Chattha Sangayana CD - Vipassana Research Institute
Preface

Vipassana meditation is the quintessence of Buddha's teaching. It is a technique of self-observation, an objective observation of the mind-body phenomena with a view to achieving purification of mind which leads to total eradication of mental defilements and inculcates such wholesome qualities as loving-kindness, equanimity, sympathetic joy and compassion. The technique is simple, scientific, universal and available to all irrespective of caste, creed, nationality or beliefs.

For the practice of Vipassana meditation a quiet and congenial environment is an important requirement. When Sayagyi U Ba Khin, the most distinguished world teacher of Vipassana, established the first Vipassana meditation centre in Yangon (Rangoon) in Myanmar (Burma) he conceived a novel idea of building a hollow pagoda with cells inside for individual meditation.

India lost the technique about 500 years after Buddha's passing away, but fortunately it was preserved in its pristine purity by a chain of dedicated teachers in the neighbouring country of Myanmar. Sayagyi U Ba Khin received Vipassana in this lineage. He deeply felt that Myanmar owed a debt to India in receiving the precious gem of Vipassana Dhamma from India. India needed it, indeed, the whole world needed it!

S. N. Goenka, then a citizen of Myanmar, took his first Vipassana course from Sayagyi in 1955. Sayagyi trained him for several years and prepared him for his mission. Goenkaji came to India, the land of his forefathers, in 1969 and started teaching Vipassana meditation in makeshift campsites.  In 1976, the first Vipassana centre, the Vipassana International Academy, was established at Igatpuri in Maharashtra. Campsite courses (non-centre courses) continue to grow as do the established centres in India and abroad. People from all walks of life throng to these courses to receive the nectar of Dhamma. People from more than ninety different countries have participated in Vipassana courses. Goenkaji has set in motion the wheel of Dhamma, which once again has started rotating in the country of its origin.

Ten-day residential Vipassana courses are organised for new students. As a student becomes more established in the technique, more serious courses of Satipaµµh±na are offered, as well as long duration courses of 20, 30 and 45 days.  In addition, Anapana courses are held for children of eight to fifteen years of age.

Vipassana centres provide an institutional framework and environment for the practice and training of Vipassana meditation. Goenkaji has laid down guidelines for their maintenance and management. The guidelines are:

 The centre should confine itself to the practice and training of Vipassana only. No other activity, however wholesome, is permissible.

 The location and the layout of the centre should be conducive for serious meditation.

 The purity of a Dhamma environment should be maintained at all times.

 No fee should be charged for the course from the students including board and lodging.

 Donations should be accepted from grateful students only.

 No teacher imparting teaching in Vipassana should receive any remuneration. Selfless service, without expecting anything in return, is the basic principle.

 Members of trusts and managing committees should receive no remuneration.

With the above background, and the informative account that follows about the centres, we hope that readers will learn about the centres, the spread of Dhamma and the benefit the technique provides, here and now.

Vipassana Research Institute

Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri-422 403, India

INDEX

North America

Dhamma Dhar±, Massachusetts, USA

Dhamma Mah±vana, California, USA

Dhamma Kuñja, Seatle, USA

Dhamma Sir², Texas, USA

Dhamma Maº¹a, California, USA

Dhamma Surabhi, Canada

Dhamma Suttama, Canada

Dhamma Dhar±

Vipassana Meditation Centre

P.O. Box 24, Shelburne Falls, MA 01370-0024, USA

Tel: (1) (413) 625-2160; Fax: (1) (413) 625-2170

e-mail: info@dhara.dhamma.org; website: www.dhara.dhamma.org

Dhamma Dhar± (Land of Dhamma) became the site of the first Vipassana meditation centre, operating under the guidance of S. N. Goenka, in the Western hemisphere, in August 1982. Despite its rural setting, the centre is within easy driving distance of major cities in the U.S., northeast and central Canada.

The original facility consisted of a roomy, comfortable two-storey house with a nearby barn, situated on eight acres of meadowland, backed by low hills. Early courses in the house were limited to twenty-five students. For larger summer courses conducted by Goenkaji, up to 200 students were accommodated in tents, with a large meditation tent erected on a tennis court on the site. This later became the location for a summer meditation pavillion.

Ten-day courses are held at the centre almost continuously. More than sixty students participate in each course.

In 1989, a group of meditators donated an adjoining seventy acres of land. Work soon began on a three-storey pagoda behind the summer pavilion. Over sixty cells were completed and Goenkaji inaugurated the facility with a 20-day course in July 1991. The first 30-day course was held in 1993.

The summer pavilion was reconstructed in 1995-6 into a larger heated meditation hall for use throughout the year. Enclosed walkways connect it to the residential buildings. Eventually all the buildings will be connected to protect against severe winters. The master plan includes plans for the construction of the upper floors of the pagoda, a teachers' residence, and four student residences.

There is a large community of meditators living in the immediate vicinity, who have given invaluable service to the centre, as well as establishing warm relations between the centre and the local community.

Dhamma Mah±vana

California Vipassana Centre

P.O. Box 1167, North Fork, CA 93643, USA

Tel: [1] (559) 877 4386; Fax [1] (559) 877 4387

e-mail: info@mahavana.dhamma.org; website: www.mahavana.dhamma.org

Dhamma Mah±vana (Forest of Dhamma) is located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains at an elevation of 2,800 feet. It was established in 1990 on a one hundred and nine acre site located in the rural mountain community of North Fork, half an hour south of Yosemite National Park. It has a large open meadow covered with wildflowers in the spring and summer, a pond, seasonal streams, and wooded areas of oak, pine, cedar, and manzanita. The property is home to abundant bird and animal life. This setting provides an ideal and beautiful environment for Vipassana retreats.

It is centrally located, three and a half hours from San Franciso, and four and a half hours from Los Angeles. Fresno, the nearest city, is forty-five minutes away and is served by bus, rail, and air transport.

The centre currently accommodates 125 students year round. In October 1996, a new meditation hall with a capacity of 200 students was completed.

The local council has recently given approval for development to proceed for up to 200 students.

Dhamma Kuñja

Northwest Vipassana Centre

P.O. Box 345, Ethel WA 98542-0345, USA

Tel: [1] (360) 978-5434; Fax: [1] (360) 978-5433

e-mail: info@kunja.dhamma.org

Dhamma Kuñja (Grove of Dhamma) is located in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S.A. and British Columbia, Canada. Regular Vipassana courses, attended by large numbers of students, had been offered at rental sites since 1983.

In 1987, the U.S. and Canadian trusts began searching for a permanent site. This extended effort bore fruit in August 1991 with the acquisition of a forty-acre property in southern Washington state only a few weeks before Goenkaji's inaugural visit. The site is in a quiet, rural area midway between the urban centres of Seattle and Portland.

The Pacific Northwest, known for its scenic beauty, features several mountain ranges, saltwater inlets, fresh water lakes, and dense coniferous forests.

Dhamma Kuñja sits at the base of the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. The snow-capped peak of Mt. Rainier is visible from the house, and another well-known volcano, Mt. St. Helens, can be seen from one of the roads leading to the centre. The site is secluded at the end of a dead-end road.

The property consists mostly of cleared fields, with orchards and several groves of large evergreen trees. The large modern house which is passively solar heated, was immediately suitable for courses of forty students.

The facilities at this centre include a Dhamma Hall to seat forty meditators. Accommodation can be provided for up to forty students, with separate quarters for two teachers, centre manager and six servers. There are plans to expand these facilities to cater for sixty-five students.

The construction of the pagoda has started.

Dhamma Sir²

The Southwest Vipassana Meditation Centre

10850 Country Road 155A, Kaufman, TX 75142, USA

Tel: [1] (972) 932 7868; Fax: [1] (972) 962-8858

Reg: (214) 528-5258

e-mail: info@siri.dhamma.org

Dhamma Sir² (Prosperity of Dhamma), the Southwest Vipassana Meditation Centre, is situated on twenty acres of agricultural land in the town of Kaufman, Texas, forty-five minutes from Dallas. The centre is on a very quiet dead-end road. It was purchased in July 1990.

The modern, fully air-conditioned house contains six bedrooms and five bathrooms and can accommodate fifty-five students. A recently completed Dhamma Hall can accommodate 100 students. Plans are underway to construct a separate male residence, which will bring the capacity of the centre to a full 100 students during courses.

Currently at least one course per month is being conducted along with at least one Satipaµµh±na and one 20-day course each year.

The centre is unique among the American centres in being so close to a large metropolitan area (Dallas-Fort Worth has a population of about two and a half million). A large Indian and Asian population lives in Texas, as well as many Spanish-speaking people. The centre is therefore offering periodic Hindi-English bilingual courses, as well as instructions and discourses in Spanish and various Indian and Asian languages.

Dhamma Maº¹a

North California Vipassana Centre, USA

Dhamma Maº¹a (Essence of Dhamma) is located on the Mendocino Coast in Northern California, about 150 miles North of San Francisco. It is situated on a beautiful 20-acre site of Redwood forest at 1000 feet above sea level, and about a mile from the Pacific Ocean. The area enjoys a mild climate which is conducive to serious meditation.

In the early 1980's Goenkaji conducted many Vipassana courses in the region. Hence there are many meditators in the area and a great support for the rapid development of this centre.

Dhamma Suttama

Eastern Canada Vipassana Centre, CANADA

Dhamma Surabhi

Vipassana Meditation Centre of British Columbia

Box 529, 3495 Cambie Street, Vancouver, B.C. V5Z 4R3, CANADA

Tel: (250) 378 4506 in Merritt. e-mail: info@surabhi.dhamma.org

Dhamma Surabhi (Fragrance of Dhamma), Canada's first Vipassana centre, was purchased in 1997 near the small town of Merritt, 145 miles (two and a half hours) northeast of Vancouver, British Columbia.

   The lightly forested fifty-six acres of undeveloped land is situated on the western slopes of a       river valley. It has two creeks running through it, and is partially bounded by Provincial land        which will provide a valuable long-term buffer. It already has year-round accommodation for            thirty-three meditators and eight servers. In the warmer months it accommodates fifty       students.