 10.61 (the Avijja Sutta), which describes a chain in which the five hindrances feed ignorance, the three kinds of misconduct feed the hindrances, and so on back to…
- 2025 SN 46.54 Proof of Jhanas attained using Metta with Delson Armstrong Sunday Series at DSMC
Delson reads and comments on SN 46.54, in which the Buddha says that the liberation of mind by each brahmavihara (loving-kindness, compassion, altruistic joy, equanimity) can culminate in…
- 2025 SN 12.63 'Sons of Flesh' with Delson Armstrong Sunday Series
Delson reads through SN 12.63 'Sons of Flesh' on the four nutriments (edible food, contact, mental volition and consciousness), using the Buddha's similes of the desert couple, the flayed…
- The 'Word' for 2025 with Delson Armstrong-Sunday Series at DSMC
Delson explains why he chose contentment as the word for 2025, linking it to renunciation (nekkhamma) in right intention and treating it as a non-craving state that can be cultivated in…
- Jan 2025 Retreat: Orientation and Talk w/Delson Armstrong
Delson opens a January retreat with beginner instructions for TWIM loving-kindness practice: sit comfortably, smile, bring up an uplifting feeling in the chest, and send metta first to…
2024
- Oct 19,2024 Retreat: Last Day Talk w/Delson Armstrong
Delson closes a retreat by presenting sila (ethical living) as the foundation for meditation and explaining karma as the mind's immediate response to actions.
- Oct 2024 Retreat: Orientation-Day 1 Metta Instructions Oct 11, 2024
Delson gives an orientation talk for an October 2024 retreat, mainly about intention rather than technique.
- Wrapping Up Sept 2024 Zoom Retreat With Delson Armstrong: The Final Discussion!
Delson closes a Zoom retreat with a short talk and then takes questions.
- DO Series - The Link of CRAVING/TANHA
Delson explains craving (tanha) as the link in dependent origination that follows feeling and is bridged by the underlying tendencies.
- DO Series - The Link of CLINGING or UPADANA
Delson continues his series on dependent origination with the link of clinging (upadana), which he explains as the "because" that rationalises why we crave, reject or identify with…
- DO Series - The Link of BHAVA-BEING-BECOMING
Delson continues his dependent origination series by explaining bhava (existence, becoming, habitual tendencies) as the link that sits between clinging and the birth of action.
- DO Series - Jati -the link of Birth -Realms of existence
Delson explains jati as classification, drawing on the Aggañña Sutta to show that people are classed by their deeds rather than by birth.
- DO Series - Dukkha -the link of Suffering -The Delson Bot Introduced
Delson opens by demonstrating the Delson Bot, an AI chatbot built on his teachings, and promotes an AMA session.
- How To Know If You Are Awakened (with Delson Armstrong)
Delson Armstrong answers questions about awakening, which he describes as seeing experience in a less personal way so that the sticky sense of "me" and "mine" loosens, even if everyday…
- On Retreat -Delson talks to the meditators at the Solar Eclipse Retreat
This is a question-and-answer session at a retreat where Delson answers questions from meditators.
- The link of Birth or Jati; "The Dependent Origination Series!" with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads from his booklet on jati, the link of birth in dependent origination (SN 12.11), and explains birth at cosmic, moment-to-moment and everyday levels.
- Is Reality A Projection? (Delson Armstrong)
Delson responds to a question about whether reality is a projection of the mind, and he treats the two readings of that idea as different perspectives on the same experience.
- Meditation Master On How To Practice Intuition (Delson Armstrong)
Delson describes a simple exercise for developing intuition: pose a question to the mind about a meditation block or a life decision, then leave it and go about the day until an answer…
- The Dance of Attention - Infusing Awareness
This short talk, which is largely a narrator's account of a conversation with Delson Armstrong at a Mumbai restaurant, presents attention as the most valuable thing we can give and a…
- What Are Siddhis? Meditation Master Explains (Delson Armstrong) #consciousness
Delson explains that siddhis, the accomplishments or psychic abilities described in the Yoga Sutras, Buddhist texts and other Indian philosophies, come from the Sanskrit root siddh…
- What is Nirodha-samāpatti (Delson Armstrong)
Delson explains nirodha-samapatti, usually translated as the cessation of perception, feeling and consciousness, in which concepts, bare sensations and awareness all stop.
- Forgiveness Meditation - Zoom Talk by Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong teaches the forgiveness practice as taught in the Suttavada and Damasuka tradition, using the statement "I forgive myself for not understanding" repeated quietly, then…
- What is the (Ariya) Jhana? What is Right Samadhi?
Delson explains the meaning of sammasamadhi, or right collectedness, by breaking down the word samadhi and its link to Nibbana.
- What are the (Ariya) Jhanas? What is Right Samadhi?
Delson explains right samadhi, or right collectedness (sama samadhi), as the samadhi that is proper because it leads to Nibbana.
- Delson's 5th Talk on the 8 fold path-Right Collectedness-Jhana-Nibbana
Delson explains right collectedness (samma samadhi) as the eighth path factor, following from right view through right mindfulness, and as the step that leads toward nibbana.
- Delson's 4th Talk on the 8 fold path: Right Mindfulness-Smrti????
Delson continues his eightfold path series with a talk on right effort and right mindfulness (sati), explaining how the 6R's express right effort and how sati means remembering to observe…
- Delson's 4th Talk on the 8 fold path-Right Mindfulness
Delson teaches right effort as the heart of the path and connects it to the 6R's, then explains right mindfulness (sati) as remembering to observe how attention moves between objects.
- 3 Right Action 8 fold path series w/Delson Armstrong
Delson explains the three factors of sila on the Eightfold Path: right speech, right action and right livelihood.
- Talk 13 -Closing Talk- Dependent Origination Conf. with Delson Armstrong
Delson closes a multi-day dependent origination event by urging participants to see the links of dependent origination in everyday life, citing MN28, where Sariputta says that one who sees…
- Talk 10 -Transcendental DO- Dependent Origination Conf. with Delson Armstrong-4K
Delson works through transcendental dependent origination, reading from SN 12.23 (the Upanisa Sutta), and explains how its links run from suffering to the destruction of the taints.
- Talk 11 -Nirodha and Nibbana- Dependent Origination Conf. with Delson Armstrong-4K
Delson gives a final talk on nirodha (cessation) and Nibbana, reading from several suttas: SN 41.6 and 41.7, AN 10.6 and 10.7, Iti 44, and an excerpt from DN 11.
- Meditation Master Achieves Human Hibernation (Delson Armstrong)
Delson talks about nirodha, a cessation state entered by intention and ended at a set time, and about early research suggesting that long sessions lower heart rate, metabolism and blood…
- Delson's 2nd talk: 8 Fold Path Series-Right Intention
Delson explains right intention (sammasankappa) as the second factor of the Noble Eightfold Path, working from the Pali and from MN 117.
- Talk 9 -Kamma and Consciousness - Dependent Origination Conf. with Delson Armstrong-4K
Delson explains karma as intention and action, the energy that drives the wheel of dependent origination, and argues that the five aggregates are themselves inherited karma with no one who…
- Delson Armstrong 8 Fold Path Series - Right Intention
Delson explains right intention (sammasankappa) as resolve or wholesome determination, grounded in right view and developed through renunciation, non-ill will and non-cruelty.
- Delson Armstrong 8 Fold Path Series - Right View
Delson opens a study series on the Eightfold Path with right view (samma ditthi), using MN117 (the Mahacattarisaka Sutta) as his source.
- Talk 8 -Upadana (Clinging) - Dependent Origination Conf. with Delson Armstrong-4K
Delson explains upadana (clinging) as the link of dependent origination that follows craving.
- What Exactly is the Deep End of Meditation? | Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong describes his own path, from hatha yoga as a teenager through Himalayan training, Kriya, Tibetan practices and metta to TWIM.
- Delson's 1st talk: 8 Fold Path Series-RIGHT VIEW
Delson opens a series on the Eightfold Path by explaining that the path is the fourth noble truth and that right effort runs through all of its factors.
- Dependent Origination 2023 - Day 4 Birth
Delson explains that birth, jati, in the chain of dependent origination means coming into existence or being classified into a type of being, and that it has nothing to do with caste.
- Talk 6 -Bhava (Being) - Dependent Origination with Delson Armstrong-4K
Delson Armstrong teaches bhava (becoming or existence), the link of dependent origination just before karmic action is produced.
- Dependent Origination 2023 - Day 3 Dukkha
Delson explains dukkha as the unsatisfactory, unstable nature of conditioned existence, using the etymology of su and du with ka (stability) and the image of an off-balance chariot wheel.
- Talk 4 -Jati (Birth) Dependent Origination with Delson Armstrong-4K
Delson explains jati (birth), the second link of dependent origination.
- Talk 3 -Dukkha (Suffering) Dependent Origination Conf. with Delson Armstrong
Delson explains dukkha as the unsatisfactory, unstable nature of conditioned existence, using the etymology of sukha and dukkha and the chariot-axle image.
- Samadhi explained from renown meditator Delson Armstong #shorts #consciousness
Delson explains samadhi as an umbrella word that can mean an altered state or a state of collectedness, and says its levels overlap with the jhanas.
- Day 1/Talk 1 Introduction to Dependent Origination at the DO Conf. with Delson Armstrong
Delson introduces a dependent origination symposium that is rooted in the suttas.
- Dependent Origination Symposium 2023 with Ācariya Delson Armstrong - Talk #1 Introduction
Delson introduces a dependent origination symposium and a meditation based on DN14 and MN147, in which the practitioner begins with loving-kindness and then contemplates the five…
- The Path to Unconditional Freedom with Meditation Master Delson Armstrong
Delson describes his path from Hatha yoga at 13 through Himalayan study, Kriya Yoga and other mystical traditions to teaching TWIM and the 6R's within Suttavada.
- Day 7 8 Fold Path- Japan Retreat Dec 2023
Delson explains the Noble Eightfold Path as the fourth noble truth and as a practical lifestyle, going through each factor from right view to right collectedness.
- Day 5 Five Aggregates- Japan Retreat Dec 2023
Delson explains the five aggregates as heaps of experience and shows how each one (form, feeling, perception, formations, consciousness) is impermanent, dependently arisen and not self.
- Day 8 Upanisa Sutta - The Path to NIbbana- Japan Retreat Dec 2023
Delson walks through the transcendental links of dependent origination from the Upanisa Sutta (SN 12.23), asking how suffering leads to a path out and to the total cessation of suffering.
- Day 4 Jhanas Cont.- Japan Retreat Dec 2023
Delson continues his talk on the jhanas by moving from the form jhanas into the formless attainments, which he calls ayatanas and treats as extensions of the fourth jhana: infinite space…
- Day 3 Enlightenment Factors & Jhana- Japan Retreat Dec 2023
Delson explains the seven enlightenment factors (mindfulness, investigation of states, energy, joy, tranquility, collectedness and equanimity) as qualities that arise naturally when…
- Day 2 First Day Blues Japan Retreat Dec 2023
Delson explains the five hindrances on the second day of a retreat, which he calls the "first day blues." He describes each hindrance (sensual craving, aversion, restlessness and remorse…
2023
- Day 8: Noble Eightfold Path Netherlands
Delson Armstrong gives a talk, recorded at the end of a retreat, on how to cultivate the Noble Eightfold Path in daily life after retreat.
- Day 5: Dependent Origination Part 1 Netherlands
Delson explains dependent origination as the mechanics by which the mind causes its own suffering, and presents the Four Noble Truths as a method applied through the six R's in each link.
- Day 4:Transcendental Dependent Origination -The Path to Nibbana
Delson explains the transcendental links of dependent origination, a sequence from suffering and faith through virtue, gladness, joy, tranquility, collectedness and equanimity to…
- Day 3: Awakening Factors-Netherlands Oct 2023
Delson explains the seven awakening factors as qualities that counter the five hindrances and support jhana and insight, and walks through how mindfulness, investigation, energy, joy…
- Day 2: Hindrances Netherlands 2023
Delson gives a retreat talk on the five hindrances: sensual craving, aversion, restlessness and worry, sloth and torpor, and doubt.
- Day 3: Awakening Factors
Delson explains the seven awakening factors (mindfulness, investigation of states, energy, joy, tranquility, collectedness and equanimity) and how they arise together, with the first jhana…
- Day 6: Dependent Origination part 1
Delson explains the first part of dependent origination (paticca samuppada), beginning with the links suffering (dukkha), birth, becoming, clinging and craving, in reverse order.
- Day 7: Dependent Origination part 2
Delson continues his talk on dependent origination, covering contact (phassa), the six sense bases, mentality-materiality, the five aggregates, and the formations, asavas and ignorance…
- Day 3: Awakening Factors
Delson explains the seven awakening factors and how they relate to the five hindrances, the four foundations of mindfulness, and right effort.
- Day 2: Hindrances
Delson Armstrong opens the second day of a retreat by explaining the five hindrances (craving, aversion, restlessness, sloth and torpor, and doubt) as obstacles that arise when mindfulness…
- Day 5: Dependent Origination part 1
Delson explains dependent origination as the framework in which the four noble truths operate, and shows how the links can be worked with through the 6R's in daily life and meditation.
- Day 4: Jhāna 1
Delson explains the first four jhanas as he teaches them in TWIM: the mind collects around its object, and each jhana has its own factors, from joy born of seclusion in the first to…
- Day 9: Noble Eightfold Path
Delson closes a retreat by explaining the Noble Eightfold Path as a way of living, not only a sitting practice.
- Day 2: Hindrances
Delson gives a retreat talk on the five hindrances: sensual craving, aversion, restlessness (with worry and remorse), sloth and torpor, and doubt.
- Day 8: Transcendental Dependant Liberation
Delson explains the links of transcendental dependent origination, which he also calls the links of transcendental dependent liberation.
- Day 6: Dependent Origination part 2
Delson concludes his series on dependent origination by tracing how contact, the six sense bases, nama-rupa and feeling lead to craving, clinging and becoming, and how the same links apply…
- Day 5: Jhāna 2
Delson explains the formless jhanas (the ayatanas, the fifth to eighth jhanas), which he presents as extensions of the fourth jhana.
- Day 1 Mumbai 2023 Hindrances Ach Delson Armstrong
Delson explains the five hindrances (sensual craving, aversion, restlessness, sloth and torpor, doubt) and how to work with them during loving-kindness and six-directions practice on…
- Kalimpong 2023 Buddha Pāda Day 9 8 Fold Path-Last Day
Delson closes a retreat by explaining how the Eightfold Path applies off the cushion.
- Kalimpong 2023 Buddha Pāda Day 6 Dependent Origination Pt 1
Delson Armstrong teaches the twelve links of dependent origination, starting from dukkha and working backwards toward its causes, including the three kinds of dukkha, the birth of new…
- Kalimpong 2023 Buddha Pāda Day 4 Jhanas
Delson explains the jhanas as levels of samadhi, a balanced and unified mind that arises after right collectedness and the earlier path factors.
- Kalimpong 2023 Buddha Pāda Day 5, Ayatanas, Jhanas 5-8
Delson explains the arupa states, which he presents as the fifth through eighth jhanas and the ayatanas, as they arise on a retreat after the fourth jhana.
- 16 April 22 MN 9
Delson reads MN 9 (the Sammaditthi Sutta, Right View) and works through the links of dependent origination in reverse order, from aging and death back to ignorance, applying the Four Noble…
- 14 Dec 2021 Online Retreat. Dhamma talk with Delson Armstrong.
Delson reads and explains MN19, the Dvedhavitakka Sutta (Two Kinds of Thought), as guidance for the first day of a retreat, when restlessness, sloth and torpor, and other distractions…
- MN 121 17 April 2022
Delson works through several suttas on voidness (sunyata, emptiness), reading MN 121 and SN 35.85 and then SN 41.7 and SN 41.6.
- Kalimpong 2023 Buddha Pāda Day 3 Awakening Factors
Delson explains the seven enlightenment factors as a way of understanding what jhana is: the absence of the five hindrances with the enlightenment factors present to varying degrees.
- MN111 12 April 2022 Easter Retreat - St. Francis Retreat Center, San Juan Bautista, California, USA
Delson walks through MN111 (the Anupada Sutta), in which Sariputta examines each jhana and its factors one by one as they occur.
- Kalimpong 2023 Buddha Pāda Day 8 Transcendental DO- Upanisa Sutta
Delson explains transcendental dependent origination as the path side of the teaching, where the links are seen ceasing rather than arising.
- Kalimpong Buddha Pāda 2023 Day 1 Introduction
Delson opens a 10-day Brahmavihara retreat at Kalimpong Buddha Pada with a feeling-based loving-kindness (metta) practice.
- 13April22 DN15
Delson works through Digha Nikaya 15, the Maha Nidana Sutta, reading and explaining the links of dependent origination from consciousness and mind-body through feeling, craving, clinging…
- Day 6 UK Retreat (Sept 2023) - Dependent Origination Pt 2
Delson concludes his teaching on dependent origination by covering the links from contact through to birth and rebirth, including the sense bases, nama rupa, formations, ignorance and the…
- Day 3 UK Retreat (Sept 2023) Jhanas Pt 1
Delson explains jhana as a level of concentration, clarity and cessation that grows out of sila and samadhi, and he walks through the four jhanas using the factors of vitaka and vichara…
- Day 2 UK Retreat (Sept 2023) Hindrances and Awakening Factors
Delson teaches the five hindrances (sensual craving, aversion, restlessness, sloth and torpor, and doubt) on the second day of a UK retreat, and explains how each arises.
- Day 9 UK Retreat (Sept 2023) - Noble Eightfold Path
Delson walks through the Noble Eightfold Path factor by factor, from right view and right intention through right speech, action and livelihood to right effort, mindfulness and…
- Day 5 UK Retreat (Sept 2023) - Dependent Origination
Delson teaches dependent origination as an explanation of the Four Noble Truths, working backwards from dukkha through clinging, craving, feeling, contact and the other links.
- Day 8 UK Retreat (Sept 2023) - Transcendental Dependent Liberation
Delson explains what he calls transcendental dependent origination, the eleven links that run from suffering to liberation, and how they relate to the Eightfold Path and the enlightenment…
- Bonhays Day 6 Dependent Origination Part 2
Delson concludes his teaching on dependent origination, covering contact and the six sense bases, nama rupa, the five aggregates, formations, and ignorance.
- Bonhays Day 9 Noble Eight-fold Path Last Day of Retreat
Delson Armstrong gives the last-day talk of a nine-day retreat on the Noble Eightfold Path, presenting it as the practice to continue off the cushion.
- Bonhays UK Day 4- Retreat- Jhanas Pt 2
Delson continues his retreat teaching on the jhanas, covering the fourth jhana and the four immaterial states (infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, and neither perception…
- Zoom: Process of Dependent Origination Explained Quickly.
Delson explains how mental proliferation (papancha) grows out of contact, feeling and perception, and how craving turns into clinging (upadana).
- The Deep End of Meditation - Rebooting the Brain | Delson Armstrong
In this interview, Delson Armstrong traces his meditation path from hatha yoga, Kriya Yoga and Tibetan practices to TWIM, and describes the jhanas, the samadhi states of yoga, and a…
- Day 8 Transcendental DO, BUDDHA PĀDA INSTITUTE, Kalimpong- Delson Armstrong
Delson explains transcendental dependent origination, the sequence running from faith grounded in suffering, through virtue, the precepts, the jhanas and equanimity, to disenchantment…
- Kalimpong 2023 Buddha Pāda Day 2 Hindrances
Delson teaches the five hindrances (sensual craving, aversion, restlessness and remorse, sloth and torpor, and doubt) on the second day of a Buddha Pada retreat in Kalimpong.
- Day 7 Dependent Origination Pt 2, BUDDHA PĀDA INSTITUTE, Kalimpong- Delson Armstrong
Delson continues his account of dependent origination, starting from contact and the six sense bases and moving through mentality-materiality (nama-rupa), the sankharas, the taints…
- Day 6 Dependent Origination Pt 1, BUDDHA PĀDA INSTITUTE, Kalimpong- Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong begins a series on dependent origination (paticca samuppada), working backwards from dukkha toward ignorance.
- Kalimpong 2023 Buddha Pāda Day 4 Jhanas
Delson explains the jhanas as stages of samadhi that arise from a balanced, unified mind, with loving-kindness used as the object of meditation.
- Kalimpong Buddha Pāda Day 2 Hindrances
Delson Armstrong gives a day-two retreat talk on the five hindrances: sensual craving, aversion, restlessness and remorse, sloth and torpor, and doubt.
- Kalimgpong 2023 Buddha Pāda Day 5 Ayatanas
Delson explains the four arupa states that follow the fourth jhana, which he describes as the ayatanas: infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, and neither perception nor…
- Day 5 The Four HIgher Jhanas - Ayatanas, BUDDHA PĀDA INSTITUTE, Kalimpong- Delson Armstrong
Delson explains the arupa states, which he calls the ayatanas, as the stages that follow the fourth jhana: infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, and neither perception nor…
- Kalimpong Buddha Pāda 2023 Day 1 Introduction
Delson opens a ten-day Brahmavihara retreat at Buddha Pada by explaining the loving-kindness practice: a feeling-based meditation sent first to oneself and then to a spiritual friend.
- Kalimpong 2023 Buddha Pāda Day 3 Awakening Factors
Delson explains the seven factors of awakening (mindfulness, investigation, energy, joy, tranquility, collectedness and equanimity) as the basis for jhana and as the path to nibbana.
- Day 3 7 Enlightenment Factors, BUDDHA PĀDA INSTITUTE, Kalimpong- Delson Armstrong
Delson explains that jhana is the absence of the five hindrances together with the enlightenment factors present to varying degrees, and he walks through the seven factors (mindfulness…
- Day 2 Hindrances, BUDDHA PĀDA INSTITUTE, Kalimpong, India Metta Retreat- w/Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong teaches the five hindrances as they appear in sitting and daily life: sensual craving, aversion, restlessness and remorse, sloth and torpor, and doubt.
- Last Day of the Retreat advice for Meditators - July 22, 2023
Delson gives closing advice on the last day of a retreat about carrying the retreat mindset into ordinary life.
- Upanisa sutta Transcendental DO with Delson Armstrong July 20,2023
Delson explains the transcendental links of dependent origination, the sequence that leads from suffering and faith through virtue, gladness, the jhanas, equanimity and disenchantment to…
- Dependent Origination Pt 1 with Delson Armstrong-July Retreat
Delson explains dependent origination as an elaboration of the First and Second Noble Truths, working backward through its links from suffering to birth, becoming, clinging and craving.
- Dependent Origination Part 2 with Delson Armstrong
Delson continues his talk on dependent origination by covering the links before craving, which he treats as old karma inherited in every moment.
- Day 3 Jhanas 1-4 Explanation with Delson Armstrong Pt 1
Delson introduces the first four jhanas as progressively deeper levels of collectedness and cessation that arise from the metta practice when the mind lets go of hindrances.
- Day 3 The Jhanas -First 4 explained- by Delson Armstrong Pt1
Delson explains the first four jhanas as progressively more settled states of mind that arise from loving-kindness (metta) practice once the mind is relaxed and free of hindrances.
- Day 4 The Arupa Jhanas explained -5-8 & Nibbana with Delson Armstrong. Jhanas Pt 2
Delson explains the four arupa jhanas (ayatanas) that follow the fourth jhana: infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, and neither perception nor non-perception.
- Day 2 - 2nd Day Blues -Distractions AN5 5.51 July 14
Delson gives a second-day retreat talk on distractions in meditation, reading from AN5.51 on the five hindrances: sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and remorse, and…
- Last Talk of the Retreat with Delson Armstrong July 1
Delson gives a closing talk for a retreat, reading and commenting on MN 74 (the Dighanakha Sutta).
- 37 Requisites with Delson Armstrong. MN 77
Delson Armstrong reads and explains MN 77, the Maha Sakuludayi Sutta, in which the Buddha says his disciples honor him for five qualities and then lists the 37 requisites of awakening.
- MN 43 Mahavedalla Sutta AN3.102 Deep Dhamma
Delson reads the Mahavedalla Sutta (MN43), a dialogue between Maha Kotthita and Sariputta, and explains its teaching on wisdom, consciousness, feeling, perception, the five faculties, and…
- Upanisa Sutta and a Deep Dependent origination discussion with Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong reads and explains the Upanisa Sutta (SN 12.23) on transcendental dependent origination, showing how liberation comes through a chain of supporting conditions that runs…
- June 25, 2023 MN 9 Right View and Dependent Origination - We are going deep.
Delson reads and comments on MN 9, the Samma Ditthi Sutta, in which Sariputta explains right view through the wholesome and unwholesome, the four noble truths, and each link of dependent…
- The Jhanas with a Map of the 8th Jhana -Day 3 June 24, 2023
Delson reads the Culagosinga Sutta (MN 31), in which the monks Aniruddha, Nandiya and Kimbila describe their attainments of the jhanas, the formless attainments and cessation.
- June 23, 2023 MN 128 Upakilesa Sutta Day 2 Distractions
Delson reads and comments on MN 128, the Upakkilesa Sutta, in which the Buddha's disciple Aniruddha lists the imperfections of the mind that disturbed his collectedness and the light and…
- June MN 48 Kosambyia Sutta with Delson Armstrong-Last Day
Delson reads MN 48, the Kosambiya Sutta, in which the Buddha rebukes quarrelling monks and gives six principles of cordiality: bodily, verbal and mental loving-kindness, shared virtue…
- June Retreat MN 38 Dependent Origination with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads the Mahatanhasankhaya Sutta (MN 38) and explains that consciousness arises dependent on conditions, so the view of a self-same consciousness passing from one life to the next…
- MN 48 Kosambyia Sutta - Last Talk of Retreat! w/Delson Armstrong
Delson reads MN 48, the Kosambiya Sutta, about monks at Kosambi who quarrelled until the Buddha intervened, and uses it to teach the six principles of cordiality: bodily, verbal and mental…
- June Retreat AN 10.1 Transcendental Arising-Out of Suffering
Delson teaches the "transcendental dependent origination" from AN 10.1, in which Ananda asks the Buddha for the purpose of virtuous behaviour and the answer runs as a chain from non-regret…
- Generosity (DANA) Stories from Delson-Heartwarming!
Delson talks to retreatants about what to carry off the retreat, presenting sila, dana and bhavana as a way of living the path alongside the five precepts.
- MN 10 Mindfulness Redefined-Satipatthana Sutta with Delson Armstrong-Very Good!
Delson reads through MN 10, the Satipatthana Sutta, and explains the four foundations of mindfulness: body, feelings, mind and mind objects.
- Dependent Origination MN38 at Dhamma Sukha with Delson Armstrong MN 38
Delson reads and comments on MN 38, the Mahatanhasankhaya Sutta (the Greater Discourse on the Destruction of Craving), using it to explain dependent origination.
- MN 10 Satipatthana Sutta with Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong reads MN 10, the Satipatthana Sutta, and explains the four foundations of mindfulness (body, feelings, mind, and mind objects) as they apply to meditation practice.
- MN 111 The Path Through the Jhanas-Very Good Explanation of the Jhanas
Delson explains the jhanas as naturally arising states of collectedness that come from letting go of the hindrances and relaxing, not from forceful concentration.
- Contemplation of Five Aggregates by Delson Armstrong (Audio only)
Delson Armstrong leads a guided session that begins with loving-kindness radiated outward in all directions and then moves into contemplation of the five aggregates.
- How to build 'The Ultimate Wealth'; Talking All Things Spirituality & Money | Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong answers a series of interview questions about money, spirituality and ethics.
- May Retreat Day 10 Sigalovada Sutta DN 31 -advice to Lay People- Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and comments on the Sigalovada Sutta (DN 31), the Buddha's advice to the householder Sigalaka on how to live well as a layperson.
- Day 10 Sigalovada Sutta -Advice to Lay People with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and explains the Sigalovada Sutta (DN31), the Buddha's advice to the young householder Sigalaka on how to cover the six directions, which means caring for and being cared for…
- Delson Armstrong MN 109 Full Moon Night -Aggregates and DO
Delson reads and comments on MN 109, the Mahapunnama Sutta, in which a bhikkhu asks the Buddha about the five aggregates affected by clinging.
- Delson Armstrong MN 109 Full Moon Night -Vesak Talk
Delson Armstrong gives a talk on MN 109, the Mahapunnama Sutta (the Greater Discourse on the Full Moon Night), which he gives on Vesak.
- Delson Armstrong at Dsmc -Day 7- DN 14 Dependent Origination - Introduction
Delson introduces dependent origination by reading from DN 14, the Mahapadana Sutta, where the Bodhisatta Vipassi sees sickness, death, old age and a wandering ascetic and then reflects on…
- May 2023 Retreat -Day 8- MN 117 The 8 fold Path - How it all works together
Delson reads and explains MN 117, the Maha Cattarisaka Sutta (the Great Forty), to show how the Noble Eightfold Path works as a set of mutually supporting factors.
- Delson Armstrong MN 117 The 8 Fold Path - How all the folds come together
Delson reads and comments on MN 117, the Maha Chattarisaka Sutta (the Great Forty), and explains the eightfold path as a set of factors that support one another and lead to right…
- Delson Live at Dsmc -Day 7- DN 14 Dependent Origination - Introduction
Delson reads from DN14, the Mahapadana Sutta, where the Bodhisatta Vipassi sees old age, sickness, death and a wandering ascetic, then withdraws and reflects on what conditions aging and…
- Day 4 Talk on Enlightenment Factors and Jhanas. "Accompanied by Lovingkindness".
Delson reads SN 46.54, the Metta Sahagata Sutta, in which the Buddha answers wanderers who say their teaching matches his: the Brahmaviharas lead to liberation of the mind when they are…
- Deerpark Retreat Day 4 Noble Truths w/Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong reads the Four Noble Truths section of the Maha Satipatthana Sutta (DN 22) and explains it as a practical diagnosis: suffering, its origin in craving, its cessation, and…
- 2022 Aug Retreat SN 35.95 In the Seen is only the Seen...
Delson reads SN 35.95, in which Malunkyaputta asks for a brief exhortation, and explains it with the Bahiya Sutta (Ud 1.10) and SN 42.11.
- MN 143 - Anāthapiṇḍikovādasutta from Anathapandika's Park!
Delson reads MN 143, the Anathapindikovada Sutta, in which Sariputta visits the dying householder Anathapindika in Savatthi.
- MN 143 - Anāthapiṇḍikovādasutta delivered in Anathapindika's Park
Delson reads through MN 143, the Anathapindikovada Sutta, in which Sariputta visits the gravely ill householder Anathapindika and instructs him not to cling to or depend on the senses…
- First Discourse of the Buddha at Deerpark - Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
Delson reads and comments on SN 56.11, the Buddha's first discourse at Isipatana (Deer Park) near Varanasi.
- Second discourse Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta - at the same location the Buddha delivered it
Delson gives a talk on the Anattalakkhana Sutta, the second discourse the Buddha gave, reading it aloud and explaining it at the location where it was delivered.
- First Discourse at Deerpark - Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
Delson visits Deer Park (Isipatana) and reads through the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11), the Buddha's first teaching to the group of five.
- Deerpark Retreat Day 9 Upanisa Sutta - Full Dependent Origination w/Delson Armstrong
Delson reads SN 12.23 (the Upanisa Sutta) and AN 10.1 to show the path to cessation as a chain of conditions, where each factor is the proximate cause of the next, running from ignorance…
- Deerpark Retreat Day 8 'Deeper Aspects of Dhamma Pt 2' w/Delson Armstrong
Delson reads through MN44, the discourse where the nun Dhammadinna explains identity, its origin, its cessation and the path to Visakha, and he comments on each answer.
- Deerpark Retreat Day 7 'Deeper Aspects of Dhamma Pt 1' w/Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and explains Majjhima Nikaya 43, the Maha Vedalla Sutta, in which Sariputta answers Maha Kotthita's questions on wisdom, consciousness, feeling and perception, the jhanas, the…
2022
- Deerpark Retreat Day 5 'Right View' w/Delson Armstrong
Delson reads from the Sammaditthi Sutta (MN 9) on right view and explains its list of wrong and right views, wholesome and unwholesome conduct, and the links of dependent origination.
- Deerpark Retreat Day 3 MN 111 The Buddha's Map: through the Jhanas to Nibbana w/Delson Armstrong
Delson reads through MN 111, where Sariputta distinguishes each jhana and formless attainment as it occurs, and explains each stage in TWIM terms.
- Deerpark Retreat Day 2 MN 107 Hindrances -2nd day blues w/Delson Armstrong
Delson reads MN 107, the Ganakamoggallana Sutta, as a summary of the gradual path, and uses it to explain how to deal with the five hindrances during a retreat.
- Deerpark Retreat Day 1 Orientation w/Delson Armstrong
Delson gives orientation for a 10-day retreat, covering the metta practice with a smile, the choice of a spiritual friend, and the six R's for handling distractions and hindrances.
- Day 10 The Buddha's Awakening Part 2
Delson, with a co-speaker, continues the account of the Buddha's awakening from the Mahavagga and the Udana, covering the seven weeks after his awakening under different trees.
- Day 9 Mahabodhi Tree Mettā
Delson's talk, recorded on 2022-11-24, is very hard to follow because the transcript is largely garbled.
- Day 8 Wise Friendship
Delson closes a retreat with a talk on wise friendship (kalyanamitta), the companions who support a person's practice.
- Day 6 Bodhgaya
Delson reads and comments on MN 143, the Anathapindikovada Sutta, in which Sariputta teaches the dying householder Anathapindika to stop clinging to the six sense bases, contact, feeling…
- Day 7 The Steadfast State & The Eightfold Path
The talk, given on a retreat, reads MN 106 (Anenjasappaya Sutta) on ways to the steadfast state, the arupa states beyond the fourth jhana, and how to sit longer to reach them.
- Day 4 The Buddha's Awakening Part 1
Delson walks through the Buddha's path to awakening as told in MN 26 and MN 36, and in the sutta sequence he calls the gladness-to-collectedness sequence from DN 2.
- Day 3 The Jhanas
Delson explains the jhanas through a sutta passage in which the Buddha describes ever more refined pleasures, from sensual pleasure through the four jhanas, the formless attainments, and…
- Day 1 Orientation
Delson opens a retreat with an orientation to a feeling-based loving-kindness (metta) meditation.
- 2022 Aug Retreat Sn 12.23 Upanisa 8-12-22
Delson reads and comments on the Upanisa Sutta (SN 12.23) during an August retreat.
- 2022 Aug Retreat MN 18 Honeyball -Proliferation
Delson reads and explains MN 18, the Madhupindika Sutta (honey ball discourse), and the exposition given by Maha Kaccana.
- Day 10 DN 31 Advice to Lay People - Aug Retreat -Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and comments on DN31, the Sigalovada Sutta, in which the Buddha tells the young householder Sigalaka that paying homage to the six directions is not the Aryan way.
- Day 8 MN 112 The Six Fold Purity -What is an Arahant -Delson Armstrong
Delson reads MN 112, the Chabbisodhana Sutta on the six-fold purity, and comments on it section by section.
- Kundalini Revelations with Delson Armstrong -Master Yogi
Delson Armstrong, speaking with an interviewer, describes his years of intensive Kundalini practice and explains why he now considers it a conditioned experience rather than the path.
- Day 9- Retreat June 2022 MN 117 Eight Fold Path with Delson Armstrong
Delson walks through MN 117, the Great Forty discourse, explaining the eight factors of the noble path as supports for right collectedness.
- Day 2 2022 SN 12.23 'Transcendental' Dependent Origination -with Delson Armstrong
Delson introduces SN 12.23, the Upanisa Sutta, and walks through the dependent origination chain from ignorance and volitional formations to craving, clinging, birth and suffering, linking…
- Day 5 2022 MN 18 Honey Ball Sutta - Proliferation-with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and explains MN 18, the Madhupindika Sutta (the honey ball discourse), in which the Buddha and then Maha Kaccana describe how perceptions born of mental proliferation arise…
- Day 7 SN35.95 In the Seen is only the seen... Aug Retreat 2022 -Delson Armstrong
Delson reads SN35.95, in which Malunkyaputta asks for a brief teaching and the Buddha explains that craving arises only through contact and feeling.
- Day 8 2022 MN 77 37 Requisites -July Retreat - -with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads MN 77, the Maha Sakuludayi Sutta, in which the Buddha explains why his disciples respect him, and uses it to introduce the 37 requisites for awakening.
- Day 10 2022 DN 31 Advice to Lay People - -How to live! -with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and explains DN31, the Sigalovada (Sigalaka) Sutta, as advice on how to live as a lay person.
- Day 9 2022 AN 10.3 -Transcendental Dependent Origination -with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads AN 10.3 (Virtuous Behavior) and explains transcendental dependent origination, the chain that runs from keeping the precepts through non-regret, joy, rapture, tranquility…
- Day 8 2022 MN 7 The 16 types of Defilements -with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads MN 7, the Vatthupama Sutta (Simile of the Cloth), and uses it to explain the sixteen upakilesas, or mental defilements, that stain consciousness.
- Delson Armstrong PtII Dependent Origination Intellectual Content of Enlightenment & Core of Buddhism
Delson explains dependent origination as the mechanics of samsara and as something practitioners can observe directly in meditation, from everyday reactions up to the jhanas and cessations.
- Day 5 2022 July#2 Retreat SN 12.33 7-25-22 - The Cases of Knowledge
Delson reads SN 12.33, the Cases of Knowledge, and works through its 44 cases as the eleven links of dependent origination, each seen in terms of its arising, its cessation, and the Noble…
- Day 7 2022 July#2 Retreat Mn 109 7-27-22 - The 5 Aggregates
Delson reads from MN 109 (Maha Punnama Sutta) on the five aggregates affected by craving and clinging.
- Day 4 2022 MN 139 Exposition of Non-Conflict - What is Beneficial
Delson reads MN 139, the Exposition of Non-Conflict, and explains it as a guide to avoiding conflict through the middle way and the Eightfold Path.
- Day 5 2022 July#2 Retreat SN 33 7-25-22 - The 44 Knowledges
Delson reads SN 33, the Cases of Knowledge, and explains the 44 cases as the eleven links of dependent origination, each with its origin, cessation and the path to its cessation, set…
- 31 Realms -Buddhist Cosmology Explained by Delson Armstrong
Delson describes the 31 realms of Buddhist cosmology, from the hell realms at the bottom through the animal, human, deva and brahma realms up to the formless realms.
- Day 10 2022 MN 143 Anathapindikavado Sutta -July Retreat - -with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads the Anathapindikovada Sutta (MN 143) on the last day of a retreat, in memory of Rex.
- Day 9 2022 MN 44 Cullavedalla Sutta -July Retreat - -with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads through MN 44, the Culavedalla (Shorter Questions and Answers) Sutta, in which the layman Visakha questions the nun Dhammadinna about identity, its origin and cessation, the…
- Day 7 2022 MN 74 Dighanakha Sutta -July Retreat - -with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and comments on MN 74, the Dighanakha Sutta, in which the wanderer Dighanakha holds that nothing is acceptable to him and is led to see that clinging even to a view of no…
- Day 5 2022 SN 12.2 DO Analysis -July 4th -with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads through SN 12.2 on dependent origination, working link by link from aging and death back to ignorance.
- Day 4 2022 MN 10 Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta -July Retreat - -with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads through MN10, the Satipatthana Sutta, and explains the four foundations of mindfulness (body, feeling, mind, and mind objects) as different ways the mind becomes mindful, not…
- Day 1 -2022 First July 10 Day Retreat - with Delson Armstrong-Instructions
Delson gives opening instructions for a ten-day silent retreat: keep noble silence, start each day with a smile, and practise a feeling-based loving-kindness meditation held in the chest.
- Delson Armstrong - Part I - Marvels of Mind & “High Altitude” States of Meditative Absorption(Jhana)
Delson Armstrong is interviewed on a podcast about his background and his teaching in TWIM.
- Day 10 June Retreat - Metta Sutta - Karaniya Sutta SN 1.8
Delson reads through the Karaniya Metta Sutta (snp1.8) verse by verse as guidance for carrying loving-kindness into daily life after a retreat.
- Day 8- 10 Day Retreat June 2022 MN 43 Voidness and Vital Formations
Delson reads through MN 43, the Maha Vedalla Sutta, with commentary, from a 2022 retreat.
- Day 7 -2022 10 Day June Retreat - SN 12.25 Karma and Dependent Origination
Delson reads SN 12.25 (the Bhumija discourse), in which Sariputta and the Buddha say that pleasure and pain are dependently arisen on contact, and he uses it to explain karma through…
- Day 6 -2022 10 Day June Retreat - SN 12.32 Pt.2 Dependent Origination
Delson reads and explains SN 12.32, the Kalara discourse, in which Sariputta explains dependent origination in answer to the Buddha's questions about how his arahatship was attained.
- Day 5 -2022 10 Day June Retreat - MN 38 Dependent Origination -Intro
Delson Armstrong reads and explains MN 38, the Mahatanhasankhaya Sutta, on the destruction of craving.
- Day 4 -2022 10 Day June Retreat - MN 131 'A Single Excellent Night'
Delson reads and comments on MN 131, the Bhaddekaratta Sutta (A Single Excellent Night), and explains the Buddha's instruction not to revive the past or build hopes on the future.
- Day 2 June 2022 Day DN 2 Distractions -Retreat with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and comments on DN2, the Samaññaphala Sutta, in which King Ajatasattu asks about the visible fruits of the homeless life and the Buddha answers by starting with morality.
- Day 1 -2022 June 10 Day Retreat with Delson Armstrong-Instructions
Delson gives the opening instructions for a ten-day silent retreat, beginning with a loving-kindness (metta) practice built on a smile and the feeling of warmth in the heart.
- Day 7 May Retreat Talk MN149 /MN77 Suttas with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads MN 149 (Mahasalayatanika Sutta) and explains how not knowing the six sense bases as they actually are leads to craving, clinging and renewed becoming, and how seeing…
- Day 9 May Retreat AN 10.2 'After the Retreat' with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads AN 10.2 (Chetana, Volition) as a guide to what to do after retreat.
- Day 8 May Retreat MN 22 "The Simile of the Snake" with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and comments on MN 22, the Alagaddupama Sutta (the simile of the snake), which contrasts wrong grasp of the Dhamma with right grasp and describes seeing the five aggregates as…
- Day 6 May Retreat Talk AN6.63 & SN 36.21 Penetrative Discourse with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads AN 6.63, the Nibbedhika (Penetrative) Sutta, which lists a set of things to be understood: sensual pleasures, feelings, the taints, karma and suffering.
- Day 5 May Retreat SN 12.2 (2) Pt.2 Analysis of Dependent Origination with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads SN 12.2, the Buddha's Analysis of Dependent Origination, and works through each link from ignorance to birth and aging-and-death.
- Day 3 May Retreat SN 46.54.4 "Accompanied by Lovingkindness" with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads SN 46.54 (Accompanied by Lovingkindness), in which the Buddha says the liberation of mind by loving-kindness, compassion, altruistic joy and equanimity has a culmination, and…
- Day 2 May Retreat MN 107 Ganaka Moggalana Sutta with Delson Armstrong -Distractions
Delson reads MN 107, the Ganaka Moggallana Sutta, and explains the gradual training it describes: precepts, restraint of the senses, moderation, wakefulness, full awareness, then seclusion…
- Day 4 May Retreat DN 14 Dependent Origination Pt. 1 with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads from the Mahapadana Sutta (DN 14) on Prince Vipassi, who sees old age, sickness and death, goes forth, and through wisdom born of collectedness works out the chain of…
- Day 8 Apr Retreat - Mulapariyaya Sutta MN 1- The Root of All Things with D. Armstrong
Delson reads MN 1, the Mulapariyaya Sutta (the root of all things), and explains how a worldling conceives self in the five aggregates, earth, beings, jhanas and Nibbana, while a disciple…
- Day 9 May 4 Upanisa Sutta -Transcendental Arising
Delson Armstrong reads and explains the Upanisa Sutta (SN 12.23) on transcendental dependent origination, the chain in which each factor is the proximate cause of the next, from ignorance…
- Day 9 - Apr Retreat -Upanisa Sutta -On Transcendental Arising - The 23 Links
Delson Armstrong teaches the Upanisa Sutta (SN 12.23) and its account of transcendental dependent origination, which runs from suffering through faith, gladness, joy, tranquility…
- Day 5 Apr Retreat-Dn15 -Part 2 -Dependent Origination: Stations of Consciousness
Delson continues reading the Maha Nidana Sutta (DN 15), covering the seven stations of consciousness and the two realms, and relates them to the jhanas and formless attainments.
- Day 4 Apr Retreat DN 22 (5)- The Foundations of Mindfulness - 4 Noble Truths - D. Armstrong
Delson reads section 5 of DN 22, the Maha Satipatthana Sutta, which defines each of the Four Noble Truths.
- Day 4 Apr Retreat -DN15 Pt 1 Dependent Origination
Delson reads through the Maha Nidana Sutta (DN15), the Buddha's teaching to Ananda on dependent origination, and explains it link by link, from contact and feeling through craving…
- Day 6 Apr Retreat-Dn15 -Part 2 -Dependent Origination: Stations of Consciousness
Delson continues his reading of the Maha Nidana Sutta (DN 15) from a retreat, going through the seven stations of consciousness and the two spheres.
- Day 3 Apr Retreat-MN 111 One by One - the Jhanas lead to Nibbana
Delson works through the Anupada Sutta (MN 111), reading how Sariputta recognized each of the four jhanas and the four formless attainments one by one as they occurred.
- Day 5 Apr Retreat DN15 Pt. 1 -Dependent Origination w/Dhammachariya Delson Armstrong
Delson works through DN15, the Maha Nidana Sutta, on dependent origination (paticca samuppada).
- Day 2 Apr Retreat -MN 39 Distractions and Hindrances
Delson reads from MN39 (the Maha Asapura Sutta) on the qualities of a recluse: shame and fear of wrongdoing, purified conduct in body, speech, mind and livelihood, sense restraint…
- Day 2 Apr Retreat -MN 39 Hindrances and Distractions
Delson Armstrong reads from MN 39 (Maha Assapura Sutta) and walks through its list of training steps, from purified conduct and the precepts to sense restraint, moderation, wakefulness and…
- Day 7 - Talk on Nibbana, Cessation, Nirodha- MN121, SN 41.6&7 with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and comments on MN 121 (the Shorter Discourse on Voidness) and SN 41.6 and SN 41.7.
- Suttavada Foundation Online Retreat 17 Dec 2021 Many kinds of Feeling With Delson Armstrong
Delson walks through the Lahu Vedaniya Sutta (MN 59) and the jhana sequence, describing the four jhanas and the formless attainments as levels of experience and cessation.
- MN 109 : The Greater Discourse on the Full-Moon Night - Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and comments on MN 109, the Maha Punnama Sutta, explaining the five aggregates affected by clinging, how craving and identification sustain them, and how seeing them as…
- Suttavada Foundation Online Retreat 15 Dec 2021 Dealing With Hinderances With Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong gives a day-one retreat talk on dealing with hindrances, reading and commenting on MN 19, the Two Kinds of Thought.
- Day 1 2022 April Retreat 26 May5 - Orientation / Instructions
Delson gives the opening meditation instructions for a TWIM retreat.
2021
- MN 9 Samma Ditthi Sutta with Delson Armstrong at DSMC
Delson Armstrong works through MN 9, the Sammaditthi Sutta on right view, in which Sariputta explains right view as understanding the unwholesome and the wholesome and the Four Noble Truths.
- Hungry Ghosts and Heavenly Mansions with Delson on Halloween
Delson reads several stories of hungry ghosts (petas) and celestial mansion beings (vimana petas) from the Khuddaka Nikaya, and explains the karma behind each.
- Zoom Talk MN 22 Simile of the Snake -with Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and comments on MN 22, the Alagaddupama Sutta (simile of the snake), in which the Buddha corrects the monk Arittha for holding that sensual pleasures cannot obstruct someone…
- Samma Ditthi Sutta MN 9 with Delson Armstrong - The Personality Oct 20, 2021
Delson Armstrong works through the Samma Ditthi Sutta (MN 9), in which Sariputta explains right view by taking up the wholesome and unwholesome, the four noble truths and each link of…
- Zoom Talk MN 106 with Delson Armstrong -The Imperturbable
Delson reads and comments on MN 106 (Ananjasappaya Sutta, "The Way to the Imperturbable"), which describes how a practitioner moves from the fourth jhana through the formless attainments…
- Zoom Talk MN 142 with Delson Armstrong -The Exposition of Offerings
Delson reads MN 142, the Dakkhinavibhanga Sutta, on the exposition of offerings, which ranks gifts by the attainment of the recipient and says gifts to the Sangha are especially fruitful.
- Oct 2, 2021 - Theragāthā Book of twenties, Chapter 1 – 16.3. Telakāni
Delson reads and comments on Theragatha 16.3, the verses of the brahmin Telakani, who searched for a teaching that would bring peace and free him from grief, craving, conceit and doubt.
- Introductory Talk on TWIM to Zen Community in Netherlands
Delson introduces TWIM, the meditation practice he teaches, and explains the brahmaviharas as a way to uplift the mind and let go of hindrances, especially ill-will.
- GTOG Sunday Meditation Session: Sutta reading (MN2 - Sabbasava Sutta) by Delson Armstrong
Delson reads MN2, the Sabbasava Sutta, on the taints (asavas) and the six ways the Buddha gives for abandoning them.
- July 3, 2021– DN 33 – The Chanting Together – Third Recitation - sets of Ten
Delson reads through the sets of ten in Digha Nikaya 33 (the Sangiti Sutta) and comments on each item, treating the ten protective qualities as a path toward nibbana.
- June 26, 2021– DN 33 – The Chanting Together – Third Recitation: Sets of nine
Delson continues reading the Sangiti Sutta (DN 33) at the sets of nine, covering the causes and overcoming of malice, the nine abodes of beings, the nine unfortunate times for the holy…
- May Online Retreat with Delson Armstrong
The transcript supplied for this talk ("May Online Retreat with Delson Armstrong", 2021-06-23) contains only a single placeholder line ("you") and no spoken content.
- June 19, 2021– DN 33 – The Chanting Together – Sets of Eight
Delson works through the Sangiti Sutta (DN 33) and its sets of eight, explaining each wrong or ineffective factor of the path, the eight occasions of indolence and of effort, the eight…
- June 12, 2021– DN 33 – The Chanting Together – Fourth Recitation – Sets of seven
Delson recites and comments on the fourth recitation of DN 33, the sets of seven, covering the seven Aryan treasures, the seven factors of enlightenment, the seven stations of…
- GTOG Sunday Meditation sessions: MN 136 The Greater Exposition of Actions by Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong reads and explains MN 136, the Greater Exposition of Actions, in which the Buddha corrects a claim that bodily and verbal actions are fruitless and shows that karma works…
- June 5, 2021– DN 33 – The Chanting Together – Third Recitation – sets of six
Delson Armstrong works through the third recitation of the Sangiti Sutta (DN 33), the sets of six, reading each set and explaining it in his own terms.
- May 29, 2021– DN 33 – The Chanting Together – Second Recitation
Delson continues his series on the sets of five in DN33, the Sangiti Sutta, the second recitation.
- May 22, 2021– DN 33 – The Chanting Together – First Recitation
Delson reads the first recitation of the Sangeeti Sutta (DN 33), in which Sariputta restates the Dhamma as numbered sets from one to four, and comments on each item in terms of his TWIM…
- Delson explanation of SN 35.95 the Malunkyaputta sutta at GTOG Sunday session
Delson reads and comments on SN 35.95, the Malunkyaputta Sutta, in which the Buddha gives a brief instruction: in the seen there is merely the seen, and so on for hearing, sensing and…
- May 1, 2021 MN 7 - The Simile of the Cloth - The Effect of Faith on Meditation Practice
Delson reads and comments on MN 7, the Vatthupama Sutta (the simile of the cloth), in Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation.
- April 24 2021 - MN 4 - Fear & Dread - Letting Go of Hindrances Leads to the Natural Freedom of Mind
Delson reads MN 4, the Bhayabherava Sutta (Fear and Dread), and comments on how the Buddha's solitude in the forest was free of fear because his conduct was purified and he recognized and…
- April 17 - MN 53 - The Disciple in Higher Training - The Qualities of a Sotapanna (Stream Enterer)
Delson reads MN 53, the Sekha Sutta, in which Ananda describes the disciple in higher training who has entered the stream.
- GTOG Sunday Meditation Session: Delson Armstrong Sutta reading & explanation Upanisa Sutta
Delson reads and explains SN 12.23 (Upanisa Sutta), in which the Buddha traces the links of transcendental dependent origination backward from the destruction of the taints to the starting…
- Apr 10 2021 - MN 1 - The Root of All Things - Deconceptualizing Reality through Non-Identification
Delson reads and comments on MN 1, the Mula Pariyaya Sutta (The Root of All Things), using Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation.
- Apr 3 2021 - Snp 1.8 - Metta Sutta - The Path of Metta towards Nibbana
Delson reads the Metta Sutta (Sutta Nipata 1.8) and explains it as a progression that starts with keeping the precepts and right intention, grows into loving-kindness, and leads toward the…
- Mar 28 2021 - MN 113 - The True Person - Total Non-Identification with Experiences Leads to Nibbana
Delson reads MN 113 (the Sappurisa Sutta, "The True Person") and explains how the Buddha contrasts an untrue person, who takes pride in family, status, gain, learning, ascetic practices or…
- Mar 21 2021 - MN 74 - To Dighanaka - Non-attachment to Views through Non-attachment to Feeling
Delson reads and comments on MN 74, the Diganaka Sutta, in which the wanderer Diganaka says "nothing is acceptable to me" and the Buddha shows that holding even that view is still clinging.
- Mar 14 2021 - MN 146 - Advice from Nandaka - The Unfolding Path to Reality
Delson reads and comments on MN 146 (Nandakovada Sutta), in which the elder Nandaka teaches the Buddha's foster mother Maha Pajapati Gotami and her five hundred nuns by asking them whether…
- Mar 7 2021 - MN 8 - Effacement - The Path and 44 Factors Leading to the Destruction of Conceit
Delson reads and comments on MN 8, the Salekha Sutta (Effacement).
- Mar 7 2021 - SN 22.86 - With Anuradha - Self and Not-Self and the Four Noble Truths
Delson reads and explains SN 22.86 (the Anuradha Sutta), in which Anuradha answers wanderers' questions about the Tathagata after death.
- Feb 28 2021 - MN 23 - The Anthill - Right Effort Leads to the Mind of the Arahant
Delson reads and explains MN 23, the Vammika Sutta, in which the Buddha explains to Kumara Kassapa the riddle of the anthill, the brahmin and the knife.
- Feb 21 2021 - MN19 - Two Types of Thought - Right Intention, Awakening Factors & Threefold Knowledge
Delson reads and comments on MN19, the Buddha's account of dividing thoughts into those of wrong intention and those of right intention, and of recognizing and releasing unwholesome…
- Feb 7 2021 - MN 18 - The Honeyball - Cessation of Mental Proliferation is Nibbana
Delson reads and comments on MN 18, the Madhupindika (Honeyball) Sutta, and explains how perceptions and notions born of mental proliferation arise through contact, feeling, perception and…
- Jan 31 2021 - MN 137 - The Analysis of the Six Sense Fields
Delson reads and comments on MN 137, the Salayatana Vibhanga Sutta (the analysis of the six sense fields), covering the six internal and external bases, the six types of consciousness and…
- Jan 24 2021 - MN 64 - The Greater Discourse to Mālunkyāputta - Paths of the Anagami and the Arahant
Delson reads MN 64, the Greater Discourse to Malunkyaputta, and explains the five lower fetters, their underlying tendencies, and how they are abandoned through seeing the five aggregates…
- Jan 17 2021 - MN 3 - Heirs in Dhamma - The Noble Eightfold Path is the Inheritance
Delson reads MN 3, the Dhammadayada Sutta (Heirs in the Dhamma), from Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation and comments on it as he goes.
- Delson Armstrong talks on The Discourse about Meghiya
Delson reads the Meghiya Sutta (AN 9.3, with the Udana version noted as nearly identical) and comments on it paragraph by paragraph.
2020
- Dec 13 2020 – MN 152 - The Development of the Faculties – Awakening Beyond the Senses
Delson reads MN 152, the Indriya Bhavana Sutta, and explains that the Buddha's supreme development of the faculties is meeting sense contact with equanimity rather than suppressing the…
- Dec 6 MN 28 The Greater Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant's Footprint - The Four Noble Truths
Delson reads MN 28 and explains how Sariputta's discourse analyses the Four Noble Truths, with the five aggregates affected by clinging as suffering.
- Nov 29 2020 - MN 11 - The Shorter Discourse on the Lion's Roar - Cessation of Clinging and Being
Delson reads MN 11, the Shorter Discourse on the Lion's Roar, and explains the four kinds of clinging (to sensual pleasures, views, rites and rituals, and a doctrine of self).
- Nov 22 2020 - MN 121 - The Shorter Discourse on Voidness - The Signless and Empty Mind of an Arahant
Delson reads MN 121, the Cula Sunnata Sutta, in which the Buddha describes abiding in voidness by noticing what is absent from experience and what remains.
- Nov 15 2020 - MN 143 - Advice to Anāthapiṇḍika - Disengaging Consciousness Towards Nibbana
Delson reads and comments on MN 143, the Anathapindikovada Sutta, in which Sariputta advises the dying householder Anathapindika to stop clinging to the six senses, their contact and…
- Nov 8 2020 - MN 138 - The Exposition of a Summary - Non-Grasping Consciousness Leads to Nibbana
Delson reads MN 138 (the Exposition of a Summary), in which Maha Kacchana explains the Buddha's brief teaching that a mind not scattered externally, not stuck internally, and not clinging…
- Nov 1 2020 - MN 141 The Analysis of the Truths - Applying the Four Noble Truths
Delson reads MN 141, the Analysis of the Truths, in which Sariputta explains the four noble truths, including suffering in the five aggregates and the eightfold path ending in right…
- Oct 25 2020 - MN105 - To Sunakkhatta - The Power of Letting go
Delson reads and comments on MN105 (Sunakkhatta Sutta), in which the Buddha says some monks who declare final knowledge do so rightly and others overestimate themselves.
- Oct 18 2020 - MN147 - The Shorter Discourse of Advice to Rahula - The Process of Un-Being
Delson reads MN147, the Shorter Discourse of Advice to Rahula, and presents it as the last part of a trilogy of Rahula suttas.
- Oct 11 MN 133 - Mahākaccāna and a Single Excellent Night - The Nature of Consciousness in Meditation
Delson reads MN 133, the Single Excellent Night exposition given by Maha Kaccana, which says not to revive the past or build hopes on the future, and to see each presently arisen state…
- Oct 4 MN 117 - The Great Forty - The Effect of Precepts in Meditation
Delson reads MN 117 (the Great Forty) and explains the eightfold path as the Buddha describes it, with right view coming first and each factor supported by right effort and right…
- Oct 4 2020 - MN 117 - The Great Forty - The Effect of Precepts in Meditation #2
Delson reads and comments on MN 117, the Great Forty, which presents right view as the first factor of the Noble Eightfold Path and shows each factor being developed with right effort and…
Undated
- Day 5 Foundations of Mindfulness - Discussing the Satipatthana Sutta -What is Mindfulness?
Delson explains right effort in the context of the Satipatthana teaching, describing it as abandoning unwholesome states and cultivating wholesome ones.