Dhamma Surabhi – Vipassana Meditation Centre of BC

Vipassana Meditation as Taught by S.N. Goenka

in the Tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin

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Meals

The centre provides simple, wholesome, vegetarian meals, without subscribing to any particular food philosophy.

Breakfast includes the following:

  • Oatmeal
  • Cooked prunes
  • Fresh fruit (apples, oranges, bananas)
  • Toast, rice cakes, and granola
  • Tahini, peanut butter, and other condiments
  • Coffee, tea, milk, soy milk, and rice milk

For lunch, we provide various simple cooked vegetarian dishes including lots of steamed vegetables as well as a large green salad along with other raw vegetables. There may be sprouts on some days. If there is a main dish containing wheat (e.g. on Day 1 there is spaghetti), then there will also be brown rice for those who can't eat wheat. Brown rice is often the main carbohydrate at lunch. Most baked goods (e.g. cakes and cookies) contain wheat flour. We use soya sauce (or tamari). For your coffee and tea we provide regular milk, soy milk and rice milk as creamers.

In the evening we provide fruits (apples, oranges, bananas) in addition to coffee, herbal and regular tea with dairy, soy & rice milk as creamers.

Allergies & Restrictions

If you are very sensitive or allergic to certain food items, we will try to provide substitutes. But please bear in mind that the kitchen is staffed by volunteers. So we ask that students try not to place excessive demands on the staff.

On the evening of Registration Day (Day 0), there will be an orientation to familiarize the students with the meditation centre and its routines. After the orientation, students are advised to inform the Kitchen Manager of any food allergies they might have. If you still have concerns about your diet, you may arrange for a private interview with the Assistant Teacher.

We are unable to accommodate a special diet that varies too far from our regular menu. Bringing your own food is not an option as keeping the food separate and serving it just for you would be too much of a strain on the course servers. So please consider if you can manage to eat what we have to offer (i.e. simple vegetarian food).

Accommodations

Men and women have segregated accommodations with single, double and triple occupancy rooms. Both men's and women's areas have separate but shared bathroom facilities.

We have only a limited number of single rooms. They cannot be be reserved and are assigned on the basis of medical or other needs, on the day that the course begins. Routine requests for single occupancy will be accommodated, after such needs are taken care of.

We ask students to accept the accommodation that is available. Please note that rooms are assigned independently of arrival time and there is no need to arrive earlier than the recommended arrival time.

If your request for a single room is related to a medical condition or other concerns such as insomnia or restlessness etc., please inform us.

We have 8 tent sites (4M 4F) available for tent accommodation for courses in the summer months (May through Sept). We also have four tents (2M 2F) available to borrow.