Ethics and virtue
- Sutta 8.31 Generosity Challenge Benefits of Giving w/w Guided Dana Recollection meditation by Delson
Delson guides a short recollection of one's own generosity drawn from AN 6.10, then reads AN 8.31 and explains its eight motivations for giving.
- 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.
- 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)…
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 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 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.
- 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…
- 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 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 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.
- 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 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…
- "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…
- 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…
- 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.
- 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 | 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.
- 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 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…
- 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 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.
- 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 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…
- 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…
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 8 -Upadana (Clinging) - Dependent Origination Conf. with Delson Armstrong-4K
Delson explains upadana (clinging) as the link of dependent origination that follows craving.
- 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.
- Final Day Q&A Day 3/3 Bandra, Mumbai Sept 2023 w/Delson Armstrong Sept 7-9, 2023
Delson explains that practice after retreat is a lifelong commitment built on sila, samadhi and panna, and he walks through the Noble Eightfold Path factor by factor, from right view 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.
- 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 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.
- 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 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 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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…
- 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.
- 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…
- 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…
- 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 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.
- 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 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 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 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.
- 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.
- 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 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 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 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 1 2022 April Retreat 26 May5 - Orientation / Instructions
Delson gives the opening meditation instructions for a TWIM retreat.
- 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…
- 14 Dec 2021 Online Retreat. Intro on how to practice and Q & A with Delson Armstrong
Delson gives the opening instructions for an online retreat: a metta practice that begins with oneself and then a living spiritual friend, with sitting and walking alternated and the six…
- 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.
- Oct 16, 2021 - Questions and Answers with Delson and Syl
Delson answers a series of live questions from listeners on Dhamma topics.
- 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.
- 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 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…
- 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 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.
- April 2021 Online Retreat Q&A 3
Delson answers questions from retreat participants on the precepts as habits, the seventh jhana and light versus darkness, dependent origination, flow states, and daily schedules.
- 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.
- 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…
- Day-9 QA - Online 10-day Retreat (Nov-17) with Delson Armstrong
Delson answers questions from the final day of an online 10-day retreat.
- Day-8 QA - Online 10-day Retreat (Nov-17) with Delson Armstrong
Delson answers questions about rebirth, saying that consciousness is not an eternal soul but arises dependent on experience, with formations driven by craving and intention carried into a…
- 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-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-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…
- 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…