May 2, 2022
This is the first talk of the retreat April 26, 2022 to May 5, 2022
Delson Armstrong is the TWIM teacher for this retreat. On the first day he gives the very beginning instructions for people who have not practiced before. Then he gives advanced instructions for people who have advanced beyond the Spiritual Friend.
The practice is Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation (TWIM) based on the earliest Buddhist Suttas. The practice uses Lovingkindness or Metta as the object of meditation. This will lead to the ultimate experience of Nibbana when successfully completed. Metta is not just for stress while you do Breath, it is will lead you to the supra-mundane when practice correctly. It will lead you through all 8 jhānas to the end of suffering!
For all Instructions on this meditation and more information go to
https://www.dhammasukha.org/
also
https://www.suttavada.foundation/
![Developing Faith in the Buddha -Guided Meditation]()
February 4, 2022
Contemplate the awesome power of the Buddha. Why? There is much merit in thinking and considering all of the powers that the Buddha possessed.
This is a 30min guided contemplation of the Buddha's qualities. The meditator should listen to the qualities and marks and consider the incredible nature of a Buddha. This will uplift your mind and someday you may be reborn a solitary Buddha.
In the sutta on Asokarvana in the Avaydana or Divine Stories, there is a Bull that is about to slaughtered for meat by an evil butcher. The Bull knows this but sees the Buddha, and goes to the Buddha and prostrates and licks his feet, The Buddha understands that the Bull is to be killed and asks Sakkha, King of the Gods of the thirty-three. to pay the Butcher his fee and release the Bull from being killed. BECAUSE OF THE FAITH OF THE BULL IN THE BUDDHA, the Buddha relates that in subsequent lifetimes the Bull will be reborn in higher and higher heavenly existences and then finally come back to the Human Plane and, because of his merit, will become a solitary or Pacekka Buddha!
Just because of his having so much FAITH. So consider the qualities and have faith in the Buddha and see what happens. You will feel the feeling of confidence and faith and this can take you into a jhana.
![Guided Meditation for Observing the Jhānas & Factors 1-4]()
January 31, 2022
This Guided Meditation is designed for Students of TWIM (Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation & the 6Rs). It was created by Delson Armstrong and is led here by David Johnson of www.dhammasukha.org.
This is led by David Johnson from Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center. We start by doing some lovingkindness meditation to get grounded. As the mind calms we enter the first Jhana. We observe all the factors spoken of by the sutta. And then we proceed to 2nd, 3rd and finally 4th Jhana where the meditation ends.
In this guided meditation a group of students was led through each Jhana and was asked to see what factors and states arise in each one. The Anupada Sutta -MN 111- maps out the progress through all 8 jhānas to Nibbana.
This meditation is based on the practice and progress of TWIM (Tranquil wisdom Insight Meditation) taught by Bhante Vimalaramsi. The way Bhante teaches the Lovingkindness or Metta is using the earliest suttas which allow progress to be quite fast.
See 6Rs and Metta instructions on the website www.dhammasukha.org.
A complete guide to the meditation the way the Buddha taught: https://www.thepathtonibbana.com/ How to practice Metta/TWIM Meditation https://www.dhammasukha.org/beginner-lovingkindness What are the 6Rs https://www.dhammasukha.org/the-6rs Bhante Vimalaramsi https://www.dhammasukha.org/bhante-vimalaramsi
January 9, 2022
Jan 2 ,2022
Alagaddupama Sutta The Simile of the Snake
This sutta is about a monk with pernicious views. No-not Sati this time! The Buddha reprimands him with many suttas how the Dhamma could be misrepresented and misunderstood.
https://www.dhammasukha.org/dsmc-zoom-group
A complete guide to the meditation the way the Buddha taught: https://www.thepathtonibbana.com/ How to practice Metta/TWIM Meditation
https://www.dhammasukha.org/beginner-lovingkindness
What are the 6Rs
https://www.dhammasukha.org/the-6rs Bhante Vimalaramsi
https://www.dhammasukha.org/bhante-vimalaramsi
![Zoom Talk Aggivacchagotta Sutta: To Vacchagotta on Fire (Thicket of Views) 12-5-21]()
December 13, 2021
Dec 5, 2021
Vacchagota Suttas MN 72 and partial MN 73
Vaccha:
"How is it then, Master Gotama? When Master Gotama is asked each of these ten questions, he replies: 'I do not hold this view.' What danger does Master Gotama see that he does not take up any of these speculative views?"
Buddha: "Vaccha, the speculative view that the world is eternal is a thicket of views, a wilderness of views, a contortion of views, a vacillation of views, a fetter of views. It is beset by suffering, by vexation, by despair, and by fever, and it does not lead to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbana. Similarly for the speculative view that the world is not eternal...that the world is finite...that the world is infinite...that the soul and the body are the same...that the soul is one thing and the body another...that after death a Tathagata exists...that after death a Tathagata does not exist...that after death a Tathagata both exists and does not exist...that after death a Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist is a thicket of views
http://www.suttas.com/mn-72-aggivacchagotta-sutta-to-vacchagotta-on-fire.html
Zoom Recorded: 11-28-21 Where: DSMC Talk by Bhante Vimalaramsi Abbot - Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center
https://www.dhammasukha.org/dsmc-zoom-group
A complete guide to the meditation the way the Buddha taught: https://www.thepathtonibbana.com/ How to practice Metta/TWIM Meditation
https://www.dhammasukha.org/beginner-lovingkindness
What are the 6Rs
https://www.dhammasukha.org/the-6rs Bhante Vimalaramsi
https://www.dhammasukha.org/bhante-vimalaramsi
November 25, 2021
MN 22 Simile of the Snake A wrong view arises and the Buddha has to set a monk straight with many similes. The deepest view of non-self in the canon may be at the end of this sutta.
Zoom Recorded: Oct 24, 2021
Where: DSMC Talk by Delson Armstrong
https://www.dhammasukha.org/ https://suttavada.foundation
