Global Vipassana Pagoda - A Dhamma Monument of Infinite Gratitude, Inner Peace
Aug 26, 2011
Mettā-bhāvanā: for True Happiness of All Beings
Aug 18, 2011
Penetrating Wisdom of Vipassana
The entire mind should be filled with only one volition: the liberation of all beings.
-- Sayagyi U Goenka
-- Sayagyi U Goenka
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An excerpt from Dhamma Discourse, Day One, Satipatthana Sutta Vipassana course:"Atapi means 'ardently.' However sati is perfect only with wisdom, sampajano, with the understanding of the nature of reality at the experiential level—that is, its basic characteristic of anicca, arising and passing of bodily sensations. Because its nature is to be impermanent, the characteristic of dukkha, misery or suffering, is also inherent.
"Practicing with panna, you will understand dukkha with your own experience. Every pleasant experience, every pleasant situation is anicca.
"Everything within the framework of the body changes into something unpleasant, so it is nothing but dukkha. The law of nature is such.
"Yet the tendency of the mind is to get attached and cling to a pleasant experience, and when it is gone you feel so miserable.
"This is not a philosophy, but a truth to be experienced by pativedhana: dividing, dissecting, disintegrating, dissolving you reach the stage of bhanga, total dissolution. You witness the solidified, material structure, the body, as actually nothing but subatomic particles, kalapas, arising and passing. Similarly the mind and mental contents manifest as very solidified, intensified emotions—anger, fear, or passion—which overpower you.
"Vipassana, pativedhana, helps you.
Global Vipassana Pagoda, Mumbai, India. A light house of Dhamma
(Photo by N. Terse, July 2011.)
"With pativedhana - the piercing, penetrating panna - you divide, dissect, disintegrate to the stage where this intense emotion is nothing but wavelets. The whole material and mental structures and the mental contents are nothing but wavelets, wavelets, anicca, anicca.
"Then the reality about this "I" or "mine" or "myself" becomes clear. They are just conventional words. There is no "I" to possess this mind-matter structure, these material and mental phenomena. Mere mind and matter constantly interact, constantly influence each other, and become a cause for the arising of each other, resulting in currents, cross-currents, and under-currents going on in what you call "I.
Anatta ( no 'I') becomes clear at the experiential level."
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Vipassana meditation courses worldwide, course venues, online application for Vipassana courses
* Directions to reach Global Pagoda, Gorai / Borivili, Mumbai
* Benefits of Pure Volition of Dāna
Aug 16, 2011
How to reach the Global Vipassana Pagoda, Gorai / Borivali, in Mumbai, India
Everyone is most welcome to visit the Global Vipassana Pagoda.
Visiting the Global Pagoda is free of charge. There is no entry fee.
Timings: 9.00 am to 7.00 pm
(The last ferry leaves Gorai jetty to the Global Pagoda at 5.25 pm)
* Vipassana students - those who have taken one or more 10-day Vipassana courses as taught by Sayagyi U S.N.Goenka - are permitted to meditate inside the main dome Dhamma Hall of the Global Pagoda.
( Food facility in the Global Pagoda premises is limited to a small food stall offering tea / coffee, light snacks like samosas and soft drinks. Larger food stalls are there in the adjacent Essel World complex.
Safe drinking water and very clean toilet / wash-room facilities are available in the Global Pagoda premises.)
How to reach Global Vipassana Pagoda, Gorai / Borivali, Mumbai, India:
The Global Pagoda can be reached overland by car, as well by ferry. Pre-paid taxi services are available at the Mumbai domestic and international airports. Ask for "Esselworld", if "Global Vipassana Pagoda" draws a blank stare. The Global Pagoda is within the Esselworld Park premises.
Reaching Global Vipassana Pagoda by Road from Mumbai City / Domestic Airport / International Airport / Railway Stations in Mumbai
- Reach Western Express Highway and go North towards Dahisar/Borivali/Ahmedabad.
- Cross the Dahisar Toll Booth and keep going straight.
- When you reach the Mira-Bhayandar crossing, turn Left towards Mira-Bhayandar. The crossing has a statue of Shivaji Maharaj positioned at the centre.
- Keep going straight till you reach Golden Nest Circle. At the Golden Nest Circle, take a left turn and stay on the main road.
- Keep going straight till you take a hard right turn at the end of the road. This point will come after Maxus Mall, which comes on your right. After the hard right turn, take a left at the T point junction.
- Keep following directions to Esselworld or Global Vipassana Pagoda from this point forward.
- When you reach the Esselworld Parking Lot, go ahead a few metres and take a right turn towards Esselworld. Tell the guard at the security post that you want to go to the Pagoda.
- Keep going straight till you reach the Helipad. At the Helipad, take a right turn to the Global Pagoda Road through the Sanchi Arch.
The Pagoda is about 42 km from the Domestic Airport Terminal.
Please click here For more detailed directions and maps
Hiring a car for airport pick-up to Global Vipassana Pagoda:
From Borivali Railway station:
From Borivali Station (Western Railway, Mumbai) please use the western exit gates of the station (for the train from Churchgate, the exit is on the left). One can take Bus number 294 or hire an auto rickshaw (tuk-tuk) to Gorai Creek. The bus fare is Rs. 6 and auto rickshaw fare is approx Rs. 25 (approx US $0.50) to Rs 35.
For the auto-rickshaw, please take one heading to your right, after crossing the road from the western exit of the railway station. The Gorai jetty is approximately 10-15 minutes-ride from Borivili station. Please take the ferry for Esselworld from Gorai Jetty. The return fare for the ferry is Rs. 35/- per person.
On arrival at Esselworld, you will see signs guiding to take you to Global Pagoda (which anyway is too big to be missed !).
The Dhamma Pattana Vipassana Centre is less than five minutes walking distance from the Esselworld Jetty gate.
Other Bus Numbers to Gorai: From Kurla railway station (West) - 309 L; From Mulund station (West) - 460 L;From Ghatkopar Bus Depot - 488 L (please re-confirm before boarding bus)
Wishing you a very happy and most beneficial visit to the Global Pagoda.
For any further details and assistance, please contact:
Global Vipassana Pagoda
Telephone: 91 22 33747501 (30 lines)
Email: pr@globalpagoda.org
Pagoda Address:
Global Vipassana Pagoda
Next to Esselworld, Gorai Village,
Borivali (West), Mumbai 400091
For sending any post/courier, please use this address:
Head Office Global Vipassana Foundation
2nd Floor, Green House, Green Street, Fort
Mumbai – 400 023
Telephone: +91 22 22665926 / 22664039
Fax: +91 22 22664607
Inside Global Vipassana Pagoda Campus
Next to Esselworld, Gorai Village,
Borivali (West), Mumbai 400091
Tel: [91] (22) 3374 7519
Fax: [91] (22) 3374 7518
Email: info@pattana.dhamma.org
* Vipassana meditation courses worldwide, course venues, online application for beginners' 10-day residential Vipassana courses
* One-day Vipassana courses at Global Pagoda (for those who have completed a 10-day Vipassana course)
Aug 10, 2011
Burma's Anti-corruption Crusader: Sayagyi U Ba Khin
U Ba Khin (1899 – 1971), a remarkable, revolutionary character in Asian history, realized how merely more laws and fresh threats of punishment would not end corruption. To bring about organizational and national change, he enabled the individual to change himself – instead of shrilly clamoring for other people to change their behavior.
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| Sayagyi U Ba Khin (1899-1971) |
U Ba Khin’s instrument of change was the ancient self-observation practice of Vipassana. And the results were so positive that prime minister U Nu, Burma’s last civilian leader, asked him to head four governmental departments at the same time.
On January 4, 1948, Burma's Independence Day, U Ba Khin became the first Burmese Accountant-General. This post was earlier held by the ruling British. He retired on March 26, 1953. The boy who was a brilliant student, but whose family could not afford to give him college education, later became the man who gave his country exemplary service - so much so that his governmental tenure was extended for over a decade in prominent positions.
As a bureaucrat, U Ba Khin became a living example of integrity and efficiency in challenging circumstances. His much respected, successful career proved that honest people need not compromise, or finish last.
U Ba Khin’s successes - such as transforming the corruption-ravaged Accountant General’s office and the State Agricultural Marketing Board - became outstanding practical lessons in human resource management.
Unlike India’s new Lokpal legislation to find more means to catch and punish corrupt officials, U Ba Khin’s method was to prevent officials from succumbing to temptations to crime. With insightful wisdom, he focused on a core source of corruption: pending files, and thereby bribes from the public to get their work done.
U Ba Khin fixed a time limit for files to be cleared. “If an official cannot decide within the stipulated time, let the file be brought to me,” he instructed. “I will take a decision. Not taking a decision and not bringing the file to the superior official indicates dishonest intention. It may result in dismissal from service.”
“U Ba Khin was aware that someone who takes bribes never changes for the better merely under threat of punishment,” said former Burma-born industrialist and principal Vipassana teacher Sayagyi S. N. Goenka who was U Ba Khin’s leading student. “He encouraged practice of Vipassana, and conducted Vipassana courses in a large hall in his office. The change was noticeable as employees stopped taking bribes, corruption reduced and was finally eliminated.”
The Global Vipassana Pagoda, Mumbai, India, is a Dhamma project that Sayagyi U Goenka started in 1997 to commemorate the birth centenary of Sayagyi U Ba Khin in 1999 U Ba Khin’s life inspired businessman and bureaucrats in Rangoon after World War 11 that it is possible for them to succeed without being corrupt.
One such wealthy industrialist was Satya Narayan Goenkaji, born in the royal Burmese city of Mandalay. He came from a Indian-origin business family from Rajasthan. Like U Ba Khin, the boy was a brilliant student (his headmaster gave double-promotion in school) with tremendous capacity for hard work. By age 30, S.N. Goenkaji was elected president of the Rangoon Chamber of Commerce and head of many social, educational and cultural organizations.
But Goenkaji’s life, and India’s destiny, was to change when he learnt Vipassana from U Ba Khin. In 1969, Vipassana returned to India through Goenkaji, 2,500 years after the practical quintessence of the Buddha's teaching was lost to the land of the Buddha.
Within a decade in Mumbai, Goenkaji renounced his wealth and life as a successful businessman to dedicate his life to sharing benefits of Vipassana – a Dhamma task, he said, he was doing on behalf of his teacher Sayagyi U Ba Khin.
U Ba Khin’s method of conducting 10-day Vipassana courses within governmental offices paved the way in later years for thousands of bureaucrats and business executives in India and worldwide to benefit from Vipassana courses. Wise organizations offered paid leave for their staff to take the residential 10-day Vipassana courses. Many leading businessmen in India and senior governmental officials are Vipassana practitioners.
U Ba Khin’s fervent wish to see Vipassana shared worldwide was fulfilled. Vipassana is being taught, free of cost, in over 120 countries in over 50 languages, by trained teachers and assistant teachers of Goenkaji.
Vipassana, meaning ‘to see the truth’ in the ancient Pali language, is developing the faculty to see the truth within. One experiences the inner truth of mind-matter, every changing, impermanent moment.
Inner change comes with the realization that the actual inducement for corruption is not wads of bank notes - (the apparent reality), but deeper, actual reality of the gratification of certain biochemical sensations flowing within the body.
A Vipassana practitioner realizes how only the superficial surface of the mind is in contact with worldly objects. Every thought in the mind arises with a changing biochemical sensation within. But the deepest part of the mind, where behavioral conditioning takes place, is in constant contact 24/7 with bodily sensations. This is why one rubs a mosquito bite even in deep sleep.
Vipassana involves constant vigilance of oneself, every moment. In an unguarded, heedless mind, this flow of impure craving can multiply, overpower oneself. Normal mental speed breakers like reason, restraint, fear of discovery, disgrace and punishment are all overwhelmed. Like an addict to drugs, the corrupt succumb to temptation, and then commit criminal actions.
Vipassana - the objective observation of impermanent bodily sensations - cleans the mind at the deepest level. When impurities in the mind are removed, suffering is removed.
A corrupt person is actually reacting to sensations - namely, a biochemical flow of subatomic particles within the body - set off by thoughts of greed. Tempting objects are only the apparent external reality. The inner craving for a particular type sensation is the actual story of suffering. Vipassana makes one aware of this internal process that goes on every moment. Freedom from corruption comes with not reacting to these sensations - whose nature is to arise and pass away.
The pure equanimity of non-reaction to sensations de-conditions the mind. This is a law of nature, just as a fire dies gradually dies when no more fuel is added. Deeply entrenched unwholesome behavior patterns of the mind gradually weaken and pass away.
Experiencing anicca, the Pali language word for impermanence, at the level of sensations, then becomes the most powerful force of inner change.
"Anicca is inside of everybody, within reach of everybody. Just a look into oneself and there it is - anicca to be experienced,” Sayagyi U Ba Khin said in a landmark lecture . “The experience of anicca, when properly developed, strikes at the root of one's physical and mental ills and removes gradually whatever is bad in him, i.e., the causes of such physical and mental ills… Anicca is, for the householder, the gem of life, which he will treasure to create a reservoir of calm and balanced energy for his own well-being and for the welfare of society."
One's real enemies are within - the corruption of impurities in the mind. The true well-being of the individual, and a nation, comes with removing these inner impurities, injuries in the mind.This cleaning, healing of the mind is achieved with practice of Vipassana.
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Vipassana meditation courses worldwide, course venues, online application for Vipassana courses
* Directions to reach Global Pagoda, Gorai / Borivili, Mumbai
* Benefits of Pure Volition of Dāna
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Aug 6, 2011
Kamma - the Real Inheritance
by Sayagyi U S.N Goenka
Kammassakā, bhikkhave, sattā kammadāyādā, kammayonī, kammabandhū, kammapaṭisaraṇā, yaṃ kammaṃ karonti—kalyānaṃ vā pāpakaṃ vā—tassa dāyādā bhavanti
A.N. 3.10.216 (Samsappaniyasuttam)
The law of Paṭicca Samuppāda (Dependent Origination) is the universal law of cause and effect: As the action is, so the result will be. Mental volition is the driving force for action at the vocal or physical level. If this driving force is unwholesome, the resultant vocal and physical actions will also be unwholesome. If the seeds are unwholesome, the fruits are bound to be unwholesome. But if this driving force is wholesome, the resultant actions are bound to be wholesome.
For a Vipassana meditator who develops the ability to observe this law at the level of direct experience, the answer to the question “Who am I?” becomes very clear. You are nothing but the sum total of your kamma, your saṅkhārā (mental conditionings). All your accumulated actions together equal “I” at the conventional level.
Kammadāyādā: Beings are the heirs of their deeds.
In the worldly, conventional sense, one says, “I received this inheritance from my mother or my father or my elders.” At the apparent level this is true—but what is one’s real inheritance? Kammadāyādā—one inherits one’s own kamma, the results, the fruits of one’s own kamma. Whatever you are now, the present reality of this mind-matter structure is nothing but the sum total of and the result of your own accumulated past kamma. The experience of the present moment is the sum total of all you have inherited—kammadāyādā.
Kammayonī: Beings are born of their deeds.
One says, “I am the product of a womb, I have come from the womb of my mother,” but this is only apparent truth. Actually, your birth is because of your own past kamma. You come from the womb of your own kamma. As you start understanding Dhamma at a deeper level, you realise this. This is kammayonī, which produces the fruit of the accumulated past kamma every moment.
Kammabandhū: Beings are the kin of their deeds.
None other is your relative—not your father, mother, brother, sister or friend. In the worldly way we say, “This is my brother, my relative or my near or dear one; they are so close to me.” Actually, no one is close to you; no one can accompany you or help you when the time comes. When you die, no one accompanies you other than your kamma. Whoever you call your relatives remain here but your kamma continues to follow you from one life to another. You are not in possession of anything but your own kamma. It is your only companion.
Kammapaṭisaraṇā: Their deeds are their refuge.
The only true refuge is in one’s own kamma. Wholesome kamma provides a refuge; unwholesome kamma produces more suffering. No other being can give you refuge. When you say “Buddhaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi—I take refuge in the Buddha,” you understand fully well that the person by the name of Gotama the Buddha cannot give you refuge. Your own kamma gives you refuge. Nobody can protect you, not even a Buddha. Refuge in Buddha is refuge in the quality of Buddha, in his enlightenment, in the teaching that he gave. By following the teaching, you can develop enlightenment within you. And the enlightenment that you develop within you, that is your wholesome kamma. This alone will give you refuge; this alone will give you protection.
Yaṃ kammaṃ karonti—kalyānaṃ vā pāpakaṃ vā—tassa dāyādā bhavanti: Whatever actions beings perform, whether wholesome or unwholesome, such will be their inheritance.
This law of nature should become very clear. Then you will become inspired to take responsibility for your own kamma.
Remain alert and on guard each moment, so that every action, physical or mental, is wholesome. You will not be perfect but keep trying. You may fall down but see how quickly you get up. With all the determination, with all the inspiration, with all the encouragement, get up and try again. This is how you become stable in Dhamma.
Bhavatu sabba maṅgalaṃ—May all beings be happy!
(original article from Vipassana Newsletter http://www.vridhamma.org/en2007-07
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* Vipassana meditation courses worldwide, course venues, online application for Vipassana courses
* Directions to reach Global Pagoda, Gorai / Borivili, Mumbai
* Benefits of Pure Volition of Dāna
Kammassakā, bhikkhave, sattā kammadāyādā, kammayonī, kammabandhū, kammapaṭisaraṇā, yaṃ kammaṃ karonti—kalyānaṃ vā pāpakaṃ vā—tassa dāyādā bhavanti
A.N. 3.10.216 (Samsappaniyasuttam)
Oh bhikkhus, beings are the owners of their deeds, the heirs of their deeds, born of their deeds, kin to their deeds; their deeds are their refuge. Whatever actions they perform, whether good or evil, such will be their inheritance.
Kammassakā: Beings are the owners of their deeds.The law of Paṭicca Samuppāda (Dependent Origination) is the universal law of cause and effect: As the action is, so the result will be. Mental volition is the driving force for action at the vocal or physical level. If this driving force is unwholesome, the resultant vocal and physical actions will also be unwholesome. If the seeds are unwholesome, the fruits are bound to be unwholesome. But if this driving force is wholesome, the resultant actions are bound to be wholesome.
For a Vipassana meditator who develops the ability to observe this law at the level of direct experience, the answer to the question “Who am I?” becomes very clear. You are nothing but the sum total of your kamma, your saṅkhārā (mental conditionings). All your accumulated actions together equal “I” at the conventional level.
Kammadāyādā: Beings are the heirs of their deeds.
In the worldly, conventional sense, one says, “I received this inheritance from my mother or my father or my elders.” At the apparent level this is true—but what is one’s real inheritance? Kammadāyādā—one inherits one’s own kamma, the results, the fruits of one’s own kamma. Whatever you are now, the present reality of this mind-matter structure is nothing but the sum total of and the result of your own accumulated past kamma. The experience of the present moment is the sum total of all you have inherited—kammadāyādā.
Kammayonī: Beings are born of their deeds.
One says, “I am the product of a womb, I have come from the womb of my mother,” but this is only apparent truth. Actually, your birth is because of your own past kamma. You come from the womb of your own kamma. As you start understanding Dhamma at a deeper level, you realise this. This is kammayonī, which produces the fruit of the accumulated past kamma every moment.
Kammabandhū: Beings are the kin of their deeds.
None other is your relative—not your father, mother, brother, sister or friend. In the worldly way we say, “This is my brother, my relative or my near or dear one; they are so close to me.” Actually, no one is close to you; no one can accompany you or help you when the time comes. When you die, no one accompanies you other than your kamma. Whoever you call your relatives remain here but your kamma continues to follow you from one life to another. You are not in possession of anything but your own kamma. It is your only companion.
Kammapaṭisaraṇā: Their deeds are their refuge.
The only true refuge is in one’s own kamma. Wholesome kamma provides a refuge; unwholesome kamma produces more suffering. No other being can give you refuge. When you say “Buddhaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi—I take refuge in the Buddha,” you understand fully well that the person by the name of Gotama the Buddha cannot give you refuge. Your own kamma gives you refuge. Nobody can protect you, not even a Buddha. Refuge in Buddha is refuge in the quality of Buddha, in his enlightenment, in the teaching that he gave. By following the teaching, you can develop enlightenment within you. And the enlightenment that you develop within you, that is your wholesome kamma. This alone will give you refuge; this alone will give you protection.
Yaṃ kammaṃ karonti—kalyānaṃ vā pāpakaṃ vā—tassa dāyādā bhavanti: Whatever actions beings perform, whether wholesome or unwholesome, such will be their inheritance.
This law of nature should become very clear. Then you will become inspired to take responsibility for your own kamma.
Remain alert and on guard each moment, so that every action, physical or mental, is wholesome. You will not be perfect but keep trying. You may fall down but see how quickly you get up. With all the determination, with all the inspiration, with all the encouragement, get up and try again. This is how you become stable in Dhamma.
Bhavatu sabba maṅgalaṃ—May all beings be happy!
(original article from Vipassana Newsletter http://www.vridhamma.org/en2007-07
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* Vipassana meditation courses worldwide, course venues, online application for Vipassana courses
* Directions to reach Global Pagoda, Gorai / Borivili, Mumbai
* Benefits of Pure Volition of Dāna
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