01 No Force Can Stop the Dhamma by S N Goenka

(The following is adapted from Goenkaji's opening address at the Annual Meeting at Dhamma Giri on January 16, 1994.)

All of us are sons and daughters of the Buddha. We have inherited from him compassion for others, to help them to come out of their misery. The one and only aim of a Dhamma server, a Dhamma manager or a Dhamma teacher is to help more and more suffering people to come out of their misery. We are paid back for all our efforts when we see others coming out of their misery, and we feel joyful.

We are not spreading Dhamma to make a sect out of it-such madness should never come in the mind. Buddha gave Dhamma for the individual to come out of misery, not to establish a sect. A person may call oneself by any name or belong to any community, colour or gender, this is not our concern. We should think, "He or she is a miserable person. How can I help them come out of misery?" This is all, nothing else.

I would like to emphasize two things. The first is to sow the seed of Dhamma in the coming generation. Here is a generation whose minds are very fertile. If we sow the seed of Vipassana Dhamma at a young age, we are preparing these children to live a happy, peaceful life, a good human life. Children are not bound by attachment to rites, rituals or philosophical beliefs. They should be given pure Dhamma at this age. We have to give more and more children's courses. Secondly, anyone who is giving any kind of service, whether a Dhamma teacher or server, is a representative of Dhamma.

You are sons and daughters of the Buddha, and so, you have a great responsibility. If someone points the way, before taking that path, people will look at the finger pointing. If it is dirty, stained with blood, people will hesitate. You are serving so that people can take Dhamma's way. Your way of life and your behaviour with people should be very clean. This alone will inspire others to walk on this path. Again and again a Dhamma server, a Dhamma trustee, a Dhamma teacher, has to keep examining oneself: "Have I done anything wrong? If so, I must rectify it. I must amend myself.

Even as a normal human being, it is in my interest to rectify myself. But now that I represent Dhamma it is all the more important that I rectify myself." All of you must examine yourselves: "In performing my duty, what mistakes have I made?" "I made this mistake-I spoke rudely to somebody. My words were very harsh." Or, "I was angry. I had no love or compassion while serving." Or any other mistake. First accept it, and then make a strong decision that in future it should not happen again. It is true that you are not yet fully liberated from all impurities; they keep arising.

But be very careful not to allow them to overpower you, especially when you are serving people in Dhamma. When you accept a mistake, it is like taking the lid off-you stop suppressing the wrong you have done. Another great advantage is that the more you accept your mistake open-heartedly, your ego will start deflating. If you keep your mistakes secret, you are helping your ego to inflate; you are harming yourself and harming Dhamma. This is not good for you. So, accept your mistake and take a strong decision that in future this will not happen again. This will help you to come out of ego and to learn how to serve in a humble way. This is anattā-egolessness. By this, we are not instituting a rite or ritual; rather, it is a healthy process of cleansing.

Dhamma work means cleaning oneself and helping others to learn how to clean themselves. I am sure all of you here are giving your time, energy and service to help others, not to inflate your egos. Dhamma will spread. No force in the world can stop it from spreading. As Sayagyi used to say, "The clock of Vipassana has now struck." We are fortunate to be tools of Dhamma with a wonderful opportunity to develop pāramīs for our own liberation.

We must be very grateful to all those people who come to take Dhamma because they are giving us an opportunity to develop our dāna pāramī. The dāna of Dhamma is the best dāna. Make proper use of this opportunity.

May all of you grow in Dhamma. May all of you glow in Dhamma. You are Dhamma's representatives; let people be attracted by your service. May this year bring more and more people to the path of Dhamma. May this year help more and more people to come out of their misery. May many more people come out of their misery. May Dhamma spread. May all be happy, be peaceful, be liberated.

Bhavatu sabba maṅgalaṃ.

Questions and Answers

Question: How does one develop mettā in oneself and how do we encourage it in others?

Goenkaji: Mettā and purity go together. If there is no purity, you can't generate mettā. By practising Vipassana, you purify your mind, and that will help to develop your quality of mettā. To help others to generate mettā is difficult. We can't do anything to help others to develop their good qualities. But still, there is a way to do both. When you practise Vipassana on a course you purify your mind, and then on the last day you practise mettā.

Going back home, after you practise for one hour, you practise a few minutes of mettā. However, if you give ten days of your life to serve in a Vipassana course, then for all the ten days you get an opportunity to generate mettā, to generate compassion for all the students. And this is how one develops mettā. This is also how you can help others to generate mettā, because you are helping them to practise Vipassana properly. And as they purify their minds by the practice of Vipassana, they also will start generating mettā. This is the only way I see.

Question: You have always emphasized that we should have compassion towards the cruel. But in view of the large-scale violence and killing of innocent people that is going on all around, what role can we perform as students of Vipassana, as Dhamma servers, trustees or ATs?

Goenkaji: A very important question, no doubt. There are two aspects of Dhamma. One aspect of Dhamma is purification of the individual. Another aspect is purification of the society. Both are important. But to purify the society, the purification of the person is a prerequisite. Unless individuals are purified-unless they have love, compassion and goodwill for others-we can't expect a true Dhammic society.

At an individual level, if meditators find that they can help in some way to extinguish the fire of cruelty and violence, they should go ahead and do that.

(from For the Benefit of Many published by VRI)

The Wheel of Dhamma Rotates Around the World

First ten-day Vipassana course at Port Blair Prison: This prison accommodates about 400 inmates, including about 200 inmates from Myanmar (Burma). The Superintendent is a Vipassana meditator who has himself seen the positive impact of Vipassana on the behaviour and attitude of the inmates in Tihar Prison during his tenure there. He took a personal interest in organising the first Vipassana course at this prison. As a result, the first course was held here from 5 to 16 May.

Two prison wardens, 14 Myanmese inmates and 13 Indian inmates took part in the course, which was conducted in Hindi and Myanmese. The next course will be held in November this year.

First ten-day Vipassana course in Manmad:
Manmad is a town in Nashik district and a major railway junction. The ten-day course was organised at the Boys' Hostel of St. Xavier's High School from 3 to 14 May. 38 male students completed the course successfully. Future courses will be held at the same venue during the Diwali and summer vacations.

First Vipassana course in Kyrgyzstan: will be held near Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgizstan from 6th to 17th of July. There is a list of 30 applicants for the course. Three or four Dhamma servers will be available for the course, which will be conducted in English and Russian.

Value inculcation through Vipassana workshop: 46 teachers participated in this workshop, the third to be held at Dhamma Puṇṇa, the Vipassana centre in Pune.

Vipassana Newsletter on the Website

Current and past issues of the Hindi Vipassana Patrikā and English Newsletter can be downloaded from the VRI website:
http://www.vri.dhamma.org/newsletters

Third Vipassana Course in Goa

In a little over seven years of Vipassana activity in this tiny, coastal state, the Goa Vipassana Samiti held its third ten-day Vipassana course from 9 to 20 May 2004. Requested by their superiors, the course was mainly for students preparing for the Roman Catholic priesthood. In all, 25 participants successfully sat through the ten days. Nine of these were novices from the Dominican order who had already done two years of Philosophy studies in their seminary in Nagpur.

This group was able to relate to some of the theory in the discourses because they had studied Buddhism as part of Indian philosophy. Fifteen of the students were novices from the Carmelite order. They were able to identify with the technique in a different way as they found similarities with St. John of the Cross and St. Theresa of Avila, mystics of the Catholic Church.

The single old student was a senior, Catholic priest from the Redemptorist congregation. He sat his previous course in 1996, when Goa's first Vipassana course was conducted at the Pilar Seminary, a major institution for the training of young men for the priesthood. Around 60 Roman Catholic seminarians and priests sat that historic course. As is the experience with such Church groups, all worked extremely sincerely and were very responsive. All of them felt that they had benefited immensely and that the course had added a different perspective to their studies and spirituality.

The Dominican and Carmelite novices said they would suggest to those in charge that a ten-day Vipassana course should be part of their formation before being ordained priests.

Fr. Desmond De Souza, the Redemptorist priest felt that other priests and nuns in Goa would greatly benefit from Vipassana courses and intends working towards making this possible. The course was held at the Dominican Training Centre (DTC), Moira, a quiet village of North Goa's developed, Bardez Taluka. Tucked away in a secluded part of the village, the DTC was home to the second 10-day course in three years. The host community of progressive, Dominican priests headed by an old student, Fr. Prakash Lohale, has been extremely cooperative and has proposed a yearly course at the Centre.

New Vipassana Center in Chile

Dhamma Acala, Laguna Verde, Chile The Vipassana Trust in Chile has just received land for the first Vipassana center in Chile. The property is located approximately two hours from Santiago (the capital and largest city in Chile) in a beautiful area close to the Pacific ocean. In the vicinity, are the small town of Laguna Verde and the port city of Valparaíso, a city which has been declared "patrimonio de la humanidad" (inheritance or wealth of mankind) by UNESCO. Goenkaji has named the new center Dhamma Acala (Steadfast in Dhamma).

For more information about the new center and information about giving dana and service for construction, contact Vipassana Chile, Email: info@cl.dhamma.org

Grateful Commemoration

The following Vipassana Teachers and Assistant Teachers have passed away.

Sayadaw Dr. Rewata Dhamma - Bhikkhu Ācārya
U Tun Hla - Senior Assistant Teacher
Mrs. Nagan Bambarde - Assistant Teacher
Mr. Manilal Kalaria - Assistant Teacher

They served the Dhamma selflessly and lived exemplary lives full of Dhamma. They will continue to be inspiring examples in the way they lived their lives.

Here one is happy, hereafter one is happy,
The doer of good deeds is happy in both existences.
 "Good have I done" (thinking thus), he is happy,
He is happier still when he goes to a blissful state.
idha nandati pecca nandati,
katapuñño ubhayattha nandati;
puññaṃ me katanti nandati,
bhiyyo nandati suggatiṃ gato.
(Dhammapada 18)

May they be happy, peaceful and liberated!

Vipassana Course for Adolescents

In April this year, Goenkaji himself set the format for a Vipassana course for teenagers in the age group of 15 to 19 years. This first course for adolescents was organised at Dhamma Giri from 9th April to 17th April. Goenkaji gave two short discourses in Hindi every day in addition to conducting the Anapana, Vipassana and mettā sessions.

The schedule for this course was a little less demanding than the course for adults and a light meal was provided at night. This first course was so successful that it was decided to organise one more course in the vacation.

The second course was held from 1 to 9 June at the picturesque Dhamma Nāsikā, the Vipassana centre in Nashik. Thirty-four teenaged girls participated in this course. All the participants completed the course and gave very positive feedback at the end of the course. One participant said, "At first, I felt that keeping quiet is not possible, so how can we learn Vipassana but after staying here for seven days I really feel that it was great" The next course for adolescents will be held in Pune during the Diwali vacations.

Vipassana Websites

Dhamma Giri: www.vri.dhamma.org
Contains information about Indian Vipassana centres and Schedule of Courses, VRI Newsletters, VRI publications, research papers about Vipassana, etc.

Vipassana introduction: www.dhamma.org Contains information about Goenkaji, Course Schedules of Vipassana centres worldwide, Code of Discipline, Application Form for ten-day courses, etc. Vipassana (old students only): Contains information for old students of Vipassana including International Vipassana Newsletters and reference material.

Pali Tipiṭaka Website: www.tipitaka.org Contains the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana Tipiṭaka in Roman script with commentaries, sub-commentaries and related Pali texts.

One-Day Children's Courses in Mumbai

Every third Sunday at Ghatkopar. Contact: Tel 2510-1096, 2516-2505

Date Venue Age Registration 01.8.2004
Mulund 13-16 years 29 & 30.7.2004 22.8.2004
Matunga 13-16 years 19 & 20.8.2004

Course Timing: 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Registration Timings: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Course Venues: Mulund: Mulund College of Commerce, Sarojini Road, Near Mulund Court, Mulund (West). Tel 5598-3338. Matunga: Amulakh Amirchand High School, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road, New SNDT College, King's Circle, Matunga (CR), Tel: 28324820, 28988975. [NB *Please bring cushion. *

Please register on the specified phone numbers. If you are unable to attend after registration, please inform in advance. *Please arrive on time for the course.]

Important Notice

The Vipassana English Newsletter or Hindi Patrikā is despatched free of charge to all Vipassana meditators in India for one year after their first course. Free copies are also sent to those meditators who wish to receive the Newsletter but are unable to pay the subscription. VRI has decided to publish Goenkaji's Hindi dohas with English translation sponsored by meditators on page four of the English Newsletter to help to cover the cost of publication and postage of these copies. Vipassana meditators are welcome to avail of this opportunity to subsidize these expenses by sponsoring these dohas. The rate for each advertisement will be Rs. 2000/-. Only the name of the firm with contact details can be published. For more details, please contact: Vipassana Research Institute, Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri 422 403. Tel: (02553) 244076, 244086; Email: info@giri.dhamma.org

Dhamma Dohas

Mere sukha mein, shānti mein, bhāga sabhī kā hoya; Isa mangalamaya dharma kā, lābha sabhī ko hoya!
May my happiness and peace be shared by everyone; May this benevolent Dhamma benefit one and all!

Vyāpe vishva Vipashyanā, bahujana hitasukha hoya; Jana-jana kā kalyāna ho, jana-jana mangala hoya.
May Vipassana spread for the happiness of many; May all beings be happy and peaceful!

With best wishes and mettā,
A Vipassana meditator

Dūra rahe durbhavanā, dvesha hoya saba dūra; Nirmala nirmala citta se, pyaar bhare bharapūra.
May all animosity and aversion be dispelled; May the purified heart overflow with love for all.

Mana-mānasa mein pyaar hī, tarala tarangita hoya; Roma-roma se dvani ute, sabakā mangala hoya.
May the mind be filled with the rapture of love; May every fibre resonate with feelings of goodwill.

With warm regards and much mettā,
A Vipassana meditator