The path · The formless realms
Infinite consciousness / empathetic joy
Talks that speak mostly to this
- 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 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 5: Jhāna 2
Delson explains the formless jhanas (the ayatanas, the fifth to eighth jhanas), which he presents as extensions of the fourth jhana.
- 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.
- 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…
- 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 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 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 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 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-2 QA - Online 10-day Retreat (Nov-3) with Delson Armstrong
Delson answers participants' questions on a day-two online retreat, covering MN10 contemplation of internal and external phenomena, bare observation as mindfulness, and balancing the seven…
Talks that also touch on it
- 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…
- 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.
- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
- Jhanas + Q&A Mumbai 2023 Acharya Delson Armstrong
Delson explains the jhanas as levels of cessation that unfold from a loving-kindness practice, through the four form jhanas and the formless ayatanas, to cessation and nibbana.
- 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.
- 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…
- 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…
- 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.
- 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.
- 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…
- Live Dhamma QA with Delson Armstrong Aug 6
Delson answers ten questions from a live online session covering dependent origination, the precepts, jhana practice in TWIM, the eighth and signless states, and craving.
- Neuroscience & the Meditation Path sponsored by FitMind App
Delson Armstrong, interviewed by Liam from FitMind, describes his practice path from Hatha and Kriya yoga and the Yoga Sutras, through Tibetan Rigpa, to the early Buddhist texts and TWIM.
- 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…
- 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…
- 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.
- Day-5 QA - Online 10-day Retreat (Nov-17) with Delson Armstrong
Delson answers questions from day five of an online ten-day retreat in November 2020.
- Day-7 QA - Online 10-day Retreat (Nov-3) with Delson Armstrong
Delson answers questions from day 7 of an online 10-day retreat on the Dhamma.