Awakening
- Ep381: I Nearly Died - Delson Armstrong
In this interview, Delson recounts nearly drowning when floodwater filled his retreat cabin at Dhammasuka in Missouri in June, and how he escaped with a deep cut to his foot.
- A Conversation with Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong talks with Michael Taft about a near-fatal flood at his retreat center, which he says changed how he sees spiritual ego and attainment.
- 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.
- Andrzej and Delson Podcast 3 Everyday Awareness
Delson Armstrong and Andrzej discuss everyday awareness: a simple, non-conceptual knowing of what is happening that remains when the ego's stories and identifications are let go.
- 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 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…
- 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 3 High Altitude Retreat - "Liberation" & a Guided Meditation in "Knowingness"
Delson explains liberation as an ongoing practice rather than a one-time event, and describes the three gates of liberation (signless, undirected, empty) as a way past object-based…
- 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.
- 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 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 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…
- Happiness Buffet 🍱😋 From Bad Boy to (Jedi) Meditation Master | Delson Armstrong
In this Happiness Buffet podcast interview, Delson opens with a guided gratitude practice done with eyes open, then tells his life story.
- 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.
- Spotkanie naszej sanghi z gościem specjalnym Delsonem Armstrogimem.
Delson Armstrong answers questions from a Polish sangha in an online Q&A.
- 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 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 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 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.
- 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…
- Awakening and The Four Stages - 2nd Interview with Andrzej
Delson and Andrzej discuss awakening as an experiential understanding of the Four Noble Truths, not a mystical state or a goal to be reached.
- Przebudzenie i popularne mity. Rozmowa z Delsonem Armstrog. Odosobnienie w Polsce11-20.praździenika
Delson Armstrong discusses what awakening means in the Buddhist context, presenting it as freedom from identification with a permanent self and from craving, and as an ongoing process…
- 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.
- 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…
- Ep362: Goddess Encounters - Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong talks with host Steve about his recent retreats, his initiation into the Sri Vidya tradition, and his reading in Epicurean and pessimist philosophy.
- 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.
- 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: 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.
- High Altitude Meditation Retreat Preview with Delson Armstrong and Doug Kraft -podcast
Delson Armstrong and Doug Kraft preview a seven-day retreat in California based on Doug's book High Altitude Meditation.
- 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 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 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…
- "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.
- 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…
- 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.
- "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).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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…
- 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 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 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 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.
- Delson Armstrong - Awakening Beyond Spiritual Idealization | Elevating Consciousness Podcast #61
Delson Armstrong discusses his path across traditions, including Kriya, Vedanta, Dzogchen, Mahamudra and Theravada through TWIM, and how integral theory has reframed it for him.
- 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.
- Levi Hart Podcast #6 w/ Delson Armstrong - Kundalini , Kriya Yoga, Nirodha Samapatti
Delson Armstrong is interviewed on Levi Hart's podcast about Levi's intense meditation and breathing experiences, including visions he took to be Vishnu's and Brahma's light.
- 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…
- Delson's True Path, Message to Dharma Community – Tales From Nibbana Episode 4 with Delson Armstrong
Delson clarifies statements he made in his earlier Guru Viking interviews, where he presented himself as a fully awakened arahant reached through TWIM.
- Don't Talk About Nibbana – Tales From Nibbana Episode 2 With Delson Armstrong
Delson and his interviewer discuss Nibbana: what it is, how the mind of an arahant relates to it, and how it differs from nirodha samapati.
- 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…
- Guided Exploration: Finding Your Own Buddha-Nature. Dharma Himalaya Session 02 with Delson Armstrong
Delson answers a series of questions about whether the Buddha is always in nibbana, what Buddha nature means, what Tathagata means, and whether the Buddha was superhuman.
- When Dharmic Views Become Prisons – Tales From Nibbana Pilot Episode with Delson Armstrong
Delson joins a conversation about how views and conceptual frames in meditation can be useful but become limiting when held on to.
- Transcending the Sutta Dharma – Tales From Nibbana Episode 1 with Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong and his hosts talk informally about whether an arahant still has karma to work through after the lower fetters are gone.
- 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 9 - Practice after Retreat
Delson gives the final Dharma talk of a Mumbai retreat, on how to carry the practice back into daily life.
- Ep292: Dharma Reunited - Daniel Ingram and Delson Armstrong 2
In this follow-up dialogue with host Steve, Daniel Ingram and Delson Armstrong discuss Delson's public renunciation of his earlier claims of attainment on the four-path model and the ten…
- Ep290: Answering Critics & Kriya Yoga - Delson Armstrong
Delson responds to criticism of his renunciation of attainments and his revision of the four-path and ten-fetter model, arguing that these are one model among others and that his own…
- Ep280: I Renounce My Attainments - Delson Armstrong
In this interview on the Guru Viking podcast, Delson explains his written declaration that he renounces all claims to specific spiritual attainments, including the four-stage path from…
- 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.
- Guided Meditation 6 sets 6 -Unique Way of letting go of the links
Delson leads a guided meditation that uses his abbreviated version of the six sets of six from MN148, which he names as the sutta behind it.
- DO Series - Guided Meditation 6 sets 6 & Nibbana Explained
Delson guides a short meditation: loving-kindness to settle the mind, then an abbreviated version of the six sets of six from MN 148, moving through eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind…
- 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.
- 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…
- DO Series - Introduction and General Q&A Session
Delson explains how his dependent origination booklets came about: a 2021 writing project that grew out of online retreats, with a planned later volume on the path.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 12 -Q&A -Nibbana- Dependent Origination Conf. with Delson Armstrong-4K
Delson answers questions after a talk on cessation (nirodha), Nibbana and dependent origination.
- 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.
- 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.
- Talk 4 -Jati (Birth) Dependent Origination with Delson Armstrong-4K
Delson explains jati (birth), the second link of dependent origination.
- 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 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 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 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 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 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…
- 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.
- May 2021 Online Retreat Q&A 3
Delson answers audience questions at an online retreat on past-lives recognition versus the jhanas, the Angulimala story and whether good kamma helps attainment, and how to recognise the…
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 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 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.
- HIndrances + Q&A Day 1/3 Bandra, Mumbai Sept 2023 w/Delson Armstrong Sept 7-9, 2023
Delson explains hindrances as distractions that reveal attachment and aversion, describes the five hindrances, and shows how the 6R's (shortened to four R's) work as right effort tied to…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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 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…
- Q&A about MN 43 with Delson -Mahavedalla Sutta
Delson answers questions on MN 43, the Mahavedalla Sutta, explaining how the five sense faculties depend on vitality and heat, and what vital formations are.
- 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…
- 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.
- 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).
- 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 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…
- Ep201: Revealing Nirodha Samāpatti - Delson Armstrong, Shinzen Young, Chelsey Fasano, Dr Laukkonen
This panel interview, hosted by Steve (Guru Viking), discusses the study "Cessations of Consciousness in Meditation" on nirodha samapatti.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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…
- 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 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…
- 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 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 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 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 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 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…
- A 'Mind without Craving' and a LIVE Meditation Experiment -Conversations with Delson Armstrong
In this FitMind podcast interview, Delson Armstrong explains what he means by "a mind without craving": a mind free of mental suffering, though it still feels bodily pain, and which he…
- 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 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.
- 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…
- Ep156: Key To Enlightenment - Delson Armstrong 3
Delson explains dependent origination (paticca samuppada) as the elaboration of the second noble truth in its forward order, showing how craving leads to suffering, and in its reverse…
- 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 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 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 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 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 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.
- Online Retreat 23 Dec 2021 Group Q & A With Delson Armstrong
Delson answers questions from participants at a group Q&A closing an online retreat, opening with a reading from SN 56.10 on talk that leads to Dhamma.
- Ep136: Meeting of the Dharmas - Daniel Ingram & Delson Armstrong
Daniel Ingram and Delson Armstrong discuss the four-path model of awakening (stream entry, once-returner, non-returner, arahant), comparing their personal experiences and doctrinal…
- 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.
- 8 Dec 2021 Q & A with Delson Armstrong first session
In the final Q&A of a retreat, Delson Armstrong answers questions on why some people reach stream-entry quickly but advance slowly, the paramis, and karma as old and new.
- 1 Dec 2021 Online Retreat Q & A with Delson # 1 part 2 of 2
Delson answers questions from retreat participants in the first online Q&A of a retreat.
- 1 Dec 2021 Online Retreat Q & A with Delson # 1 part 1 of 2 - AUDIO ONLY
Delson answers questions from retreat participants in the first online retreat Q&A.
- 27 Nov 2021 Q & A with Delson Armstrong
Delson answers audience questions on the Buddhist teaching of rebirth and intermediate states, near-death visions, and how precepts relate to hindrances.
- Ep120: Meditation Virtuoso - Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong describes his path from a Catholic-raised childhood in New Jersey to hatha yoga at 13, then Himalayan training from age 16 in the Yoga Sutras, six degrees of Kriya Yoga…
- 30 Oct 2021 Online Retreat Q & A #3
Delson answers participants' questions at the close of an online Suttavada retreat.
- 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.
- Interview#5: Does Metta/Lovingkindness practice lead to Nibbana. What is Enlightenment?
Delson answers questions about using metta and the other brahmaviharas to enter jhana, which he says works because the uplifted feeling draws the mind into collectedness.
- 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…
- Oct 16, 2021 - Questions and Answers with Delson and Syl
Delson answers a series of live questions from listeners on Dhamma topics.
- Interview#3: 31 Planes of Existence - the Agony and the Ecstasy -Conversations with Delson
Delson Armstrong, interviewed by Karuna at Dhammasukha Meditation Center, explains samsara as conditioned existence driven by karma and describes the 31 planes of existence in Buddhist…
- June 2021 Online Retreat Q&A 2
Delson answers audience questions on the second Q&A of a June 2021 online retreat.
- 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…
- May 2021 Online Retreat Q&A 1
Delson answers questions from the first Q&A session of a May 2021 online retreat.
- 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.
- 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 - 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.
- 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…
- 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…
- 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).
- Day-7 QA - Online 10-day Retreat (Nov-17) with Delson Armstrong
Delson answers audience questions on the final day of an online 10-day retreat.
- Day-6 QA - Online 10-day Retreat (Nov-17) with Delson Armstrong
In this question-and-answer session from an online retreat, Delson Armstrong explains continued existence as a cycle in which consciousness, conditioned by craving and clinging, produces…
- 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-2 QA - Online 10-day Retreat (Nov-17) with Delson Armstrong
Delson answers retreat participants' questions on day two of an online 10-day retreat.
- Day-4 QA - Online 10-day Retreat (Nov-3) with Delson Armstrong
Delson answers questions from a day-4 online retreat Q&A.
- 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.
- Day-5 QA - Online 10-day Retreat (Nov-3) with Delson Armstrong
Delson answers questions from a day of an online retreat.
- Day-6 QA - Online 10-day Retreat (Nov-3) with Delson Armstrong
Delson answers listener questions from day six of an online ten-day retreat on the stages of awakening, nibbana and cessation, rebirth, and dependent origination.
- Day-9 QA - Online 10-day Retreat (Nov-3) with Delson Armstrong
In this closing question-and-answer session from day nine of an online ten-day retreat, Delson Armstrong answers questions on whether lay people can become arahants without joining the…
- 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.
- 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.
- Question and Answers on Path and Fruition
Delson discusses the idea of a path and fruition in the context of the stages of awakening.