Vipassana was taught in India more than 2,500 years ago as a means of removing all ills. It's a Buddhist concept that involves seeing things as they really are. It provides an understanding of the path to liberation.
History of the Meditation Technique
Vipassana in America is taught by S. N. Goenka.l Although Goenka is of Indian origin, he was born and brought up in Burma, which today is known as Myanmar. He trained in Burma for 14 years and began teaching Vipassana in India in 1969.
Goenka has taught more than 300 courses in India and in other countries, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, and Nepal. In 1982, he began to appoint assistant teachers to help him to meet the growing demand for courses.
Goenka's technique is akin to that taught by Gautham Buddha. It is free of any biases to any particular religion or background. Thus, it attracts people from diverse backgrounds and religions. "Rather than converting people from one organized religion to another organized religion, we should try to convert people from misery to happiness, from bondage to liberation and from cruelty to compassion," Goenka said at the United Nations World Peace Summit in 2000.
"Let us focus on the commonalties of all religions, on the inner core of all religions which is purity of heart. We should all give importance to this aspect of religion and avoid conflict over the outer shell of the religions, which is various rites, rituals, festivals and dogmas," Goenka said.
Details of the Meditation Courses Offered
The courses offered in the U.S. are ten-days long. It is the minimum number of days required to understand the technique and its nuances. The course will give a person the ability to understand how to perform the technique and how to continue perfecting it for life.
Each day, a person will meditate for about ten hours with a couple of breaks. Meditation begins at the crack of dawn at 4:00 a.m, so one must be mentally prepared. The food provided is vegetarian food. For any specific diet concerns, participants should notify the organizers in advance, and they will try to accommodate the requests.
Most of the classes are run in Hindi or English, and some local Indian languages. The course is free of cost as it is run by volunteers. There is no charge for room and board either. Chairs are available for all those who cannot sit on the floor.
The course begins with learning to concentrate on understanding breathing patterns. After a person is able to understand breathing techniques, a person is taught to understand how the body and mind changes. The aim of Vipassana is to use meditation to overcome all emotional problems. It helps a person overcome cravings and to become more aware of their surroundings.
Meditation helps a person remain calm and handle situations in a consistent manner. Vipassana does not preach religion. It also does not guarantee a cure for physical problems, but people have felt better at the end of their course.
