Talks from 2025
Retreats and series
- Sunday sutta talks 29 talks · 2025 to 2026
- Mumbai Retreat, February 2025 7 talks
- Tales From Nibbana 5 talks
- Dharma Himalaya sessions (2025) 2 talks
- June 2025 Retreat 8 talks
- Advanced Retreat, July 2025 4 talks
- Austria 2025 7 talks
- St Francis Retreat, October 2025 5 talks
Every talk, newest first
- 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…
- 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…
- 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.
- Day 4 "Dependent Origination Part 1" Oct 26-Nov2 Retreat at St Francis
Delson continues a retreat talk on dependent origination, presenting the first two noble truths, suffering (dukkha) and its causes, as a way to see how each link can be released into…
- Day 5 "Dependent Origination Part 2" Oct 26-Nov2 Retreat at St Francis
Delson continues his review of the links of dependent origination from the latter half of the chain, covering feeling, the underlying tendencies, contact, the six sense bases…
- "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).
- 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 | Escaping the Matrix
Delson continues a series on dependent origination, starting with vedana (feeling, which he prefers to call experience) and how it leads to craving through the underlying tendencies.
- Austria 2025 | Mechanics of Karma
Delson explains the first and second Noble Truths by unpacking dukkha as instability or "bummer" and its three categories: dukkha-dukkha, viparinama dukkha and sankhara dukkha.
- 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.
- 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.
- Austria 2025 | Introduction - Just Relax!
Delson gives the opening instructions for a retreat on the Brahmaviharas, starting with metta as friendliness based on recognising one's own innate goodness and that of other beings.
- 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.
- Is the World Eternal or....MN 63 - Sunday Talk with Delson Armstrong
Delson teaches from MN 63, the Cula Malunkyovada Sutta, in which the monk Malunkyaputta refuses to train unless the Buddha answers speculative questions about the world and the Tathagata…
- 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…
- 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…
- Summary of Jhanas 1-4 -Rupa Jhanas - W/Delson Armstrong
Delson summarises the four rupa jhanas, the meditative absorptions.
- 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 7 First 6 Links of Dependent Origination
Delson walks through the early links of dependent origination, starting from suffering and tracing back through craving, feeling, the underlying tendencies, contact, the six sense bases…
- 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 4 Adv Retreat MN 109 Full Moon Night -Amazing Talk-Consciousness and Karma
Delson reads and comments on MN 109, the Mahapunnama Sutta, the full moon discourse, on the five aggregates affected by clinging.
- Day 8 What is Karma? Delson Armstrong
Delson explains karma as the Buddha taught it: intention (chetana) is karma, expressed through body, speech and mind, while vipaka is the result that is experienced.
- Day 6 "Dukkha to Tanha" the Links of Craving and what they are.
Delson continues his teaching on dependent origination (paticca samuppada), linking it to the Four Noble Truths.
- Day 3 'The First 4 Jhanas" Progressing on the Path to Nibbana -Excellent
Delson explains the first four jhanas as the mind experiences them in TWIM practice: the factors of the first jhana (vitakka, vicara, piti, sukha, ekaggata), how the second, third and…
- 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 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 2 AN 50 'Blocks to the Luminous Mind' - Delson Armstrong
Delson explains the Anguttara Nikaya passage on the luminous mind, which says the mind is naturally luminous but is obscured by adventitious defilements.
- 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.
- Day 5 Adv Retreat -Sn 41.7 With Godatta -Liberations -Delson Armstrong
Delson reads SN 41.7, the Godatta Sutta, in which Venerable Godatta asks whether the measureless, nothingness, emptiness and signless liberations of mind are one in meaning.
- How to Face Death with Peace: A Guided Journey with Delson Armstrong
Delson leads a guided meditation that opens with a body scan and loving kindness, extending it outward from the self to the room, the campus and the whole planet.
- June 13 -Day 9...Last Day Talk With Delson Armstrong
Delson closes a retreat with advice on keeping the practice going after it ends.
- 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 2 All the Taints MN 2 -Hindrances!- Delson Armstrong
Delson reads and comments on MN 2, the Sabbasava Sutta, on the taints (asavas) and the six ways they are abandoned: by seeing, restraining, using, enduring, avoiding, removing and…
- Who is Delson? From Yoga to Buddhism - My personal Journey -From India to the US
Delson Armstrong tells his personal story: an early start in Hatha and Kriya yoga and study of yoga philosophy in the Himalayas, then his move to Buddhism through the Brahmaviharas and…
- Powerful Death Meditation to Find Ultimate Peace-Delson Armstrong
Delson leads a guided meditation that begins with a body scan and loving-kindness, extended from the listener outward to the room, the planet and infinite space.
- From Yoga to Buddhism - My personal Journey -From India to the US
Delson Armstrong traces his path from Hatha and Kriya yoga in India and the Himalayas, through the Yoga Sutras, to Brahmavihara practice taught by Bhante Vimalaramsi.
- 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.
- June 22 AN 5.57 -5 Reflections - Sunday Sutta Study-Delson Armstrong
Delson reads AN 5.57, the five reflections: I am subject to aging, to illness, to death, I must be parted from what is dear, and I am the owner and heir of my karma.
- June 15 SN 41.6 "With Kamabu" Cessation and its attainment. Sunday Sutta Study
Delson works through SN 41.6, the discourse with Kamabhu, in which the householder Chitta asks about the three formations, how the attainment of cessation of perception and feeling comes…
- June 10 -Day 6...Formations to Feeling-Paticca Samuppada-Delson Armstrong
Delson continues his series on dependent origination, picking up from feeling (vedana) and working back through contact, the six sense bases, nama-rupa, consciousness and the formations.
- 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 9 -Day 5...Tanha to Dukkha-Paticca Samupada-Delson Armstrong
Delson explains dependent origination (paticca samuppada) as the mechanics by which suffering and karma arise, beginning with aging and death and tracing back through birth, becoming…
- June 7 -Day 3 -In Depth Jhana Talk- Excellent! Delson Armstrong
Delson explains the jhanas as taught in the Suttavada approach, distinguishing jhanas that keep a person in samsara from the right meditation (samma samadhi) that leads to liberation.
- 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…
- 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…
- 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.
- 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…
- Link of Bhava - What is it?: AN3.76 Bhava Sutta
Delson works through AN3.76 and AN3.77 on bhava (becoming), reading the sutta's repeated lines about karma as the field, consciousness as the seed and craving as the moisture for existence…
- Unlock the Mystery of Bhava in Buddhism -AN3.76 Bhava Sutta -Delson Armstrong
Delson reads AN3.76 and refers to AN3.77 on bhava (becoming), following the Buddha's answer that existence in each realm arises when karma ripens, with consciousness as the seed and…
- Sex as Path – Tales From Nibbana Episode 3 with Delson Armstrong
Delson Armstrong discusses sex, desire and craving in this interview from Tales From Nibbana.
- Apr 13 2025 Inspiring Sign AN 47.10 & SN 22.37 Delson Armstrong
Delson reads SN 47.10 about nuns established in the four foundations of mindfulness who perceive successively loftier stages, and explains that the 6R's act as an inspiring sign that…
- Apr 6 2025 Sunday Suttas "Origin of Suffering" AN 6.63 Penetrative Discourse w/Delson Armstrong
Delson works through AN 6.63, the Nibbedhika Sutta (Penetrative Discourse), which lists sensual pleasures, feelings, perceptions, taints, karma and suffering as things to be understood…
- Mar 30 MN 2 Sabbasava Sutta with Delson Armstrong - Sunday Zoom
Delson reads MN 2, the Sabbasava Sutta, on the taints (asavas) and the seven ways they are abandoned: by seeing, restraining, using, enduring, avoiding, removing and developing.
- Mar 30 2025 Sunday Sutta Study "All the Taints" MN 2-Delson Armstrong
Delson reads MN 2, the Sabbasava Sutta (All the Taints), and comments on it section by section.
- 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.
- 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…
- 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.
- Dissolve the 5 Aggregates: Using Guided Loving-Kindness Meditation
Delson leads a guided sitting that begins with relaxing the body and generating loving-kindness for oneself, then for everyone in the room, then for all beings in every direction…
- Dissolve the 5 Aggregates - Using Guided Loving-Kindness Meditation
Delson leads a guided sitting that begins with relaxing the body and building loving-kindness toward oneself, then extends it through the room, in all directions, to beings in other realms…
- 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 7 - Dependent Origination
Delson explains dependent origination as an elaboration of the Four Noble Truths that shows how the mind creates its own suffering.
- 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.
- Mumbai Retreat February 2025 | Day 3 - Mindfulness
Delson explains mindfulness (sati) as bare observation of what arises and passes away, together with clear comprehension (sampajanna) of where attention is.
- Mumbai Retreat February 2025 | Day 8 - Five Aggregates Guided Meditation
Delson leads a guided sit that begins with relaxing the body and developing loving-kindness, first toward oneself and then extended outward to others in the room, the city, all directions…
- 2025 SN 12.15 'Origin of Suffering'; Sn12.26 'Existence' with Delson Armstrong Sunday Zoom Series
Delson reads and explains two Samyutta suttas on dependent origination, SN 12.26 (Upavana) and SN 12.15 (Kaccanagotta).
- 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…
- 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…
- 2025 SN 46.54 Proof of Jhanas attained using Metta with Delson Armstrong Sunday Series at DSMC
Delson reads and comments on SN 46.54, in which the Buddha says that the liberation of mind by each brahmavihara (loving-kindness, compassion, altruistic joy, equanimity) can culminate in…
- 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…
- 2025 SN 12.63 'Sons of Flesh' with Delson Armstrong Sunday Series
Delson reads through SN 12.63 'Sons of Flesh' on the four nutriments (edible food, contact, mental volition and consciousness), using the Buddha's similes of the desert couple, the flayed…
- The 'Word' for 2025 with Delson Armstrong-Sunday Series at DSMC
Delson explains why he chose contentment as the word for 2025, linking it to renunciation (nekkhamma) in right intention and treating it as a non-craving state that can be cultivated in…
- Jan 2025 Retreat: Orientation and Talk w/Delson Armstrong
Delson opens a January retreat with beginner instructions for TWIM loving-kindness practice: sit comfortably, smile, bring up an uplifting feeling in the chest, and send metta first to…