Ep156: Key To Enlightenment - Delson Armstrong 3

In this episode I am once again joined by Delson Armstrong, spiritual teacher, meditation virtuoso, and author of ‘A Mind Without Craving’.
Delson draws on his scriptural knowledge and personal experience to take a deep dive into dependent origination, the doctrine believed by many Buddhists to be the key to enlightenment.
In practical and relatable terms, Delson explains how this doctrine works, why it is important yet so often misunderstood, and how to use meditation to move from an intellectual understanding to the experiential understanding that is Buddhist enlightenment.
Delson also compares the enlightened to the unenlightened experiences of time, memory, and decision making process, and gives a surprising answer to the question: can enlightened people make mistakes?
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www.guruviking.com/podcast/15...
Also available on KZbin, iTunes, & Spotify - search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.
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Topics include:
00:00 - Intro
00:53 - How to obtain an experiential understanding
05:56 - Essence of Dependent Origination
07:37 - How choices create reality
11:09 - Delson explains the 12 links
21:38 - Common mistakes in understanding the 12 links
24:25 - 6R’s as a craving intervention
30:09 - Consequences of disrupting the 12 links via meditation
36:30 - Does the wisdom mind generate karma?
39:01 - Exhaustion of past life karma
41:09 - Enlightened vs unenlightened experience of life
45:14 - Enlightened vs unenlightened experience of time, memory, and future planning
48:38 - Enlightened vs unenlightened decision making processes
55:22 - Why do enlightened people make mistakes?
01:00:03 - Lifting the veil that filters reality
01:06:36 - Trauma how to recondition the mind
01:15:01 - Letting go of craving is wholesome
01:17:21 - Is cultivation of wholesome states necessary?
01:20:39 - How purification works
01:23:42 - Healing trauma and MDMA-assisted therapy
01:27:39 - Simply observing suffering is not enough
01:31:24 - Riding the 12 links to stream entry and beyond
01:41:46 - Practical advice for the practitioner
...
Previous episodes with Delson Armstrong:
- www.guruviking.com/ep120-medi...
- www.guruviking.com/ep127-sidd...
- www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep...
To find out more about Delson Armstrong, visit:
- www.suttavada.foundation/our-...
- www.dhammasukha.org/
For more interviews, videos, and more visit:
- www.guruviking.com
Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James

[@krenx]

It is an enormous blessing for anyone to come across this podcast and listen to the dharma expressed with such clarity. sadhu, sadhu, sadhu

[@moonmissy]

This is the clearest and most concise explanation of the purification process of meditation that I have heard. Thank you for this interview! I can see why Bhante Viralamasi made Delson a teacher so quickly. He has a talent in explaining the practice well.

[@moonmissy]

Delson was a writer so he knows how to use language well. Combine that with experience of the dharma, he’s very beneficial for many beings.

[@nineallday000]

"A mind without any craving is a wholesome state" Simply wonderful!

[@praxisbehindtheobscure1949]

This is definitey in the top 3 best interviews / podcasts I have ever listened to. I'll have to re-listen again a few times. Keep up all the good work and thanks for putting these out for us all!

[@penguin0101]

Whats the other 2? Haha

[@VipassanaSadhana]

What is other two??

[@ipbo]

I also want to know what the other two are😅

[@sunflower4p14]

Wonderful interview. Watched / Listened to it for a few time by now and will be watching many more times. You did such an amazing job asking great questions. So appreciate your sincerity on this matter (not just this video).

[@juandeloeste6138]

Best podcast, guests and interviewer ever. Thank you for sharing this.

[@hammothyst6005]

Thank you for another stellar interview, Steve. Every discussion with Delson is an absolute treat.

[@jkmott59]

Delson is the real deal. Love talks by him, so plain and direct language.

[@TheWizard10008]

“As a representative of the unawakened camp…” 😂❤️

[@renakmans3521]

Your questions are incredibly insightful and the answers are amazingly on point. 🙏

[@patmcd3578]

Pre-comment, not sure if it bears mentioning, but this comes from the perspective of someone who had an awakening going through retreat with Delson while being guided through the dhamma of DO, so I can attest to witnessing 1) truth of dhamma, 2) truth of dependent origination, 3) wisdom of Delson in general. But, what I really want to share appreciation for is the interviewing by GV! Great listening. Great, thoughtful questions. Great intellectual knowledge of history, psychology, and emotionally intelligence. I'm new here and really appreciate your content and careful, conscious intention and deliberation during conversation. Awakened or not, brother, you definitely add to the dialogue for anyone at any point in their journey. Thank you!!

[@NewAgeACIM]

Thank you for this fabulous clarification of "dependent origination". I heard His Holiness speak on this topic when he graciously visited Madison, Wisconsin in 2013 but I was unable to follow His teaching! Better late than never!

[@douglasbarnes4035]

I’m currently in a self-guided Dhamma Sukha retreat and just had the MN 38 talk on dependent origination. Perfect timing to watch this. My entire perspective has shifted. Thanks to you both!

[@heathermatsumoto]

Love that he ends the interview to sum up practicing the 6 R’s and letting go as key and avoid over intellectualising to get to enjoy the fruits sooner ! Very inspiring indeed!

[@Darksagan]

Delson always brings the goods. Great podcast.

[@lilianamontel]

It is a huge blessing for anyone to come across this podcast and hear the dharma expressed so clearly. great intellectual knowledge and complete wisdom. thank you so much!!! sadhu, sadhu, sadhu

[@a.s2118]

Gem! Thank you so much for this interview which leaves a sense of perfection in terms of the mastery of the respondent but also of the interviewer.

[@synsynsy]

karma for the algo! thanks steve, make no mistake, these interviews are really cherished. many many thanks!

[@GuruViking]

Thanks Horea! 🙏

[@pavelgrebenkov9965]

This was so wonderful. Thank you Steve and Delson very much.

[@nogaei1]

He is fenomenal. Feels like meeting Bodhisattva, no doubt.

[@HansenFT]

Love delson armstrong. Meditated to one of his guided meditations right before seeing that this was released..

[@ramoesgaston9966]

I must say after my journey from zen, shambala and no kadampa. I am not enlightened but I have my moments like after this comment back to practice. I can say I don't have feters like that of great demons like in my younger and past life. I have a will now that goes through revulsion at the mere idea of fall for secular pitfalls once again. Especially after receiving empowerment. I can't help but feel like it is a us versa them force of opponents. I seriously could give a rats ass what any ordinary person thinks to be frank. However this podcast explains what I am feeling at this very space in life and on 🌎. May all sentient beings witness this profound brilliant glory. Chumpa Chogong is the Buddhist name.

[@axilleaskazuya5370]

This is good man, yeap, this is going where we all waited long time

[@miriamwilcox4123]

“The point of lowest tension” 👌🏻🌟🙏🏻 thank you.

[@nicksyoutubeaccount]

Amazing

[@DPSAX95]

great thank you!

[@lucidmindrevolution]

Another great interview! 👌

[@ZenPepperClub]

this is gold 😊

[@ricarpag]

Very deep. Thank you.

[@kevin-lancheros]

the goat

[@math1351]

Thanks !✌️

[@Hermit_mouse]

What changes do you see in people who have reached stream entry

[@philmcdonald6088]

✨be here now do no harm help others be still close eyes listen to your breathing✨......book recommend: TAO TE CHING by carl abbott.

[@akashakash-351]

very eloquent......

[@outsaneoutsane2747]

Bit complicated, it's quite simple really. Left makes right, right makes left, that's a basic example of dependent origination

[@Buddhism4Happiness]

But what about dependencies? I realized that there can be a difference in looking at the causes versus looking at the dependencies. Well, I have to rethink it, but using a software engineering analogy or metaphor, before installing or uninstalling a piece of software component, one may have consider the dependencies, don't you think? In that way, you don't try to figure out the causes but instead the dependencies, like what happens if I remove this, what will happen to that, or alternatively, if I look at subcomponents then I can suspect that if this is not there, then I will not have a well working subject of attention. Like if I don't sleep well tonight, I won't do well the following day. Or looking back, because I didn't sleep well last night, I am not doing well today. There's a dependency, but not necessarily a direct cause, perhaps a suspected or associated cause. Perhaps conditions may be considered dependencies. Sorry, it's difficult for me to write about it.

[@patmcd3578]

We had several software engineers at our last retreat. In one conversation with one, after just 2 questions, I said, are you in a technical career field? There is something about the technical mind that does a great deal of thinking (over thinking?) and pouring over of small details. The details, or dependencies, are resolved through the acts of practice through faith/relaxing into guidance by intuition rather than intellect. Intellect is good for the evolution of the brain, but the evolution of the spirit requires something of a varying nature (flexibility).

[@patmcd3578]

P.s. human beings are not machines even though we are educated as such, treated as such, and made to think as such. Humans are meant to be human and we will struggle until we realize this.

[@bunimokjh]

I think it's just a matter of lexicon, in the practical sense for me they're the same. For example, following your analogy, to compile a program you need the source, the dependencies and a compiler. The cause of compiling is you giving the command in the terminal, and the dependencies are the needed files and programs. A missing dependency causes the compiler to fail, so it can be viewed as if this missing dependency is a cause for the cessation of compiling.

[@tenzinthomasmasami]

Wait, is Delson also on a houseboat? Did I miss the discussion of his surroundings?!

[@ellearo]

Lmao I was thinking the same thing 😂

[@backwardthoughts1022]

appropriate topic but as usual the description of ignorance is utterly inadequate eg. subtle impermanence is still only understood at the level of momentary change, with no capacity to understand that disintegration of a moment is uncaused

[@ejackpete3]

The integration is the “cause” of the disintegration as in an ice cube melting due to a temperature change. Causation is always at work even as U-234 releases photons.

[@sidlyon896]

Neither "Key" nor "path" to Enlightenment! The meaning of " Enlightenment itself an illusion which you put straight back to "Samsara".

[@user-fg3fv9hl3b]

😂

[@midooley543]

If he’s an arahant, why does he still overeat?

[@mmungara]

does anyone else think he looks like the buddha :)

[@simonsays525]

I enjoy hearing Delson very much. However, he claims arahantship and the Buddha very clearly says that it is impossible for an arahant to remain as a layman. This provides me with reserve related to his claims of enlightenment.

[@lakedistrict9450]

In one of Deleon’s interviews, he says he lives like a monk. I also haven’t heard him make a claim of arhantship. Personally, if someone does make such a claim, I go hyper vigilant looking for behaviour that is inconsistent with full libration…. I don’t see value in taking advice from a ‘false’ teacher. 😃

[@akashicturtle1827]

The Buddha said one must get rid of the fetter of the householder life, but that does not mean officially ordaining as a Bhikkhu. Remember, there was no Vinaya at the beginning of the Buddha's teaching career.

[@akashicturtle1827]

@@earthy7898 I think he implied being an arahant in earlier interviews, like the one with Daniel Ingram. I once met a Mae Chee in Thailand who was reputed to be an arahant, who was taught by a female lay woman (also reputed to be an arahant). Of course full vinaya ordination for women is harder for women to obtain in Theravada.

[@simonsays525]

I’d like to be more clear, I haven’t heard Delson say, “I’m an arahant.” But if you listen to his last interviews with Steve to my ears it sounds as if Delson is claiming that he has reached the end of the path. Also, perhaps my understanding of the Buddha’s words is mistaken. Although I have heard numerous other monks, that I deeply respect, remark on the Buddha making such claims.

[@akashicturtle1827]

@@simonsays525 The Buddha did say in the Majjhima nikaya that an arahant must "leave behind the householder life." Monks I know and respect claim that it's possible to be an arahant if one hasn't *officially* ordained, but such a person would still live a renunciant lifestyle….I agree with that interpretation.

[@ejackpete3]

I guarantee you that this guy has no understanding of the Dharma, experientially. The key teaching of the early Buddha is anatta or no self. He only further reifies this illusory self by his discussion about how to become free of the fetters. This is the egoic view of atta or ego. There is no one to become free of the fetters. This is seen in nirvikalpa samadhi where the brain ceases generating the self illusion. Other brains are getting all titillated by this guys confused rambling, all being a further extension of his egoic intellect.

[@calculusmetal]

Brilliant and valuable content, thank you. A few minor issues I had hoped for: 1. Re dependant oringination section: some terms seem to be old indian hindu terms/translations, and aren't modern english eg birth, aging, death, rebirth. That is obviously not what is meant. Can Delson please retranslate these terms into modern english using mind phenomenology with examples? ie it believe that these terms are referring to mind formation in this life. 2. Using more practical examples of eg craving, clinging, "birth, aging, death", and more general simple examples throughout the discussion. 3. GV: regarding your video titles, you tend to overstate the content on occasions. This is not a clear and executable "key to enlightenment". Many other factors are essential "keys" eg jhanas etc, which weren't mentioned. Great content, thank you again, will watch a few more times to understand. Delson is a gift to dharma.