Vancouver’s population is extraordinarily diverse, and the city values that diversity as a source of creativity and strength. Forty-three per cent of Metro Vancouver residents have an Asian heritage, which is a much higher proportion than any other major city outside the continent of Asia. Cultural diversity is always clearly represented on our retreats.

However, while it is the goal of Vipassana meditation centres to make this technique and practice as accessible as possible, we are aware that the population of students and volunteer servers may not accurately reflect the population at large. People of colour may consequently feel under-represented or culturally isolated on a course. Such under-representation is not deliberate. It is a factor of how these centres have developed historically, and we are working to correct it. We are actively pursuing understanding, communication, and outreach that will lead to a more representative centre, and we continuously prioritize the creation and maintenance of a safe, supportive space for people of all backgrounds to pursue individual spiritual development. We invite input and feedback regarding the progress of these efforts at any time.

Non-Sectarian Program
Although this teaching comes from Gotama the Buddha, it is presented in a non-sectarian format. The Buddha was not interested in converting people. He had found the path to the end of suffering, and his only interest was to share this with others. It is the same today. The cause of suffering lies within each of us and we only need to look inside to find its solution. This works for anyone regardless of their origins or traditions. And that is what you will learn here.

Languages
When we count up the native languages of the people on our courses, the number often reaches a dozen. Our sound system can provide simultaneous listening in almost 50 languages. When you first open the course schedule page, you will be asked if you are comfortable speaking English. If not, you will be invited to take our English Skills Assessment. This test allows you to determine your English language level and lets us provide you with the materials you will need on the course. Please take the test and enter your result in the application where we ask “Anything you wish to add to the above information?”

Gender Diversity
People of all sexual orientations and gender identities are welcome to our courses. The campuses at all the meditation centres in this tradition are separated into men’s and women’s areas. This extends to the residential accommodations, the walking areas, the dining rooms and the meditation hall. This structure is designed to reduce the tension that derives from the mixing of genders.

We recognize this doesn’t work for everyone and that sometimes members of the LGBTQ+ community may not feel comfortable on either side of the compound, or having to identify as men or women. With that in mind, please let us know about your sexual orientation or gender identity beforehand. This will allow us to arrange a space for you where you can feel safe and not distracted while you plumb the depths of your mind. You can let us know about your concerns by writing something on the application where we ask, “Anything you wish to add to the above information?” We will contact you and together we will make a plan that works for you. Your private information shall only be used for accommodation arrangement and be kept confidential.

Physical Health Needs 
Some applicants may have a special requirement due to a health issue, a physical limitation, pregnancy or a dietary restriction please see our Amenities section. We are prepared to accept most people with special requests, but we need to know the extent of someone’s requirements before they arrive. Quite often someone may ask for back support or a chair to meditate in. We are happy to provide whatever you need to meditate comfortably. Sometimes people ask for a private space because of personal needs. We do have a limited number of private rooms, and a few with en-suite bathrooms for women. If you feel you need privacy for any reason please tell us in the application where we ask, “Anything you wish to add to the above information?” We will contact you and work out a plan.

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, or 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 Physical and/or Mental Health Questionnaire about these challenges before being accepted on the course. We rely on honest responses to these questions in accepting all applications.

It is therefore essential to completely and honestly disclose all previous physical and mental 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 physical and mental 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.

Please note that you will be required to fill out this Waiver when you arrive for your course. We are providing it here in advance for your review.

If you are interested in learning more, please refer to the Psychological Safety of Vipassana Meditation chapter of this book starting on page 351.

The objective of this policy is to affirm that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect and to be free from psychological and sexual harassment within their organization, including any form of discriminatory harassment.

It also aims to establish the principles of intervention that are applied in the organization when a complaint of harassment is filed or a situation of harassment is reported to the Vipassana Foundation or to its representatives.

Harassment, in all its forms, is contrary to the high standards of conduct that the Vipassana Foundation requires from all its officers, teachers, members of the Board of Directors, managers, salaried employees, or volunteers in its service (hereinafter referred to as “staff members”).

Staff members must observe basic rules of courtesy and behave respectfully towards each other regardless of their hierarchical level or contractual status.

All must strive to prevent psychological or sexual harassment and take effective and prompt protective measures as soon as they become aware of a harassment situation in order to put an immediate end to it.

This policy applies to all Foundation property, including the following locations and contexts:

• Workplaces;
• Common areas (e. g., main building, meditation pavilion, outdoor dormitories);
• Dwelling houses provided to staff members by the Foundation;
• Any other place where staff members must be in the course of their service (e.g., meetings, training, travel, activities organized by the Foundation);
• Communications by any means, technological or other (e.g., social media, emails, text messages, postings, letters, etc.)

The complete text of the said policy is available here.

The complaint form is available at: Psychological or Sexual Harassment Complaint Form

Vipassana meditation teachers in this tradition are all unpaid volunteers, guaranteeing that they are not motivated to sell meditation for a profit. Vipassana students should understand that their teachers are not psychological professionals, but are trained intensely over decades to be meditation teachers, just that and nothing more. Teachers are not just “volunteers” in the sense that they are unprofessional; they are manifestations of a spiritual quality of the person-to-person transmission of Vipassana.

Teachers are given extensive training in conducting meditation courses and in helping their students. This training focuses on meditation, not on mental health, although students are by no means spending ten days on autopilot, because their course teacher engages them to the necessary level with checking, interviews, etc. Teachers are always available to help. In addition, teachers are involved in ongoing teacher training, meetings, and self-improvement dialogues, as well as careful group evaluations of situations that became problems and could have been handled better.

S.N. Goenka embedded in this tradition clear limits regarding continued personal involvement between the teachers and their students. He emphasized that this tradition was not intended to create lifelong dependency, or ongoing deferential admiration. The goal is for all Vipassana students to become self-guiding and independent; this prevents pathological needs from either the teacher or student. In this model of conduct, teachers freely dispense help, receiving nothing in return; and students are guided to step out into autonomy.