Talks from 2022

30 December 2022 Guided meditation 1 h 58 min

Delson reads and explains two suttas on how the sense of "I" feeds mental proliferation: the Madhupindika Sutta (MN 18), where contact, feeling, perception and thinking are traced to…

28 December 2022 Talk 3 h 13 min

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.

26 December 2022 Talk 2 h 7 min

Delson reads through MN 111, where Sariputta distinguishes each jhana and formless attainment as it occurs, and explains each stage in TWIM terms.

24 December 2022 Talk 2 h 4 min

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.

23 December 2022 Talk 1 h 20 min

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.

1 December 2022 Talk 1 h 39 min

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.

24 November 2022 Talk 18 min

Delson's talk, recorded on 2022-11-24, is very hard to follow because the transcript is largely garbled.

17 November 2022 Talk 22 min

Delson closes a retreat with a talk on wise friendship (kalyanamitta), the companions who support a person's practice.

11 November 2022 Talk 2 h 14 min

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…

10 November 2022 Talk 3 h 2 min

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.

4 November 2022 Talk 1 h 34 min

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.

29 October 2022 Talk 2 h 13 min

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…

23 October 2022 Talk 35 min

Delson opens a retreat with an orientation to a feeling-based loving-kindness (metta) meditation.

14 September 2022 Talk 1 h 11 min

Delson reads and comments on the Upanisa Sutta (SN 12.23) during an August retreat.

14 September 2022 Talk 1 h 8 min

Delson reads and explains MN 18, the Madhupindika Sutta (honey ball discourse), and the exposition given by Maha Kaccana.

8 September 2022 Talk 45 min

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.

7 September 2022 Talk 1 h 14 min

Delson reads MN 112, the Chabbisodhana Sutta on the six-fold purity, and comments on it section by section.

7 September 2022 Talk 14 min

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.

7 September 2022 Talk 1 h 26 min

Delson walks through MN 117, the Great Forty discourse, explaining the eight factors of the noble path as supports for right collectedness.

3 September 2022 Talk 1 h 11 min

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…

3 September 2022 Talk 1 h 8 min

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…

2 September 2022 Talk 54 min

Delson reads SN35.95, in which Malunkyaputta asks for a brief teaching and the Buddha explains that craving arises only through contact and feeling.

20 August 2022 Guided meditation 1 h 2 min

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…

19 August 2022 Talk 1 h 29 min

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.

19 August 2022 Talk 50 min

Delson reads and explains DN31, the Sigalovada (Sigalaka) Sutta, as advice on how to live as a lay person.

18 August 2022 Talk 57 min

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…

17 August 2022 Talk 1 h 46 min

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.

16 August 2022 Talk 1 h 59 min

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.

15 August 2022 Talk 1 h 52 min

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…

14 August 2022 Talk 1 h 24 min

Delson reads from MN 109 (Maha Punnama Sutta) on the five aggregates affected by craving and clinging.

14 August 2022 Talk 1 h 24 min

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.

13 August 2022 Talk 1 h 52 min

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…

7 August 2022 Q&A 43 min

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.

6 August 2022 Talk 9 min

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.

31 July 2022 Talk 1 h 3 min

Delson reads the Anathapindikovada Sutta (MN 143) on the last day of a retreat, in memory of Rex.

30 July 2022 Talk 1 h 44 min

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…

28 July 2022 Talk 1 h 7 min

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…

24 July 2022 Talk 1 h 31 min

Delson reads through SN 12.2 on dependent origination, working link by link from aging and death back to ignorance.

23 July 2022 Talk 1 h 40 min

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…

19 July 2022 Talk 21 min

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.

18 July 2022 Talk 2 h 14 min

Delson Armstrong is interviewed on a podcast about his background and his teaching in TWIM.

3 July 2022 Talk 1 h 4 min

Delson reads through the Karaniya Metta Sutta (snp1.8) verse by verse as guidance for carrying loving-kindness into daily life after a retreat.

1 July 2022 Interview 1 h 43 min

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…

1 July 2022 Talk 1 h 31 min

Delson reads through MN 43, the Maha Vedalla Sutta, with commentary, from a 2022 retreat.

30 June 2022 Talk 1 h 12 min

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…

29 June 2022 Talk 1 h 18 min

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.

28 June 2022 Talk 1 h 31 min

Delson Armstrong reads and explains MN 38, the Mahatanhasankhaya Sutta, on the destruction of craving.

26 June 2022 Talk 1 h 7 min

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.

25 June 2022 Talk 1 h 38 min

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.

23 June 2022 Talk 26 min

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.

22 June 2022 Talk 1 h 14 min

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…

6 June 2022 Talk 44 min

Delson reads AN 10.2 (Chetana, Volition) as a guide to what to do after retreat.

2 June 2022 Talk 1 h 51 min

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…

2 June 2022 Talk 1 h 4 min

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.

31 May 2022 Talk 1 h 35 min

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.

29 May 2022 Talk 1 h 1 min

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…

27 May 2022 Talk 1 h 2 min

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…

27 May 2022 Talk 1 h 1 min

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…

21 May 2022 Q&A 1 min

The transcript supplied for this June 4, 2022 question and answer session contains only one fragment of speech, a brief opening remark that does not state a topic.

16 May 2022 Talk 1 h 4 min

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…

15 May 2022 Talk 42 min

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…

15 May 2022 Talk 42 min

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…

14 May 2022 Talk 29 min

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.

13 May 2022 Talk 1 h 43 min

Delson reads section 5 of DN 22, the Maha Satipatthana Sutta, which defines each of the Four Noble Truths.

13 May 2022 Talk 1 h 38 min

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…

12 May 2022 Talk 29 min

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.

12 May 2022 Talk 1 h 6 min

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.

11 May 2022 Talk 1 h 38 min

Delson works through DN15, the Maha Nidana Sutta, on dependent origination (paticca samuppada).

9 May 2022 Talk 1 h 9 min

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…

8 May 2022 Talk 1 h 9 min

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…

6 May 2022 Talk 2 h 2 min

Delson reads and comments on MN 121 (the Shorter Discourse on Voidness) and SN 41.6 and SN 41.7.

5 May 2022 Talk 1 h 13 min

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.

5 May 2022 Talk 1 h 40 min

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…

5 May 2022 Talk 1 h 8 min

Delson Armstrong gives a day-one retreat talk on dealing with hindrances, reading and commenting on MN 19, the Two Kinds of Thought.

5 May 2022 Q&A 1 h 46 min

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.

4 May 2022 Talk 34 min

Delson gives the opening meditation instructions for a TWIM retreat.

1 April 2022 Guided meditation 30 min

Delson leads a guided forgiveness meditation.

18 February 2022 Q&A 1 h 32 min

Delson reads MN 38, the Mahatanhasankhaya Sutta, and explains dependent origination as a chain from ignorance through formations, consciousness, contact, feeling, craving and clinging to…

18 February 2022 Interview 2 h 23 min

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…

12 January 2022 Q&A 54 min

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.

1 January 2022 Q&A 43 min

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.