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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Before You Apply

Please read the Code of Discipline. This document contains important information about the content, structure, and rules of the course. It also includes the daily course schedule.

Answers to the commonly asked questions are available to help you better understand the technique and course protocol.

If you have completed at least one 10-day course, as taught by S. N. Goenka, then you are an old student. Otherwise, you are a new student. Please review the relevant information given below before you proceed to apply to a course.

It is essential that you understand the serious nature of the ten-day course before applying. The course is a rigorous undertaking, both physically and mentally. The course is residential, in a rural setting, and requires a high level of responsibility and maturity from each student. It requires students to spend most of their time alone, without speaking to other students, meditating for many hours per day over ten days. While the course includes lectures, instructional recordings, and meetings with the teacher with ample time for questions, the bulk of the ten days is spent in silence. In short, the meditation course requires a reasonable capacity to maintain focus, cooperate in a large group setting, follow detailed instructions, keep to a delineated time schedule, maintain silence, and to work with a teacher with honesty and full cooperation.

Given the intensive and demanding nature of the 10-day course program, the course may evoke strong emotional or physical experiences. Previous reaction patterns one may have experienced in the past can resurface in the mind during the course. Previously unknown, latent mental and physical reaction patterns may also arise. For this reason, participants must be in good physical and mental health to be able to use the practice to work with these uncomfortable thoughts and sensations.

People with serious mental health disorders have occasionally come to Vipassana courses with the unrealistic expectation that the technique will cure or alleviate their mental health problems. Unstable interpersonal relationships, extreme substance abuse and a history of mental illness can be additional factors which make it difficult for a person to benefit from, or even complete, a ten-day course. Our capacity as a nonprofessional volunteer organization makes it impossible for us to properly care for people with these backgrounds. Although Vipassana meditation is beneficial for many people, it is not a substitute for medical or psychiatric treatment, and we cannot accept people with serious psychiatric disorders.

Anyone who mentions a history of physical or mental health challenges on their application will receive a follow-up Mental Health Questionnaire about these challenges before being accepted on the course. We rely on the responses to these questions in accepting all applications.

It is therefore essential to completely and honestly disclose all previous mental and physical health history as requested in the application process and to not withhold any information.

If you are accepted on the course, it is essential to keep the teachers and volunteers notified if you become overwhelmed or start to experience mental and physical health difficulties. You must be ready to leave the course early if requested to do so by the teacher. It is also possible that a teacher will recommend that you stop meditating all together if the process is proving too much for you.

Once the course is completed, Dhamma Surabhi will provide students with opportunities to talk to a teacher about any follow up questions they may have that are exclusively about meditation, but will not provide students counseling, coaching, therapy nor medical care of any kind during or after the course ends.

New Students

All new students learn Vipassana by taking an intensive, residential ten-day course. Instructions are provided by S.N. Goenka on video and audio recordings. One or more Assistant Teachers will be present to provide guidance and answer any questions about the technique.

As stated earlier, there are no charges for the courses - not even to cover the cost of food and accommodation.

Someone taking the course for the first time may give a donation on the last day of the course or at any time thereafter. Students may give whatever amount matches their ability to give and their desire to provide others with the opportunity to learn this technique.

The three steps involved in attending a course are application, registration, and preparation for a course. Please take a few minutes to review the information in the application and registration sections, and then proceed to review the schedule and apply.

Old Students

If you have completed a 10-day course as taught by S.N. Goenka you are an Old Student. If you are planning to attend a course and wish to apply, here are a few points to bear in mind.

Standard 10-day Course

The process of application, acceptance and confirmation, preparation for the course, and cancellation are essentially the same as for a new student. Therefore, if you are not familiar with our policies procedures, please take a few minutes to review the information in the application and registration sections, and then proceed to review the schedule and apply.

We ask that you fill in a new application each time you apply as changes may have occurred in your personal history, contact information, history of your courses sat and served, and your language preference.

Other Courses

1-day and 3-day refresher courses are offered to those who have already completed a 10-day course. Additionally, for serious practitioners of Vipassana meditation, Satipatthana, old student only special 10-day, 20-day, and longer courses are available. The eligibility requirements and instructions for applying for these courses is available in our course schedule.

If you are interested in serving, please visit the service section. If you are looking for information of interest to old students, please visit our old student website.