Vipassana Centers
Dhamma Giri, meaing 'Hill of Dhamma' is one of the world's largest Vipassana meditation centres. It is co-located with the Vipassana Research Institute at Igatpuri in Maharastra, approximately three hours drive from Mumbai. The center offered its first course in 1976. Today tens of thousands of students study here every year. The centre's pagoda has over 400 cells for individual meditation.
A Dhamma House has been built 1 km from the Pagara Railway Station, 12 kms off Guna in Madhya Pradesh, India. The area of the site is about 1.5 acres, situated in the midst of lush agricultural fields all around. Guna is connected by road and rail to all major cities in MP and also other major Indian cities such as, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mumbai, Delhi, Amritsar and Kolkata. Constructed facilities at the site include a Dhamma hall which comfortably seats 50+ students, male and female residences with attached bathroom that can host 15 students each, two common toilets, a Dining hall, male and female AT residences, male and female Dhamma server residences, and staff residential quarters.
Centre has 30 single occupancy rooms for males and 20 single occupancy rooms for females. All the rooms have attached bathroom.
The first ten-day
was successfully organized near Tehran in August 1999. Since then, every year between 8 to 16 courses have been organized in and around Tehran and
other cities like Ramsar, Klardasht and Mashhad for men and women separately. Last year, a
Dhamma House has been organized near Tehran, where two ten-day courses and at least one
one-day children course were organized every month.
The Dhamma House, located in suburb of Tehran, has six rooms and can accommodate around
33 participants in every course. The number of applicants for each course is usually high and the
Dhamma House is normally overcrowded during courses with both male and females. Children
courses have received warm appreciation from both parents and children as well.
Dhamma Jalgaon is one of the many centers of Vipassana spread all over the world. It is situated on hilly land of 1.5 Acre, which was given as donation by one of the sadhak. The land is located on Ajanta Road, 12 km from Jalgaon & 48 km from world Heritage Ajanta.
It was an unanimous demand that a meditation centre should be created in Jalgaon as per the will of punia Guruji, expressed by him at Jalgaon in 1996. In the year 2010 the activities of meditation started on the land, below the sacred Neem tree. Pujya Guruji himself named the centreter as DHAMMA JALGAON in his last days.
Dhamma Jananī, meaning 'Mother of Dhamma', is situated in Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha. Situated near Bhairahawa City in the western region of Nepal, the Centre started operating in the year 2000. The Dhamma hall can seat nearly 200 students but there is accommodation for only about 48 male and 48 female students at this time, all with attached bath. Meditation cells are also available. One 10-day course is being conducted every month, and two Satipatthana courses every year. The number of students in each course is steady with many visitors to the birthplace of the Buddha taking out time to sit courses here.
Dhamma Joti (Light of Dhamma) was opened in October 1993. The centre is built on a 12 acres of land and has a pond around it. The Dhamma hall seats 200 students. The centre has 19 double rooms with attached bath for males and 20 single, 10 double rooms with attached bath for females. A new kitchen and two new dining rooms can cater over 400 students. The Centre now has a Pagoda with 48 cells underneath.
Surrounded by long stretches of fertile agricultural fields of flowers and rural calm, Dhamma Kalyana is situated on the bank of famous river, Ganga. It is located near Aima Village Dhori Ghat, 22 km away from Kanpur, the largest city of Uttar Pradesh. The simple 8 bighas centre with its flower trees and beautiful gardens can accommodate 100 students in single occupancy rooms with attached bathrooms. Dhamma Kalyana attracts many foreigners from all over the World.
Dhamma Kamala means Lotus of Dhamma. It is the first Thailand Vipassana center to offer courses in Vipassana Meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin. The first ten-day course has commenced in November 1992. The center is situated on an area of 6 acres, in the district of Dong-Kee-Lek, Amphur Muang, Prachinburi province, nearby the Khao-Yai Nataional Park. The park is classified as the world heritage reserve. With plenty of established trees within the center and surrounding lotus ponds, the center enjoys cool comfortable climate all year round. The center is 170 kilometers east of Bangkok, along the Bangkok-Sakaew Highway. By car, it is a two and a half hour drive.
Dhamma Kamboja, meaning ‘Dhamma in Cambodia’ is situated in Roluos Village, Trapaeng Preah Commune, Prey Chhor District, Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia. Located in a rural area about 112km from Phnom Penh Capital City or about 20km northwest of Kampong Cham City. Recently, the Center is under development and has been relocated of the first Cambodian Dhamma Center developed in the mid 1990's of the same name. Its first course starts in 2015.
Presently, 10-day courses and Children's Courses are being held every year conducted by local Cambodian Assistant Teachers, Cambodian Assistant Teachers from Europe and USA, and occasionally some Assistant Teacher from abroad.
Dhamma Kānana, meaning 'Forest of Dhamma', is situated amid 20 acres of beautiful forest land near the bank of the Waiganga River. The Centre is very near to the world famous Kanha National Park and is six km away from Balaghat. Established in March 1995, Dhamma Kānana annually hosts about ten-day courses, Satipatthana courses, short courses and children's courses.
Dhamma Kañcana means Gold of Dhamma. It is the fifth Thailand Vipassana center to offer courses in Vipassana Meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin. The first ten-day course has commenced in November 2006. The center is situated on an area of 22 acres, in Amphur Sangklaburi, Kanchanaburi province, a western border province between Myanmar and Thailand, about 330 kilometers from Bangkok, 5-6 hours drive. The center is located on highlands, close to Sam-Yod Mountain – along the Tanowsri Range, about 228 meters above sea level. It is surrounded by lush forests (Khao-Laem National Park and Naresuan Wild-Life Sanctuary) and Vachiralongkorn Dam.
A new Dhamma House called Dhamma Kanchi, is being established in Kanchipuram district, Tamil Nadu, India. Kanchipuram was one of the major centers for Buddha Dhamma in the past attracting thousands of Vipassana practitioners from different parts of the world. Many renowned monks like Ven Buddha Ghosa, Ven Bodhi Dhamma have helped to spread Dhamma from Kanchipuram to other parts of South Asia, South-East Asia and East Asia. Continuous 2-day and 3-day courses are planned to be organized at Dhamma Kanchi.
Dhamma Karuṇā means "Compassion of Dhamma" in Pali. The centre is located on 8.5 acres on the outskirts of Youngstown, Alberta – a small farming village in the Canadian Badlands. This area is noted for its wildlife including waterfowl, deer, antelope and moose. It is also famous for some of the most important fossil deposits in the world, including the Bearpaw Shale. Youngstown is three to five hours by car from four major cities: Edmonton and Calgary in Alberta, and Regina and Saskatoon in the neighboring province of Saskatchewan.