A chronicle of the 50th anniversary of Vipassana returning to India, and the world
Those early years from 1969 were crucial, and purity in the transmission of Dhamma ensured success.
Vipassana had taken root again in India, even before Vipassana centers were established after millennia.
The record of early courses (below) shows the diversity of venues: rest houses (dharamshalas), schools, colleges, temples, churches, mosques, monasteries, private bungalows, hotels, ashrams, prisons, a police academy.
In those early years, Sayagyi U Goenka conducted every Vipassana course. Assistant teachers were appointed in 1981. From 1969, for more than 200 Vipassana courses, no assistant teachers, no audio-video recordings. He was in the Dhamma Hall from 5.30 am for the morning meditation, then from 8.00 am group sitting onwards, 12.00-noon meetings with students, afternoon and night - sometimes past 10.00 pm answering questions. He gave instructions, checked students, gave the discourse (additional discourse in English since October 4, 1970) day after day, course after course. And he had to attend to problems during courses, at venues that never before hosted anything like a residential Vipassana course.
This chronicle is part of the 50th anniversary of Vipassana returning to India and then shared worldwide - a reminder of the debt of infinite gratitude that Vipassana meditators - now and generations to come - owe to Sayagyi U Goenka and his teacher Sayagyi U Ba Khin; gratitude to all who gave dana (voluntary donation), helped organize, served and meditated in courses of those early years. They ensured innumerable beings, in many world systems, benefiting directly or indirectly from Vipassana.
Statistical details of courses in the early years are from the Sayagyi U Ba Khin Journal, Vipassana Research Institute, VIA, Igatpuri, Maharashtra, India.
Course
No. Location Course Date Students Old New
1. Panchayatiwadi, Bombay 3-7-1969 - 13-7-1969 0 14
2. Agarwal Bhavan,Madras 24-7-69 - 3-8-69 1 14
3. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 14-8-69 - 24-8-69 7 11
4. Birla Dharamshala, Saranath 11-9-69 - 21-9-69 0 20
5. Birla Mandir, New Delhi 25-9-69 - 5-10-69 0 11
6. Tibdevala Dharamshala, Calcutta 9-10-69 -19-10-69 2 30
7. Primary School, Tadepalligudam, AP 23-10-69 -2-11-69 6 14
8. Maha Bodhi Society, Egmore, Madras 4-12-69 -14-12-69 7 8
9. Panchayatiwadi, Bombay 27-12-69 - 6-1-1970 7 12
10. Geeta Bhuvan Dharamshala, Delhi 15-1-70 - 25-1-70
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Photograph of Sayagyi U Goenka from his Burmese passport,
in his younger days as a globe-trotting millionaire-businessman
Years later, when he arrived in India in 1969 as Vipassana Teacher,
he introduced himself as "U S.N. Goenka" ("U" means "Mr" in Burmese).
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Course
No. Location Course Date Students Old New
1. Panchayatiwadi, Bombay 3-7-1969 - 13-7-1969 0 14
No. Location Course Date Students Old New
1. Panchayatiwadi, Bombay 3-7-1969 - 13-7-1969 0 14
Before the first Day Zero, July 3, 1969
Sayagyi U Goenka recalls days before the first Vipassana course in India (in Bombay) after 2,000 years:
"After coming to India, I faced difficulties, self-doubts. Where should a Vipassana course be held? Who would organize it? Who would sit the course?
Many of my family members had become followers of another path, Ananda Marg. They would not listen to anything about Vipassana. I could not expect their help.
I could neither expect help from family members from Myanmar who are Vipassana meditators. They were dispirited because they lost everything due to governmental changes in Myanmar.
...days passed, despondency increased. One evening I meditated in this frame of mind. The meditation was strong, with equanimity. I resolved: "If I am a worthy vehicle of Dhamma, with pāramis, the darkness will go. If not, I will accept my unworthiness and return to Myanmar."
As soon as I made this resolve, I felt strong mettā towards my brothers involved in Anand Marg: May they be happy. May they be successful. The darkness dissolved. Joy and enthusiasm arose.
After finishing this meditation sitting, I saw a young man waiting to meet me: Vijay Adukia, grandson of Mangalchand Adukia. Mangalchandji was the father-in-law of my younger brother and my associate in social service in Myanmar, where he had done a Vipassana course. Vijay said, "If you wish to conduct a ten-day course, I shall arrange a place. A portion of the Pancayatiwadi Dharmashala can be made available. I have spoken to the management. If you wish, please come and inspect it."
I happily went but found the course site unsuitable for meditation: the noise of the city around, and filthy. But to find a vacant place for ten days in a large city like Bombay was not easy. And so, expressing gratitude to the management of the dharmashala, I immediately gave my acceptance."
- from The First Vipassana Course in India, VRI newsletter, June 10, 1998
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Rampratap Yadav, one among the 14 participating students in the first Vipassana course in India after more than 2,000 years, remembers those historic 10 days in July, 1969:
(Yadavji served as personal secretary to Sayagyi U Goenka from the time he arrived in India, in June 1969, until Sayagyi's passing away, Sept 29, 2013)
"I got the rare opportunity to serve Goenkaji immediately upon his arrival in India in June 1969. The day after his arrival in Bombay (Mumbai), he came to the offices of his younger brother Shyamsunder, in Kalbadevi Road. I was summoned for correspondence work in Hindi - [the work that Yadavji was to do for the next 44 years serving The Principal Teacher].
Goenkaji had with him about 100 names and addresses. These people were to be informed that his Vipassana teacher, the revered Sayagyi U Ba Khin, had appointed him to teach Vipassana and that a 10-day retreat would be held in Bombay. All those who wanted to participate or wanted to organize such retreats should reply immediately.
The correspondence started. Apart from Bombay, requests came from Madras (now called Chennai), Sarnath, Calcutta (now Kolkata), Delhi, Tadepalligudam (Andhra Pradesh state), Madhoganj (in Uttar Pradesh), and Ajmer (in Rajasthan) among many others.
The first 10-day course was organized in a dharamshala (a public rest house) named Panchayat Wadi, in Bombay, from the 3rd-13th of July. The meditation hall was large and the number of participating students was 14.
There was no appropriate accommodation for Goenkaji. Female accommodation was on the first floor above the hall and although a room was available for him on the first floor, he would have to go through the female area. So he had the teacher's residence for the course created with a cloth partition at one end of the long meditation hall. The Dhamma seat was set up on the opposite side of the curtain, while he shared with students the common entrance to the meditation hall. He also had to share the few toilets with students.
The course was running smoothly. But on the fifth day, I and a few other students became ill. Goenkaji first wondered if food might be the cause. A doctor examined and treated us. I felt a bit better the next day. Later, Goenkaji asked me if I was practicing any other form of meditation. I confided I had indeed been practicing a different technique (Ananda Marg mantra) for half an hour, two times a day. “Oh,” he said, “no wonder you took ill along with the other students.” He explained, “You have been practicing a Beej Mantra (repetition of a word with strong vibration) based technique, but I teach a different path based on the laws of nature - and both cannot co-exist under the same roof. Either you have to stop practicing the mantra or else you will have to leave."
I told him that from now on I would only practice the Ananda Marg mantra at home but I could not possibly give it up. With much compassion, he began explaining to me the differences between the two techniques. He assured me that if I quit the mantra and practiced only pure Anapana / Vipassana, it would cause me no harm.
He smiled. 'In the future, so many courses are going to be organized, so better build a strong foundation straight away.' "
(R.P Yadav also sat the second Vipassana course in India, in Madras (Chennai), from August 24, 1969 - Sept 3, 1969. He was the only old student among 15 participating in the course, and became the first old student to take his second Vipassana course, in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin as taught by S.N.Goenka - the accurate teachings of Sammāsambuddhas).
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Course
No Location Course Date Students Old New
11. Buddha Temple, Madhoganj, U.P. 29-1-70 - 8-2-70 5 20
12. Yadav Dharamshala, Pushkar, Ajmer 19-2-70 -29-2-70 2 2
13. Sugarmill Bungalow, Barachakia 12-3-70 -22-3-70 8 40
14. Samanvaya Ashram, Bodh Gaya 9-4-70 -19-4-70 2 23
15. Shivner Building, Bombay 14-5-70 - 24-5-70 11 28
16. Private Bungalow, Baroda 4-6-70 - 14-6-70 8 13
17. Rama’s Temple, Sadra, Ahmedabad 23-7-70 - 2-8-70 0 28
18. Dalmia Building, Varanasi 13-8-70 - 23-8-70 8 11
19. Hindu Dharamshala, Barachakia 31-8-70 - 10-9-70 21 16
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Half-burnt offerings for the Teacher's lunch
R.P Yadav recalls how Sayagyi U Goenka faced difficulties in those early years:
"Goenkaji faced many difficulties during Vipassana courses in those early days, particularly those in rest houses (dharamshalas) and remote areas. But I never saw him frown. He would say, “Since we have come prepared for difficulties, nothing to complain; the students too are facing similar difficulties.”
One such course (course #17 from 23-7-1970 to 2-8-1970) was in a Ram Temple in a small village called Sādrā near Ahmedabad in Gujarat. The students volunteered to manage the course. This included cooking meals in an open fire outdoors. After checking (meditating with the teacher), students cooked lunch.
Goenkaji had instructed me beforehand that I should not ask the course organizers for anything. I was to accept whatever was given, and never to question it.
When I went to get his lunch on the first day, I brought back one cooked vegetable, lentil soup (dal), dry half-burnt rotis, half an onion for salad, and buttermilk. Before eating, Goenkaji asked me again, “You did not ask for anything, did you?” I assured him that I had not.
Later the students approached Goenkaji, lamenting, “Sir, we are so sorry. We know our food is not good, but this is all we have. This place is far away from the city, so please forgive us.”
Goenkaji laughed, “Oh, but the food was delicious! It had your metta in it. You should all focus on your practice, don’t worry about me, as I am very comfortable here.”
Today some people from that course are Vipassana Teachers and have served many others in Dhamma. One of the students who organized this course was Mr Kashyap Dharmadarshi, who years later began serving as a Vipassana acharya (teacher) conducting 10-day and long courses."
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Sayagyi U Ba Khin's letter to Sayagyi U Goenka, October 11, 1969
Sayagyi U Ba Khin's letter to Sayagyi U Goenka, October 11, 1969
(Text):
11th October 1969
My dear Goenka,
I came back to Centre from R.G.H. last month on 30-9-69 and am getting on well. You are doing a very great and unprecedented service to Buddha Sasana in India. You are under our cover always. As you represent me for this great work in India, it is my duty to see at all costs that you succeed in your endeavours to give True Buddha Dhamma to those who are in need of it. Your success means my success and I shall see to it that you get reinforcement of Nibbana Dhatu from us and all the great powers who guide us in this most noble work.
With sincerest and kindest regards,
Ba Khin
11/10/69
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Course
No Course date Students Old New
20. Shanti Kutir, Dalhousie 4-10-1970 -14-10-1970 0 11
Vipassana in English:
Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh, North India. October 4, 1970 - October 14, 1970.
With the first Vipassana course in India for English-speaking students, the liberating door of Vipassana had opened to large numbers of non-Hindi speaking students worldwide and in India.
Eleven students, all new, participated in the course held in a private bungalow. For the first time, Sayagyi U Goenka gave instructions and long discourses in English.
Sayagyi U Ba Khin had assured his hesitant student U S.N Goenka who knew very little English that he would have his (U Ba Khin's ) support for the English language course.
Those of us who served closely with Sayagyi U Goenka knew he was not very fluent in English, even decades later. Yet his instructions and discourses in English are fluent masterpieces of clear, accurate, inspiring exposition of Vipassana. Dhamma worked.
The eleven students and Dhamma worker from the first Vipassana course in English, October 1970, Dalhousie
(Rare photo courtesy, Dhamma Maṇḍa, Northern California Vipassana Center)
(Rare photo courtesy, Dhamma Maṇḍa, Northern California Vipassana Center)
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First Vipassana Course in English Language
by Sayagyi U Goenka
Sayagyi U Ba Khin, my revered teacher, believed that 2500 years after the Buddha, the second Buddha-sasana (cycle of teaching) will start again in the land of its origin, India, and from there spread throughout the world to benefit humankind.
Dhamma will again arise with the practice of Vipassana. For millennia, Vipassana was lost to India. But it was preserved in its pristine purity in Myanmar (Burma).
Close to the end of this 2500-year period, the historical Sixth Council was held from 1954 to 1956 in Yangon (Rangoon). It was during this time - from 1st to 11th September 1955 - that I got my Dhamma birth. I sat my first Vipassana course.
After benefiting me immeasurably for 14 years, Vipassana returned to India on 22 June 1969, with the blessings of my teacher, after over 2,000 years. Despite self-doubts about my ability, Dhamma started to take root in India.
I am merely a medium. Dhamma is doing its own work. "The clock of Vipassana has struck," Sayagyi often said. "At this time, many people with very good paramis have been born in India and in the other countries of the world. They will be attracted to Vipassana".
So it happened. Innumerable people from different countries, religions, beliefs started participating in courses. So too did leaders of various religions. All of them accepted this technique as their own; none of them felt that it was alien.
These initial Vipassana courses were taught only in Hindi since the majority of courses were held in North India. After a few months, a few westerners also started participating in these courses.
After giving the Dhamma talk in Hindi, I used to give them a five or ten-minute discourse summary and instructions. These students were very hard working and this brief guidance was enough for them to achieve surprisingly good results.
Gradually, words of praise of Vipassana spread among western travelers. A year later, a group of tourists staying at Dalhousie requested me to come there and conduct a course exclusively for them.
It was difficult for me. The entire course would have to be conducted in English. To talk a few English sentences of guidance and to clear their doubts would have been simple. But to give an hour-long discourse fluently in English, or to give long, inspirational instructions throughout the day, as I did in Hindi, was impossible for me.
In Rangoon, I used to read out a written speech whenever I had to give a talk in English as President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, or at any important public function. I neither had the experience nor the ability to give a talk in English without reading from a text.
And a talk on meditation, in which I have to give English equivalents of technical terms of Indian spiritual traditions, was even more difficult for me.
So I expressed my inability to conduct a course in English and advised them to keep joining courses conducted in Hindi in small numbers. They argued that whereas Hindi-speaking students benefited greatly from the inspiring discourses and instructions, foreign students were deprived of this benefit. Besides, they were convinced I knew enough English to conduct the course.
When I still refused, they contacted Sayagyi U Ba Khin and complained to him about me. "Sir, outside Burma, only one of your representatives is teaching this technique and he is not accepting our request", they told him. "Where can we go to learn this technique?"
Besides, in those days, one could not get a visa to Burma for more than three days. So they pleaded with Sayagyi that he should order me to conduct courses in English.
I was in Bombay, then. My revered teacher telephoned me and ordered that I should go to Dalhousie to conduct that course. He told me with loving firmness: "You must go. Whatever English you know will be enough. You will be successful. Dhamma will help. All my mettā is with you." After getting such a powerful reassurance I went to Dalhousie.
I had nothing against going to Dalhousie. In fact, I had reasons to look forward to the trip. This would be my first course in the lap of the Himalayas. Sayagyi used to say: "Who knows how long in how many lives we have meditated in the serene caves of the Himalayas." So after reaching Dalhousie, I felt very happy. Self-doubts reduced.
The course started. For the first two days, while on the Dhamma seat I felt suffocated. I was unable to speak for more than 15 minutes the first evening.
On the second evening, I struggled to speak for about 25 minutes. I felt suffocated again. Although I found no cause for it in the surface layers of my mind, I felt that maybe the inferiority complex of having trouble speaking English was creating obstacles at the deepest level.
But the actual cause turned out to be something else. This was a small course with eleven students. It was conducted in a little bungalow called Shanti Kutir. The group sittings and discourses were held in a small room. The student who had invited me for the course lived in the adjacent room.
On the third day, I felt strong, impure, anti-Dhamma vibrations flowing from that room and polluting the adjacent meditation room.
With the pure vibrations of the Himalayas on the one hand and the powerful mettā of my revered teacher, on the other hand, I could not understand what could cause these anti-Dhamma vibrations.
That afternoon, when I went to that room to check the student, I was startled to see a human skull on his table. Nearby was a blood-stained kukri [curved knife].
The student explained he was the disciple of some local tantric [member of a mystical cult]. Only three nights ago he had gone to the cremation ground and had made an animal sacrifice with this kukri as part of a tantric ritual. His guru had told him that his meditation would be very successful if he kept the skull and kukri close to him.
Now I understood the cause of the suffocating, negative vibrations pervading the meditation room. After much persuasion, he threw away the kukri and skull in a cavern faraway. And only then the anti-Dhamma force was eliminated from Shanti Kutir.
That afternoon, I meditated on the Dhamma seat for a long time. The time for the evening discourse approached. I saw that the entire atmosphere, washed by the purifying waves of the breeze from the Himalayas, had become even purer with the mettā-filled Dhamma vibrations from my revered teacher.
Just a few moments before the start of the discourse, Dhamma vibrations flooded my being through the top of the head. I began the discourse and I found I spoke English as fluently as I speak Hindi. I spoke for an entire hour.
After the five-minute break, I gave long instructions with the same fluency. I could see that all meditators - male and female - were absorbed in deep meditation. At 9:00 p. m. when the day ended, their faces were radiant. I was wonder-struck.
It was Sayagyi's mettā that gave me the Dhamma strength to turn what seemed impossible to possible. The first-ever Vipassana course in English became successful. What Dhamma wished happened.
After this, all courses were bilingual. Daily, I gave Hindi discourses in the morning and English discourses in the evening. Instructions too were bilingual.
More courses were conducted, more students participated. The number of foreign students increased. Courses in places like Bodhgaya, Kushinagar, Varanasi and Rajagir had almost only foreign students. Word spread to many Western countries. Groups of foreigners came to learn Vipassana. With courses often running full, many had to wait for the next course.
In a few years, thousands from about 80 countries came for Vipassana courses. Students came from neighbouring Sri Lanka and Thailand. The time had come for the prophecy and Dhamma wish of Sayagyi to come true.
Vipassana will spread throughout the world. Perhaps that is why it became possible to conduct courses in English. Without this, Vipassana would not have spread among the people of foreign countries.
I felt contented. The Vipassana flood gates had opened and the infinitely beneficial Ganges of Dhamma flowed also to students outside India, to the world.
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Teaching in the Burmese Vihara, Bodhgaya, in early 1970s.
Many Vipassana courses were held here, including the first 20-day and 30-day Vipassana course.
From the hippie trail to the Vipassana trail
(Text and photos courtesy Dhamma Maṇḍa, Northern California Vipassana Center)
Sayagyi U Goenka with hosts Balbir Singh Jutla and his wife Susan (who has since passed away), Dalhousie, India, 1970, the couple who owned 'Shanti Kutir', venue of the first Vipassana course in English.
Usually, a discussion followed and fellow travellers would write down the Bombay address to get information on course dates. Dates and locations of courses were exchanged from Kathmandu to Calcutta, from Bali to Tokyo. All over the East, travellers were sharing their experiences with others from his courses.
In those early days of the 1970s, there was a good chance Goenkaji might be in Bodhgaya. In 1971, Bodhgaya was just a small town....On the road from Gaya, the first building was the Burmese Buddhist Vihara. The Burmese government built it for pilgrims visiting Bodhgaya from Burma. With the change of government, Burmese were not permitted to travel abroad after 1962, and so there were very few pilgrims. This made the place available for holding Vipassana courses.
Vipassana meditators from western countries in Bodhgaya, in the early years.
Many on the "hippie trail" after walking the "Vipassana trail" progressed on the Dhamma path. Some of them years later served as assistant teachers.
A monk ran the Vihara. He was an older man and was affectionately called 'Buddha-Baba'. He was very welcoming to the Vipassana courses, happy that the Buddha’s teachings would be practiced right there where the Buddha attained his enlightenment. With this welcome, Goenkaji held many courses here over the years until Dhamma Giri became a reality.A student of Goenkaji’s from Nepal donated a pagoda to the Burmese Vihara that was built behind the main building. There was a room inside that served as Goenkaji’s accommodation and where he meditated.
Group sitting in the library, second floor, Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya, Dec 1969 /1970
"Courses were so crowded, students here are even sitting behind Goenkaji. During those early years, courses had limited facilities. Often four or five students were accommodated in a single room" - RP Yadav
During the first courses, the sittings were held inside the rooms on the second floor. Soon there was so much demand for Vipassana courses that a tent was erected on the roof to hold all the students....'
Course
No Location Course Date Students Old New
21. Ladakh Buddhist Vihara, Delhi 18-10-70 -28-10-70 11 9
22. Shivner Building, Bombay 5-11-70 -15-11-70 19 37
23. Samanvaya Vidyapith, Bagha (for children) 2-12-70 -12-12-70 1 37
24. Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya 13-12-70 -23-12-70 16 43
25. Samanvaya Ashram, Bodh Gaya 24-12-70 -3-1-1971 8 23
26. Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya 4-1-1971 -14-1-1971 56 41
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Course
No Location Course Date Students Old New
27. Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya 17-1-1971 to 27-1-1971 70 22
"A Light (of Dhamma) has gone out in Burma"
It was Day 2 of a 10-day Vipassana course that Sayaygi U Goenka was conducting in Bodh Gaya. Day 2 is considered as one of the most difficult days of a Vipassana course.
"On the third day of the course, Goenkaji received a telegram from Burma that Sayagyi had passed away.
At the 6.00 pm group sitting Goenkaji announced that “A light has gone out in Burma.” That being the passing of Sayagyi U Ba Khin. The next day at 2.30 pm there was a special group sitting. It was simultaneous with the cremation of Sayagyi in Burma. Goenkaji spoke during the sitting and described how the body was being placed on the fire and how the body was being consumed by the fire. A student who was there described this as a very powerful sitting that is still clear in his mind 47 years later.
When asked later how he knew the body was on the fire, Goenkaji said that he felt the fire within himself. He knew the body had been consumed when he felt the cool breeze of Metta.
No Location Course Date Students Old New
28. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 1-3-71 - 11-3-71 24 35
29. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 14-3-71 - 24-3-71 36 42
30. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 31-3-71 - 10-4-71 36 46
31. Narayanwadi, Bombay 11-4-1971 - 21-4-1971 38 28
32. Diksha Bhumi Vihara,Nagpur 25-4-71 - 5-5-71 3 34
33. Shreyas School, Ahmedabad 23-5-71 - 2-6-71 22 20
34. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 8-7-71 - 18-7-71 20 40
35. Samanvaya Ashram, Bodh Gaya 29-7-71 - 8-8-71 21 36
36. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 12-8-71 - 22-8-71 24 33
37. Bamanwada, Jain Temple, Sirohi 26-8-71 - 5-9-71 20 29
38. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 9-9-71 - 19-9-71 28 27
39. Burmese Buddhist Temple, Kushinagar 22-9-71 - 2-10-71 17 55
40. Grand View Hotel, Dalhousie 6-10-71 - 16-10-71 42 75
He traveled mostly in trains, 3-tier sleeper class, or even unreserved in third class. Unreserved compartments of long-distance trains had barely room to stand, leave alone sit or sleep. The 3-tier sleeper class in those days had wooden planks for (sleeping) berths. He carried with him a hold-all with his clothes, which at night he spread on the wooden berth as his bed. He would mostly read or meditate during those long train journeys across India - from bustling Bombay through the grey-brown Deccan Plateau, across the green Gangetic plains to the scorching summer heat of Rajasthan and cold winter of northern India, from dusty towns of Bihar to the snowy purity of the Himalayas.
"Goenkaji would be mostly immersed in Dhamma work during those train journeys," said R.P. Yadav who accompanied him as student-secretary. "But if a fellow passenger wanted to talk to him, and know more about Vipassana, he would willingly explain."
Fifty years later, many assistant teachers often travel by air or in air-conditioned train coaches when traveling to conduct courses - as The Principal Teacher Goenkaji recommended. Teachers usually have reasonably comfortable accommodation and facilities, with most courses conducted in established Vipassana centers - which is good for all, and since variable facilities available are only from voluntary donations from grateful students.
Not so in the early years, when funds were very limited and all Vipassana courses were in makeshift venues. At one venue, the course conducting Vipassana teacher Sayagyi U Goenka was taken to his accommodation: a 'room' with no roof, and three walls missing.
"The situation was horrible", he recalled later. "But if I had complained, they (course organizers) might have said, 'okay, you go home." So he said nothing and conducted the course. He set the living example for now and future generations, for those coming to participate in Vipassana courses (particularly Vipassana teachers) - whether to sit or serve - to humbly accept whatever facility is offered. We go to a Vipassana course like a monk or a nun.
Many of the course venues in those early years were held in remote locations with barely any facilities. With strong determination, pure strength of mind, and Dhamma volition, Sayagyi U Goenka faced all the difficulties. A weak-minded person could have easily given up and returned to his life as a successful businessman and physical comforts.
Course
No Location Course Date Students Old New
41. Mohatta House, Bikaner 22-10-71 - 2-11-71 41 43
42. Panchayatiwadi, Bombay 5-11-71 - 15-11-71 32 28
43. Panchayatiwadi, Bombay 2-12-71 - 12-12-71 28 79
44. Loya Temple,Alandi, Poona 23-12-71 - 2-1- 1972 59 90
45. Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya 19-1-72 - 29-1-72 74 116
46. Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya 30-1-72 9-2-72 118 43
47. Hindu Dharamshala, Barachakia 11-2-72 - 21-2-72 32 20
48. Buddhist Vihara, Pratapgarh 23-2-72 - 4-3-72 11 29
49. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 12-3-72 - 22-3-72 28 58
50. Mahatma Gandhi Ashram, Sevagram 27-3-72 - 6-4-72 13 25
The two old students for this course conducted by S.N. Goenka:
1) S.N. Goenka
2) R.P. Yadav
Yadavji on this extraordinary course:
In those days, Goenkaji traveled by train in the ordinary three-tiered coach, or what we know today as ‘sleeper class’. Both Goenkaji and I would travel together. During our journey to Ajmer, a sadhu (mendicant) sat across from us. He had no specific destination, and so was prepared to get off the train as and when he wanted. While discussing meditation techniques, he expressed interest in sitting a Vipassana course. Goenkaji mentioned to him that there was a course that began the very next day and that he could accompany us to Pushkar.
The course organizer greeted us when we arrived at the station, and together we set off for Pushkar, to the public guesthouse Yadav Dharamashala. There was not even a single toilet or shower stall on the premises. Just outside the building ran a dry canal. The organizer showed us a toilet enclosure that had been erected, made of straw and clay on the concrete ridge of this canal. It was only about four feet tall, just tall enough for privacy. We were also shown an area of the courtyard where a small corner had been enclosed to serve as a shower stall. As no one occupied the upper floors, this would provide sufficient privacy. The watchman drew water for our needs from a nearby well, and he was also our cook and cleaner. In order not to cause him more trouble, Goenkaji decided he would bathe at the plinth by the well, thereby saving the watchman from having to carry water across the yard.
At this point, it was clear that no student had arrived for this course. But Goenkaji said nothing about canceling the course and returning home. Only two people would sit this course in Pushkar - the sadhu we met on the train and our course organizer himself. But Goenkaji was not disheartened at all and instead suggested that both he (Goenkaji) and I also sit the course along with them! So the course doubled in size from two to four.
The postal service was slow, and phone facilities were non-existent in that little village [even while sitting a course, Yadavji often continued with secretarial work for the Teacher], resulting in our course being very quiet, very peaceful.
Goenkaji meditated with us as one of the course participants, but he also gave instructions and discourses in the same way he did at other ten-day retreats.
The course organizer, who had never attended a ten-day Vipassana course before, informed Goenkaji that he could only stay for seven days, as he needed to attend an important meeting in Sri Lanka. And he vanished after Day 7. From then, it was just the three of us on the course.
The watchman continued to serve us food – this was simply whatever he had also cooked for himself that day. Our course ended well. The sadhu was overcome with gratitude. He felt that the past twelve years of his austere life in the Himalayas had been futile and that only now could he rightly claim to be an ascetic.
No Location Course Date Students Old New
51. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 13-4-1972 - 23-4-1972 34 41
52. Hindi Vidya Bhavan Hostel, Bombay 28-4-72 - 8-5-72 55 60
53. City Hotel, Poona 20-5-72 - 30-5-72 26 46
54. Jain Boarding, Ahmedabad 3-6-72 - 13-6-72 22 66
55. Green View Hotel, Nasik 2-7-72 - 12-7-72 47 97
OSC-1 Green View Hotel, Nasik 13-7-72 - 17-7-72 36 —
56. Hindu Dharamshala, Jalna 3-8-72 - 13-8-72 23 121
57. Prince Hotel, Raxaul 2-9-72 -12-9-72 18 44
58. Grand View Hotel, Dalhousie 29-9-72 - 9-10-72 50 55
59. Grand View Hotel, Dalhousie 10-10-72 -20-10-72 92 45
60. Grand View Hotel, Dalhousie 21-10-72 -31-10-72 108 36
61. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 9-11-1972 - 19-11-1972 27 43
62. Burmese Vihara, Varanasi 1-12-72 - 11-12-72 80 103
Course
(based on text, courtesy Dhamma Maṇḍa, Northern California Vipassana Center)
After Goenkaji moved to India in 1969 he was no longer able to do courses with U Ba Khin his teacher. He could not go back to Burma at that time. He needed to keep doing annual courses just as he advised his students to do. To replace this loss he began doing an annual self-course each year. He did it the same way he recommends in the ten-day discourses: practicing Anapana meditation one-third of the time, two-thirds of the time doing Vipassana, concluding with practicing Metta Bhavana.
In the early days, Goenkaji liked to do his self course at the Burmese Vihara in Bodhgaya. As Bodhgaya is the place where the Buddha attained enlightenment it is a very powerful place to meditate for those on the path of Dhamma. A small pagoda had been built onto the Vihara building on the second floor by one of his students and he would sit and live there during his course and he would take his daily walk on the roof. He would never leave the building during the 10 days.
He invited old students to join him in the self-course. They meditated separately; they sat downstairs. He did this every year at the Burmese Vihara until the construction of Dhamma Giri was completed and he moved his annual self course there for many years. Then it became much more formalized and students would sign up for the course and register as we do today. Things changed and old students would fly in from their home countries to join him. Every year many old students gathered at Dhamma Giri for the winter months sitting and serving courses. This was also the time when Goenkaji presided over the annual meeting for assistant teachers and Dhamma workers worldwide.
The Teacher's Self Course (TSC) was a very special time for Goenkaji because this was when he rejuvenated his practice and worked to make his practice deeper just as all of us students do. Anyone who experiences this annual boost knows what a great asset it is to our practice and our daily lives.
To honour Sayagyi U Ba Khin, the first Teacher's Self Course was set to end on January 19th, the day that Sayagyi U Ba Khin passed away.
The most special part of this annual self course was on the last night. Goenkaji and the students gathered in the darkness at night, after Bodhgaya had gone to sleep. They walked in a group through the streets of Bodhgaya to the Bodhi Temple in silence and with an awareness of sensations. Not only was the town quiet and calm, but there was also no one about. In a window here or there, a candle might be burning or there might be a few fireflies. Everything was still except for the sounds of a dog barking from time to time as they passed.
It had been arranged with the Temple manager that the gates would be open and everyone would sit together in three places. The first sitting was held in the upstairs temple shrine room, then the downstairs shrine room, and finally everyone would go outside and sit under the Bodhi tree just as the Buddha had 2,500 years before. To those that got to experience this, it is something they will always remember.
This tradition of an annual self-course continued throughout Goenkaji’s life. Even today, each year around the world, there are Teacher self courses held that old students may join.
"On the third day of the course, Goenkaji received a telegram from Burma that Sayagyi had passed away.
At the 6.00 pm group sitting Goenkaji announced that “A light has gone out in Burma.” That being the passing of Sayagyi U Ba Khin. The next day at 2.30 pm there was a special group sitting. It was simultaneous with the cremation of Sayagyi in Burma. Goenkaji spoke during the sitting and described how the body was being placed on the fire and how the body was being consumed by the fire. A student who was there described this as a very powerful sitting that is still clear in his mind 47 years later.
When asked later how he knew the body was on the fire, Goenkaji said that he felt the fire within himself. He knew the body had been consumed when he felt the cool breeze of Metta.
(courtesy Dhamma Maṇḍa, Northern California Vipassana Center)
----------
CourseNo Location Course Date Students Old New
28. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 1-3-71 - 11-3-71 24 35
29. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 14-3-71 - 24-3-71 36 42
30. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 31-3-71 - 10-4-71 36 46
31. Narayanwadi, Bombay 11-4-1971 - 21-4-1971 38 28
32. Diksha Bhumi Vihara,Nagpur 25-4-71 - 5-5-71 3 34
33. Shreyas School, Ahmedabad 23-5-71 - 2-6-71 22 20
34. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 8-7-71 - 18-7-71 20 40
35. Samanvaya Ashram, Bodh Gaya 29-7-71 - 8-8-71 21 36
36. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 12-8-71 - 22-8-71 24 33
37. Bamanwada, Jain Temple, Sirohi 26-8-71 - 5-9-71 20 29
38. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 9-9-71 - 19-9-71 28 27
39. Burmese Buddhist Temple, Kushinagar 22-9-71 - 2-10-71 17 55
40. Grand View Hotel, Dalhousie 6-10-71 - 16-10-71 42 75
Grand View Hotel, Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh, Northern India.
The venue of many Vipassana courses in the early years, some with more than 100 students.
The Oct 1 -11,1973 course had a record 243 students (85 old, 158 new)
For the Good of Many
From village to town and town to city, from one Vipassana course venue to another venue, this former millionaire from Myanmar traveled across India sharing the light of Dhamma. He served with humility, often undergoing discomfort.
He traveled mostly in trains, 3-tier sleeper class, or even unreserved in third class. Unreserved compartments of long-distance trains had barely room to stand, leave alone sit or sleep. The 3-tier sleeper class in those days had wooden planks for (sleeping) berths. He carried with him a hold-all with his clothes, which at night he spread on the wooden berth as his bed. He would mostly read or meditate during those long train journeys across India - from bustling Bombay through the grey-brown Deccan Plateau, across the green Gangetic plains to the scorching summer heat of Rajasthan and cold winter of northern India, from dusty towns of Bihar to the snowy purity of the Himalayas.
"Goenkaji would be mostly immersed in Dhamma work during those train journeys," said R.P. Yadav who accompanied him as student-secretary. "But if a fellow passenger wanted to talk to him, and know more about Vipassana, he would willingly explain."
Fifty years later, many assistant teachers often travel by air or in air-conditioned train coaches when traveling to conduct courses - as The Principal Teacher Goenkaji recommended. Teachers usually have reasonably comfortable accommodation and facilities, with most courses conducted in established Vipassana centers - which is good for all, and since variable facilities available are only from voluntary donations from grateful students.
Not so in the early years, when funds were very limited and all Vipassana courses were in makeshift venues. At one venue, the course conducting Vipassana teacher Sayagyi U Goenka was taken to his accommodation: a 'room' with no roof, and three walls missing.
"The situation was horrible", he recalled later. "But if I had complained, they (course organizers) might have said, 'okay, you go home." So he said nothing and conducted the course. He set the living example for now and future generations, for those coming to participate in Vipassana courses (particularly Vipassana teachers) - whether to sit or serve - to humbly accept whatever facility is offered. We go to a Vipassana course like a monk or a nun.
Many of the course venues in those early years were held in remote locations with barely any facilities. With strong determination, pure strength of mind, and Dhamma volition, Sayagyi U Goenka faced all the difficulties. A weak-minded person could have easily given up and returned to his life as a successful businessman and physical comforts.
At another such remote venue was Vipassana course # 37, at Bamanwada, Jain Temple, Sirohi, Rajasthan, from 26 Aug - Sept 5, 1971. It had among its 49 participants the old lady mentioned in the 10-day discourse: the old lady who wailed loudly after a monkey had bolted away with her valuables - a sweet, a silver locket, and Rs 20.
-------
No Location Course Date Students Old New
41. Mohatta House, Bikaner 22-10-71 - 2-11-71 41 43
42. Panchayatiwadi, Bombay 5-11-71 - 15-11-71 32 28
43. Panchayatiwadi, Bombay 2-12-71 - 12-12-71 28 79
44. Loya Temple,Alandi, Poona 23-12-71 - 2-1- 1972 59 90
45. Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya 19-1-72 - 29-1-72 74 116
46. Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya 30-1-72 9-2-72 118 43
47. Hindu Dharamshala, Barachakia 11-2-72 - 21-2-72 32 20
48. Buddhist Vihara, Pratapgarh 23-2-72 - 4-3-72 11 29
49. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 12-3-72 - 22-3-72 28 58
50. Mahatma Gandhi Ashram, Sevagram 27-3-72 - 6-4-72 13 25
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The course where Goenkaji became teacher and student
Some Vipassana courses in those early years had over 100 students, some barely 10. Course #12 in Pushkar, Rajasthan, had a grand total of four students (2 old, 2 new). No student had actually arrived specifically for this course. Yet Sayagyi U Goenka conducted the 10-day course. He did not cancel it and return home - a crucial point to note for Vipassana course organizers who hastily cancel a course. Not a single course was canceled in those early years because there were too few students.
Again, right in the mix was our friendly Mr. Rampratap Yadav - he was one of the 4 students in this course at a place called Yadav Dharamshala....
Again, right in the mix was our friendly Mr. Rampratap Yadav - he was one of the 4 students in this course at a place called Yadav Dharamshala....
The two old students for this course conducted by S.N. Goenka:
1) S.N. Goenka
2) R.P. Yadav
Yadavji on this extraordinary course:
In those days, Goenkaji traveled by train in the ordinary three-tiered coach, or what we know today as ‘sleeper class’. Both Goenkaji and I would travel together. During our journey to Ajmer, a sadhu (mendicant) sat across from us. He had no specific destination, and so was prepared to get off the train as and when he wanted. While discussing meditation techniques, he expressed interest in sitting a Vipassana course. Goenkaji mentioned to him that there was a course that began the very next day and that he could accompany us to Pushkar.
The course organizer greeted us when we arrived at the station, and together we set off for Pushkar, to the public guesthouse Yadav Dharamashala. There was not even a single toilet or shower stall on the premises. Just outside the building ran a dry canal. The organizer showed us a toilet enclosure that had been erected, made of straw and clay on the concrete ridge of this canal. It was only about four feet tall, just tall enough for privacy. We were also shown an area of the courtyard where a small corner had been enclosed to serve as a shower stall. As no one occupied the upper floors, this would provide sufficient privacy. The watchman drew water for our needs from a nearby well, and he was also our cook and cleaner. In order not to cause him more trouble, Goenkaji decided he would bathe at the plinth by the well, thereby saving the watchman from having to carry water across the yard.
At this point, it was clear that no student had arrived for this course. But Goenkaji said nothing about canceling the course and returning home. Only two people would sit this course in Pushkar - the sadhu we met on the train and our course organizer himself. But Goenkaji was not disheartened at all and instead suggested that both he (Goenkaji) and I also sit the course along with them! So the course doubled in size from two to four.
The postal service was slow, and phone facilities were non-existent in that little village [even while sitting a course, Yadavji often continued with secretarial work for the Teacher], resulting in our course being very quiet, very peaceful.
Goenkaji meditated with us as one of the course participants, but he also gave instructions and discourses in the same way he did at other ten-day retreats.
The course organizer, who had never attended a ten-day Vipassana course before, informed Goenkaji that he could only stay for seven days, as he needed to attend an important meeting in Sri Lanka. And he vanished after Day 7. From then, it was just the three of us on the course.
The watchman continued to serve us food – this was simply whatever he had also cooked for himself that day. Our course ended well. The sadhu was overcome with gratitude. He felt that the past twelve years of his austere life in the Himalayas had been futile and that only now could he rightly claim to be an ascetic.
-----
CourseNo Location Course Date Students Old New
51. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 13-4-1972 - 23-4-1972 34 41
52. Hindi Vidya Bhavan Hostel, Bombay 28-4-72 - 8-5-72 55 60
53. City Hotel, Poona 20-5-72 - 30-5-72 26 46
54. Jain Boarding, Ahmedabad 3-6-72 - 13-6-72 22 66
55. Green View Hotel, Nasik 2-7-72 - 12-7-72 47 97
OSC-1 Green View Hotel, Nasik 13-7-72 - 17-7-72 36 —
56. Hindu Dharamshala, Jalna 3-8-72 - 13-8-72 23 121
57. Prince Hotel, Raxaul 2-9-72 -12-9-72 18 44
58. Grand View Hotel, Dalhousie 29-9-72 - 9-10-72 50 55
59. Grand View Hotel, Dalhousie 10-10-72 -20-10-72 92 45
60. Grand View Hotel, Dalhousie 21-10-72 -31-10-72 108 36
61. Nemaniwadi, Bombay 9-11-1972 - 19-11-1972 27 43
62. Burmese Vihara, Varanasi 1-12-72 - 11-12-72 80 103
---------
No Location Course Date Students Old New
OLC-1 Burmese Vihara (20-day) 1-12-72 - 21-12-72 12 —
OLC-2 Burmese Vihara (30-day) 1-12-72 - 1-1-1973 9 —
The annual Teacher's Self-Course
The first long course - 20-day and 30-day Vipassana course - was held at the Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya, from December 1, 1972, to January 1, 1973. Twelve old students sat for 20-days, and nine for 30-days.
The first Teacher's Self-Course (TSC) was also at the Burmese Vihara in Bodh Gaya from 3rd December to 17th December 1973, a 15-day course. During TSC the Principal Teacher Sayagyi U Goenka became a student and listened to recorded discourses of his teacher Sayagyi U Ba Khin.
In the following years, the TSC duration varied from 10-days, 20-days, 30-days to a 45-day course.
Fifty years later, the TSC has returned to its original format of 15-days.
In the next fifty years, the TSC will return yet again to being 30-days and will be held annually in December in Dhamma Giri - the duration, location, and the time of most of the annual TSCs when Sayagyi U Goenka and Mataji meditated in Dhamma Hall-1 of Dhamma Giri. The effect can be felt even today in Dhamma Hall-1.
The first Teacher's Self-Course (TSC) was also at the Burmese Vihara in Bodh Gaya from 3rd December to 17th December 1973, a 15-day course. During TSC the Principal Teacher Sayagyi U Goenka became a student and listened to recorded discourses of his teacher Sayagyi U Ba Khin.
In the following years, the TSC duration varied from 10-days, 20-days, 30-days to a 45-day course.
Fifty years later, the TSC has returned to its original format of 15-days.
In the next fifty years, the TSC will return yet again to being 30-days and will be held annually in December in Dhamma Giri - the duration, location, and the time of most of the annual TSCs when Sayagyi U Goenka and Mataji meditated in Dhamma Hall-1 of Dhamma Giri. The effect can be felt even today in Dhamma Hall-1.
The TSC in Dhamma Giri was a special, unique experience - an unforgettable highlight of life. It was a rare chance to serve Sayagyi U Goenka and Mataji when they were meditating - a rare chance to repay a little of the infinite gratitude for receiving Vipassana in purity. Even the respectful town people of Igatpuri served in the TSC by deciding not to play their loudspeakers during Goenkaji's self-course.
Sayagyi U Goenka personally went through the list of those sitting and serving the TSC to give his final permission. Those whom he did not permit to serve the TSC were asked to sit the course. Preparations for the TSC took a few days and meditators began arriving from all over the world. Many were teachers and long stay Dhamma workers. It was an annual joyous Dhamma family reunion in Dhamma Giri.
During the 30-day Teacher's Self Course in Dhamma Giri, Goenkaji personally gave students the brief Anapana instructions on Zero Day evening in Dhamma Hall-1. Then he too started meditating in silence with the students. Students included many senior teachers who served closely with Goenkaji. At the end of this meditation session at 9.00 pm, all students carried their meditation cushions to Dhamma Hall-2 - the Dhamma Hall where they meditated for the 6.00-7.00 pm group sitting, Hindi/English discourse (and in their Pagoda cell) until Metta Day on Day 30.
Dhamma Hall-1 was closed from Zero Day night to Day 30 morning, as was the upper Pagoda (from the marble staircase). Sayagyi U Goenka and Mataji were the only two human beings who meditated here. After the Anapana evening, TSC students next saw Goenkaji and Mataji on Metta Day morning of Day 30.
During the TSC, Sayagyi U Goenka meditated to his teacher Sayagyi U Ba Khin's recorded instructions and discourses in Burmese. All students meditated to Sayagyi U Ba Khin's Tikapattana chanting every morning in the pre-6.30 a.m sitting.
Dhamma Giri was closed to visitors during the TSC. The meditation campus (from the small gate near the dining halls) was also closed to the other non-course residents in Dhamma Giri. A makeshift dining facility was arranged outside the meditation campus. Only TSC students and Dhamma workers resided within the meditation campus to which no one else was permitted to enter.
A well-trained cook (in later years Deepal Maharaj or Bimal Singh) came from the Dhamma Giri kitchen to prepare Sayagyi U Goenka and Mataji's meals in the small kitchen of the Principal Teachers' residence.
Principal Teachers (Sayagyi U Goenka, Mataji) residential premises, Metta Hall, etc. Dhamma Giri, Vipassana International Academy, Igatpuri, India
The hard-working VIA kitchen staff of about 25 workers wake up at 3.30 am every day to prepare meals for more than 1,200 people daily during regular courses. From the central Dhamma Giri kitchen, they efficiently transport and serve food simultaneously in seven dining halls (male, female dining halls of Dhamma Giri, Assistant Teachers' Dining Room, Dhamma Tapovana-1, Dhamma Tapovana-2) and nine serving counters. During TSC they put in extra effort to prepare special food and treats.
Either R.P Yadav or Narayan Dasarwar (the two personal secretaries who took turns serving the Principal Teacher with dedication throughout the year, residing with him and away from their own families) served in the Teachers Residence during TSC. Shanta Bai did the washing and laundry. A TSC Dhamma worker watered the garden in the Teacher's Residence and other Dhamma workers attended to plants in the male and female areas. The VIA gardening staff did not enter the meditation campus during TSC.
Sayagyi and Mataji could not be seen during the course. They took their daily walking exercise in the terrace of the Dhamma Giri pagoda. They meditated in the Upper Pagoda central cell, in Dhamma Hall-1, and in the Teacher's residence.
On Metta Day morning of Day 30, students returned to Dhamma Hall-1 for the Noble Silence-ending Metta session. Sayagyi and Mataji were busy the rest of the happy day meeting students in the Metta Hall of the Teacher's Residence.
The TSC ended the next morning with the course-concluding Metta in the Pagoda terrace. On a usually chilly winter morning, students climbed the marble staircase to the open terrace of the Pagoda and meditated under the pre-dawn sky from 4.30 am. Sayagyi and Mataji meditated for some time in the central Principal Teacher's cell of the Pagoda and then Sayagyi conducted the Metta session - Metta for all beings.
Dhamma Giri Pagoda terrace (on the upper right) where the concluding Metta session of the Teacher's Self-Course was held in the early morning light of Day 31, under the open sky.
As Sayagyi U Goenka began meditating into his self course, the entire atmosphere within Dhamma Giri (already strong) became stronger, increasing in indescribable serenity, silence, and deep peace. After the sun had set and the 6.00 pm group sitting was in progress, a Dhamma worker on duty in the Shanti Pathar (Peace Plateau), adjacent to Dhamma Hall-1, wondered in the incredibly tranquil evening light: "can the deva lokas (the celestial planes) be better than this?"
The one-month TSC in December should be returned to Dhamma Giri - with the same arrangements made as during the lifetime of Sayagyi U Goenka. This will benefit future generations of senior meditators worldwide, particularly assistant teachers. They will benefit from meditating in a 30-day course at the Vipassana center where Sayagyi U Goenka conducted and meditated in the most number of Vipassana courses. Importantly, 10-day course new students in Dhamma Giri will benefit the rest of the year from the strengthened Dhamma atmosphere.
-------
The early Teacher's Self-Courses (TSC)
TSC-1 Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya 3-1-73 - 17-1-73
After Goenkaji moved to India in 1969 he was no longer able to do courses with U Ba Khin his teacher. He could not go back to Burma at that time. He needed to keep doing annual courses just as he advised his students to do. To replace this loss he began doing an annual self-course each year. He did it the same way he recommends in the ten-day discourses: practicing Anapana meditation one-third of the time, two-thirds of the time doing Vipassana, concluding with practicing Metta Bhavana.
In the early days, Goenkaji liked to do his self course at the Burmese Vihara in Bodhgaya. As Bodhgaya is the place where the Buddha attained enlightenment it is a very powerful place to meditate for those on the path of Dhamma. A small pagoda had been built onto the Vihara building on the second floor by one of his students and he would sit and live there during his course and he would take his daily walk on the roof. He would never leave the building during the 10 days.
He invited old students to join him in the self-course. They meditated separately; they sat downstairs. He did this every year at the Burmese Vihara until the construction of Dhamma Giri was completed and he moved his annual self course there for many years. Then it became much more formalized and students would sign up for the course and register as we do today. Things changed and old students would fly in from their home countries to join him. Every year many old students gathered at Dhamma Giri for the winter months sitting and serving courses. This was also the time when Goenkaji presided over the annual meeting for assistant teachers and Dhamma workers worldwide.
The Teacher's Self Course (TSC) was a very special time for Goenkaji because this was when he rejuvenated his practice and worked to make his practice deeper just as all of us students do. Anyone who experiences this annual boost knows what a great asset it is to our practice and our daily lives.
To honour Sayagyi U Ba Khin, the first Teacher's Self Course was set to end on January 19th, the day that Sayagyi U Ba Khin passed away.
The most special part of this annual self course was on the last night. Goenkaji and the students gathered in the darkness at night, after Bodhgaya had gone to sleep. They walked in a group through the streets of Bodhgaya to the Bodhi Temple in silence and with an awareness of sensations. Not only was the town quiet and calm, but there was also no one about. In a window here or there, a candle might be burning or there might be a few fireflies. Everything was still except for the sounds of a dog barking from time to time as they passed.
It had been arranged with the Temple manager that the gates would be open and everyone would sit together in three places. The first sitting was held in the upstairs temple shrine room, then the downstairs shrine room, and finally everyone would go outside and sit under the Bodhi tree just as the Buddha had 2,500 years before. To those that got to experience this, it is something they will always remember.
This tradition of an annual self-course continued throughout Goenkaji’s life. Even today, each year around the world, there are Teacher self courses held that old students may join.
from The Golden Nuggets
--------
No Location Course Date Students Old New
63. Burmese Vihara, Varanasi 11-12-1972 -21-12-1972 110 61
64. Burmese Vihara, Varanasi 22-12-72 - 1-1-1973 87 40
TSC-1 Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya 3-1-73 - 17-1-73 * —
65. Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya 20-1-73 - 30-1-73 83 117
66. Sundari Bhavani Temple, Morvi 13-2-73 - 23-2-73 16 42
67. Panchayatiwadi, Bombay 1-3-73 - 11-3-73 84 112
OLC-3 Panchayatiwadi, Bombay (20-day) 1-3-73 - 21-3-73 5 —
OLC-4 Panchayatiwadi, Bombay (30-day) 1-3-73 - 31-3-73 7 —
68. Panchayatiwadi, Bombay 11-3-73 - 21-3-73 108 27
69. Panchayatiwadi, Bombay 21-3-73 - 31-3-73 120 15
70. Shri Rama Kalyan Mandapam, Madras 12-4-73 - 22-4-73 45 85
------------
In pic: Narayan Dasarwar (left), long-term personal assistant to the Principal Teacher, meditates at the site of Dhamma Giri with Graham Gambie, later among the first assistant teachers appointed. Graham Gambie passed away in 1986 at age of 49.
December 1973 - While driving back to Mumbai from a course near Nasik, Sayagyi U Goenka visited the site of the future Dhamma Giri and approved it
"We were not looking for this land", he said, "this land was looking for us".
Soon, the Vipassana trust in Mumbai began the process of buying the site.
---------
CourseNo Location Course Date Students Old New
71. Seva Kendra, Baroda 28-4-1973 - 18-5-1973 28 57
72. Nisargopachar Ashram, Urlikanchan 20-5-73 -30-5-73 8 36
73. Maheshwari School Hostel, Poona 30-5-73 - 9-6-73 39 49
74. I.I.T., Bombay 1-7-73 - 11-7-73 51 64
75. Kusum Industries, Hyderabad 13-7-73 - 23-7-73 15 59
76. Grand View Hotel, Dalhousie 1-8-73 - 11-8-73 85 158
77. L.J. Sanatorium, Darjeeling 16-8-73 - 26-8-73 28 12
78. L.J. Sanatorium, Darjeeling 26-8-73 - 5-9-73 32 58
79. Navnalanda Mahavihara, Nalanda 20-9-73 - 30-9-73 7 25
80. Shri Rama Kalyan Mandapam, Madras 13-10-73 - 23-10-73 67 73
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai, one of the renowned IIT institutions across India, became a venue for Vipassana courses since 1973.
_______
Location Course Date Old New_______
OLC-5 Rama Kalyan Mandapam, Madras (25-day) 13-10-73 7-11-73 38 —
81. Shri Rama Kalyan Mandapam, Madras 28-10-73 - 7-11-73 35 17
82. Jain Mandir, Bhadreshwar (Bhuj) 21-11-73 - 31-11-73 28 86
83. Bhatia Sanatorium, Devlali 6-12-73 - 16-12-73 25 63
84. Burmese Vihara, Varanasi 22-12-73 - 1-1-1974 33 62
85. Burmese Vihara, Rajgiri 3-1-74 - 13-1-74 65 62
TSC-2 Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya 14-1-74 - 25-1-74 * —
86. Balvidya Ranjitpura, Pratapgarh 25-1-74 - 4-2-74 59 100
87. Saint Mary’s Church, Khandala 3-3-74 - 13-3-74 26 96
88. Jain Adhyatma Sadhna Kendra, N.Delhi 28-4-74 - 8-5-74 1 54
89. K.J. Somaiya College, Bombay 11-5-74 - 21-5-74 65 90
90. K.J. Somaiya College, Bombay 21-5-74 - 31-5-74 69 89
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The Ganges of Dhamma flows again
A 10-day Vipassana course (#83) ended at Devlali, a town near Igatpuri, on December 16, 1973. Five days later, he conducted the next 10-day course in the ancient city of Varanasi 1,444 km away - from Dec 22, 1973, to January 1, 1974. Barely 48 hours later, he conducted another 10-day course in Rajgiri 316 km away (Jan 3 -13, 1974).
The next day, he was at the Burmese Vihara in Bodh Gaya 70 km away to sit a 10-day self-course, the second-ever Teacher's Self Course. His annual self-course ended the morning of January 25, 1974. The same day he began conducting a 10-day course in Pratapgarh 350 km away, with 159 students participating - and remember, he had to personally give instructions and discourses, day after day, and daily check new and old students - all by himself.
The schedule was difficult, but Dhamma forces helped. Before traveling to a course in Bodh Gaya in 1973, Sayagyi U Goenka's luggage with clothing was with his secretary R.P Yadav who was arriving on another train. They were to meet at Mughal Sarai station and together take the train to Bodh Gaya. Yadavji's train was delayed and the Bodh Gaya train was ready to leave. But the station master at Mughal Sarai delayed the departure of the Bodh Gaya train until Yadavji's train arrived with the Principal Teacher's necessities.
Note the date of courses ending and starting, below (marked in bold):
No Location Course Date Students Old New
91. Kacchi Bhavan Dharamshala, Hyderabad 13-7-1974 - 23-7-1974 27 53
92. Grand View Hotel, Dalhousie 1-8-74 - 11-8-74 55 120
93. Grand View Hotel, Dalhousie 11-8-74 - 21-8-74 110 44
94. Tibetan Library, Dharamshala 22-8-74 - 1-9-74 10 73
95. Mahatma Gandhi Ashram, Sabarmati 9-9-74 - 19-9-74 25 39
96. Dadawadi Jain Temple, Ajmer 20-9-74 - 30-9-74 26 46
97. Jain A. Sadhana Kendra, New Delhi 1-10-74 - 11-10-74 52 55
98. Udyan Karyalaya, Poona 13-10-74 - 23-10-74 42 44
99. Hindi Vidyabhavan Hostel, Bombay 28-10-74 - 7-11-74 65 76
100. Shri Rama Krishna Dharamshala, Indore 20-11-74 - 30-11-74 25 27
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"The entire mind should be full of only one volition: the liberation of all beings"
- Sayagyi U Goenka, in 'Transmission of Dhamma', the training manual for assistant teachers
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Course------
No Location Course Date Students Old New
101. Burmese Vihara, Varanasi 3-12-1974 -13-12-1974 63 95
102. Burmese Vihara, Varanasi 13-12-74 - 23-12-74 55 83
103. Nirayatan, Rajgiri 24-12-74 - 4-1-1975 82 42
104. Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya 4-1-75 - 14-1-75 148 72
TSC-3 Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya 19-1-75 - 30-1-75 * —
105. Muslim Dargah Mosque, Ningal (Bhuj) 15-2-75 - 25-2-75 35 104
106. Muslim Dargah Mosque, Ningal (Bhuj) 25-2-75 - 7-3-75 42 68
107. Jain-Vishwa Bharati, Ladnu 9-3-75 - 19-3-75 36 126
108. Jain-Vishnu Bharati, Ladnu 19-3-75 - 29-3-75 22 34
109. Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur 30-3-75 - 9-4-75 137 105
110. Nav-sarjan High School, Nargol 1-5-75 - 11-5-75 53 65
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With students during a Vipassana course in the early years
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OLC-6 Nav-sarjan High School, Nargol (20-day) 1-5-1975 -21-5-1975 6 —---------
No Location Course Date Students Old New
OLC-7 Nav-sarjan High School, Nargol (30-day) 1-5-75 -31-5-75 28 —
111. Nav-sarjan High School, Nargol 11-5-75 - 21-5-75 33 43
112. Nav-sarjan High School, Nargol 21-5-75 - 31-5-75 32 25
113. Kusum Industries, Hyderabad 3-7-75 - 13-7-75 38 53
114. New Amdar Nivas, Nagpur 9-8-75 - 19-8-75 36 125
115. Shri Rama Kalyan Mandapam, Madras 21-8-75 - 31-8-75 45 43
116. Grand View Hotel, Dalhousie 14-9-75 - 24-9-75 40 69
117. Central Jail, Jaipur, Rajasthan 27-9-75 - 7-10-75 0 120
118. Kasturba University Hostel, Jaipur 7-10-75 - 17-10-75 55 80
119. Bharati Seva Sadan, Raxaul 18-11-75 - 28-11-75 26 29
120. Vandana Apts., Calcutta 29-11-75 - 9-12-75 30 111
121. Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya 10-12-1975 - 20-12-1975 73 80
122. Navnalanda Maha Vihara, Nalanda 20-12-75 - 30-12-75 52 37
TSC-4 Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya 9-1-1976 -19-1-1976 * —
123. Rajasthan Police Academy, Jaipur 27-1-76 - 6-2-76 0 93
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Goenkaji to Ram Singh-ji: "Sentence me (to prison)!"
"The first course of Vipassana conducted by Goenkaji in a prison was in 1975 at the Central Jail in Jaipur, Rajasthan. When I was the Home Secretary of that state, I had myself undertaken a Vipassana course, and experienced a profound change in myself. On the fourth day of my course, I felt that Vipassana was a technique that could solve not only individual problems but also problems of society, and could bring reform in government as well.
On the evening of the fourth day, I met Goenkaji and shared my reflections with him. I asked him whether this technique could be a tool to change the system in government. He agreed, and I immediately asked whether we could arrange to hold a course in jail. He was very positive and told me he would come if I arranged it. This was a big challenge!
I set about talking to the authorities concerned-the Chief Minister, the Chief Secretary, the jail officials. Initially, everybody was very skeptical, but finally, a decision was taken to make an experiment!
The real difficulty came when Goenkaji arrived in Jaipur for the course. I had to tell him that it would not be possible for him to stay in the jail; he was to stay in a beautiful bungalow outside the jail instead. He said he had to stay inside the jail twenty-four hours a day, because Vipassana is a deep operation, and he is like the surgeon. The difficulty was the jail manual. Only those who had been sentenced to imprisonment or those under trial or members of the jail staff could stay in the jail. I posed the problem to Goenkaji and he said, "Sentence me!" I was aghast, shocked; how could my Teacher be sentenced to imprisonment? The legal department was consulted and it seemed there was no solution. We issued administrative instructions and resolved the problem.
Goenkaji was allowed to stay in the jail, in a makeshift room in the jail dispensary. Another problem came when the course was just about to start. At that time ankle locks and handcuffs were used for hardened criminals. Four such prisoners were brought into the meditation hall bound in these iron handcuffs and ankle locks. Goenkaji was walking nearby and when he saw this, he was amazed. He asked me what was going on. I told him these were hardened criminals. He exclaimed, "How can people in chains be put before me? This cannot happen. Remove the chains!"
But the Inspector General of Prisons (IG) said that the security in the jail was his responsibility, and he could not remove the ankle chains or the handcuffs. However, Goenkaji was firm. He said he could not give Dhamma with people sitting before him in chains-he had come to remove the chains. The IG told him he could remove the chains from within, but not the outside chains! Goenkaji insisted that those who were meditating must not be in chains. This was a big dilemma, a big problem!
The IG was a very experienced officer. He asked me not to force him to relax security requirements for those prisoners. He said any one of them might try to be a hero, and strangle me or Goenkaji to death in a split second. We discussed the problem and finally came to an agreement to remove the chains and fetters. An armed guard would be kept ready at a strategic point to shoot the criminal if he started to advance menacingly. I told the IG to ensure that any mishap or panic shooting did not take place.
The chains and locks were removed. Goenkaji was pleased. The course started. I sat close by. The IG stayed out of the hall but remained very close. My eyes were fixed on the "Four", heart throbbing and deep anxiety within! But every passing moment was a relief unbounded. As Goenkaji started chanting, his mettā [loving kindness] was flowing profusely. The red-hot eyes of the criminals who were the cause of so much turmoil changed and their faces beamed; tears streamed down their cheeks. Tears rolled down my face also; it was a rare moment filled with joy after such high tension. The efficacy of Vipassana was established! Goenkaji's narration of Aṅgulimāla's story flashed in my mind.
There was another event that was deeply moving. There were two condemned prisoners awaiting execution of the death sentence. They couldn't be accepted in the course. During his morning round, Goenkaji passed through their cells and decided that they could be given Anapana and Vipassana in the cells by loudspeaker from the hall and we agreed. They started meditation, made great progress, and felt happy. They listened to the discourses in the cells, as did many others. We had arranged the relay of the discourses throughout the entire jail campus.
After the course was over, one of the condemned prisoners sent me a message that he had decided to withdraw his mercy petition to the President of India. He was ready to die. He now had Dhamma and felt totally fearless of his impending death! In the meantime, his petition had been rejected, and the day of execution by hanging had been fixed. I was invited to witness the sad event. The prisoner came out of the cell smiling and in high spirits. He thanked the jail staff and went to the gallows with a cheerfulness never witnessed before."
- from Vipassana in Jails, an Historical Review, by Ram Singhji, VRI
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------------
Location Course Date Students Old New
124. Dhammakhetta, Hyderabad 4-9-76 - 14-9-76 51 71
125. Dhamma Khetta, Hyderabad 16-9-76 - 27-9-76 49 45
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Dhamma Giri, Early Days
"I first came to Dhammagiri in early 1974. After a course near Bombay, I had asked Goenkaji for permission to visit the newly-purchased land. He told me to go ahead. At that time the site consisted of three or four old bungalows and the surrounding land. There was a family of farmers still living in the little bungalow nearest the mountain.
I stayed about a week in one of the bungalows and then left. When I came back a few weeks later, Graham Gambie had arrived. Together we set up housekeeping and started meditating on the site. We wrote to Goenkaji and asked him what work we should do to start improving the place—cleaning, planting gardens, or whatever.
Goenkaji wrote back, “Dear Graham and Geo: Be happy! Meditate, meditate, meditate. Clean yourselves and clean the meditation center. Don’t do anything else, just meditate.” And that is what we did."
- Dr. Geo Poland, Dhamma Giri: Early Days
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CourseNo Location Course Date Students Old New
126. Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri 27-10-76 - 7-11-76 38 51
127. Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri 6-11-76 - 17-11-76 25 42
128. Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri 20-11-76 - 1-12-76 33 5
129. Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri 2-12-76 - 13-12-76 22 55
OLC-8 Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri (30-day) 2-12-76 - 1-1-1977 35 —
130. Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri 20-12-76 - 31-12-76 47 42
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Dhamma Giri in the First Year, After its Opening
I arrived at Dhamma Giri in October 1976, a few days after its official opening. I was asked to help out until the next course began. My first jobs were scraping whitewash off the tiles in the new bathroom and clearing a walking path around the Plateau of Peace. I was surprised by the place. I had thought I was coming to a center that was fully if newly, built. Instead, it seemed to me a raw, unfinished building site. Some structures were incomplete; all were surrounded by rubble and debris. Only a few trees and gardens had yet been planted.
Still, the center had a stark beauty. In the evening, while Goenkaji was giving the Hindi discourse in the meditation hall (then located beside the dining room), I would sit outside and watch the shadows deepen on the surrounding hills. This was the first course at Dhamma Giri, and many people from the town wanted to come at least to hear the discourses. There was no room for them in the hall, so a loudspeaker was set up outside and carpets were put down near the mango tree in front of the gate. Each evening fifty to a hundred people would come and sit there. They were simple people of all ages, in traditional Indian dress. They listened intently to Goenkaji’s words as their ancestors had listened to the Buddha speak. Then they gathered up their sleeping children and in the darkness, they hurried home.
Serving at the V.I.A. (Vipassana International Academy) was a little different then from today. There were no Indians and no hired workers involved in day-to-day management. There were also very few organized office procedures. At one time I was responsible for manning the office, answering the telephone, dealing with students, supervising workers and watchmen, handling the petty cash, replying to letters, keeping accounts—all simultaneously. To do all that, and do it smilingly with equanimity was quite a test, and my failures taught me as much as my rare successes. I quickly realized that I had much to learn about Dhamma, and decided to extend my stay at V.I.A. indefinitely.
As the hot season came on, Dhamma Giri’s perennial water problem became severe (* see note below). The line connecting us to the municipal system seemed to be obstructed, and there were endless delays in having it cleaned out. Goenkaji asked me to write a letter on the subject to the Igatpuri Municipality. I wrote that if the problem was not solved soon, we might be forced to close the meditation center. Before sending the letter I showed it to Goenkaji for his approval. He told me to change it. “Our job is to open meditation centers,” he said. “It is the job of Mara [the forces opposed to Dhamma] to close them.”
June brought the onset of monsoon. Courses stopped and only a handful of people remained at Dhamma Giri. Within a few days, the land was carpeted in fresh green, and on every side, the Hill of Dhamma was surrounded by flowing streams. At that time it seemed to me a true island of peace, wrapped in mist and cut off from the world. Those of us who stayed took turns serving and doing self-courses. With Goenkaji’s encouragement, Shanti Shah began teaching us Pāli. It was inspiring at last to understand the meaning of the chants that we had heard so often during courses. Every weekend Goenkaji would come to visit Dhamma Giri and attend our class. He seemed as delighted with our progress as we were. For hours he would explain Dhamma to us or tell us stories of his experiences in Burma.
Those early days at Dhamma Giri remain unforgettable to me.
No Location Course Date Students Old New
152. Dhamma Thali, Jaipur 20-9-1978 - 1-10-1978 56 86
153. Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri 18-10-78 - 29-10-78 57 95
154. Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri 18-11-78 - 29-11-78 55 115
155. Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri 14-12-78 - 25-12-78 107 61
156. Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri 4-1-1979 -15-1-1979 113 92
TSC-7 Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri 19-1-79 - 31-1-79 * —
157. Dhamma Khetta, Hyderabad 8-2-79 - 19-2-79 91 63
158. Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri 12-3-79 - 23-3-79 115 94
159. Dhamma Thali, Jaipur 31-3-79 - 10-4-79 42 40
160. Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri 12-4-79 - 23-4-79 50 87
161. Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri 10-5-79 - 21-5-79 81 104
(*)The water problems of Dhamma Giri continued until the mid-1990s. Ironic and inexplicable because Igatpuri during the monsoon each year receives among the world's highest annual rainfall! Most rainy seasons have near-continuous rain with the Sun not visible for many weeks. The rainfall is so intensive (much more than the famed Mumbai monsoon) that dehumidifiers are used in Dhamma Giri during the rainy season months to protect electronic equipment. And the dehumidifiers are filled with water absorbed from the air by morning!
Yet despite having a world record rainfall year after year, Sayagyi U Goenka had to intervene and hold crisis meetings in Dhamma Giri to solve the summer water shortage. Tap water completely ran out one morning during a 10-day course in Dhamma Giri circa 1996, with over 400 students. I was the course manager then. Drums of dirty brown oily water were trucked in from somewhere and placed outside common bathrooms. The course continued to a happy conclusion.
Two decades of water problems - and crisis meetings - finally ended in Dhamma Giri after Sayagyi U Goenka appointed Mr. M.M.Khandhar and Mr. P.G.Savla as teachers (acharyas) serving Dhamma Giri. They immediately took measures to improve water distribution efficiency, increase storage and supply. Thanks to them, a lake (a long-term wish of Goenkaji) has been created now near the car park to harvest rainwater and further ensure water supply throughout the year.
Present and future generations of meditators at the Vipassana International Academy (Dhamma Giri, Dhamma Tapovana -1, Dhamma Tapovana -2) owe an immense debt of gratitude to Khandharji and Savlaji, for at long last ensuring sufficient water in the Hill of Dhamma.
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Location Course Date Students Old New
162. Youth Hostel, Gaillon, France 1-7-1979 - 11-7-1979 12 60
163. Buddhist Temple, Plaige, France 14-7-79 - 24-7-79 14 62
164. College Français, Montreal, Canada 26-7-79 - 6-8-79 62 124
Gaillon, the small town/commune in France that hosted the first Vipassana course outside India (course #162, July 1, 1979 - July 11, 1979, with 62 students).
The River of Vipassana had started flowing to benefit the whole world.
The venue of the first Vipassana course Sayagyi U Goenka conducted in England:
Priors Field School, Godalming, Surrey. A picturesque market town from Saxon days, Godalming that switched on the light of Vipassana in England is reputed to be the first in the world to have electric street lighting.
The River of Vipassana had started flowing to benefit the whole world.
Priors Field School, Godalming, Surrey. A picturesque market town from Saxon days, Godalming that switched on the light of Vipassana in England is reputed to be the first in the world to have electric street lighting.
165. Priors Field School, Godalming, Surrey, England 9-8-79-20-8-79 68(old students) 77 (new)
166. Priors Field School, Godalming, Surrey, England 21-8-79 - 1-9-79 101 (O) - 63 (new)
166. Priors Field School, Godalming, Surrey, England 21-8-79 - 1-9-79 101 (O) - 63 (new)
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May the merits I have acquired be shared by one and all.
May this munificent Dhamma benefit one and all.
— Sayagyi U Goenka
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---------
Location Course Date Students Old New
180. Hoch-Ybrig, Switzerland 18-7-1980 - 28-7-1980 40 81
181. College Francais, Montreal, Canada 31-7-80 - 10-8-80 70 5
182. Christian Church, Chicago, IL, U.S.A. 13-8-1980 - 23-8-1980 34 33
183. Philo (Mendocino), CA, U.S.A. 26-8-80 - 5-9-80 92 128
184. Boy Scout Camp, Sydney, Australia 14-9-80 - 26-9-80 48 71
185. Youth Hostel, Perth, Australia 28-9-80 - 9-10-80 17 59
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Recording the Teaching
- and enabling thousands to benefit in simultaneous Vipassana courses worldwide
In late May of 1982, when students entered the meditation tent for the start of Goenkaji’s course in Mendocino, California, they saw an unusual sight: Goenkaji sitting on the Dhamma seat, with Thomas Crisman close beside him on the floor, wearing earphones and surrounded by recording equipment.Over the next four years, that sight was to become very familiar. Through 1986, Thomas made audio and video recordings at the English-language courses taught by Goenkaji every summer in the United States. And every winter he traveled to India to record Hindi-English courses...
...And the recording was only half of the work. After weeks of taping in America or India, Thomas would return home with reels of raw sound recordings. Now came weeks of work editing and indexing the recordings, and then transferring them to 90-minute audio cassettes.
- from 'Recording the Teaching', VRI
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CourseNo Students Old New
235. Dhamma Dhara, Shelburne Falls, MA, U.S.A.12-8-1983-23-8-83 65 75
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Be the light of Dhamma
by Sayagyi U Goenka
from his Closing Address, Annual Conference, Dhamma Giri, January 21, 1994.
Whatever Dhamma work we have accomplished so far is a few drops in the vast ocean.
A healthy beginning made, but much work remains.
So much suffering in the world. People want to come out of suffering, but don't know how.
If Vipassana is offered to them, they will accept it.
The path of Dhamma - sīla, samādhi, and paññā - is complete, pure.
Nothing should be added to it.
Nothing should be taken out.
The totality and purity of Vipassana should be maintained, and passed on.
Give without expecting anything in return.
It is one-way traffic.
Keep giving, for the good of many, with a mind full of compassion.
There may be worldly happiness, but it is not the aim of Vipassana.
The whole aim is ultimate happiness: liberation from all suffering.
nibbānaṃ paramaṃ sukhaṃ.
Then the entire exercise will become purposeful, meaningful.
You are messengers of Dhamma.
Throw light on the pure way of life - not merely as words, but by living the Dhamma.
Live that very life.
Let all see: they who talk of Dhamma also live the Dhamma life.
Only when they see living examples will they be attracted to Vipassana.
Throw light on yourself.
Your behavior throws light not only on you but also on Vipassana.
Let people see the life you are living.
Everything must be open, nothing to be hidden.
This is the way to share Vipassana - not to increase a following, but for more people to benefit.
Theory inspires, encourages, and guides, but the actual benefit is from practicing Vipassana.
Live the Dhamma life not only for your benefit, but also to benefit others.
Live a happy life.
Help more people live a happy life.
Bhavatu sabba maṅgalaṃ. May all be happy, peaceful, liberated.
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