The path · The formless realms
Neither-perception-nor-non-perception
Talks that speak mostly to this
- 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.
- 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…
- 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.
- 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…
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 2021 Online Retreat Q&A 1
Delson answers questions from the first Q&A session of a May 2021 online retreat.
- 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.
- 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-3 QA - Online 10-day Retreat (Nov-3) with Delson Armstrong
This question-and-answer session from an online retreat covers jhana objects, development by application, and how to recognize jhana factors without verbalizing them.
- 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.
Talks that also touch on it
- 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 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 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 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 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 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…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
- Talk 8 -Upadana (Clinging) - Dependent Origination Conf. with Delson Armstrong-4K
Delson explains upadana (clinging) as the link of dependent origination that follows craving.
- 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 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.
- 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.
- 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…
- 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 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 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.
- 9 Dec 2021 Q & A with Delson Armstrong second session
Delson answers questions at the close of a retreat on sharing merit and loving kindness for beings in the lower realms, and on the higher knowledges.
- Interview#1: Dhamma Conversations with Delson Armstrong-Introduction & Jhanas
Delson describes his path from yoga, Yoga Sutra samadhis and Kriya Yoga to TWIM and the six R's, and explains why he sees these earlier practices as concentration that suppresses the…
- June 2021 Online Retreat Q&A 2
Delson answers audience questions on the second Q&A of a June 2021 online retreat.
- 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…
- 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…
- 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…