I Cannot Forget Their Help

I am in the twilight of my life; I have entered the eighty-fifth year of my life. The list of people towards whom I wish to express my gratitude is very long. It is impossible to include all the details of their Dhamma service in this small article. If I find the time to write a book about my journey on the spiritual path, I may be able to do justice to all of them. Those whose names could not be included in this article should not feel hurt. They should understand the constraints of time and space and should generate mettā.

My deepest gratitude is towards my virtuous parents and family. I also feel grateful towards my primary school teachers, Pandit Kalyandutt Dube and Madan Mohan Sharma. I am profoundly grateful to my Dhamma father, revered Sayagyi U Ba Khin, who gave me a new birth in Dhamma. I am also grateful to my Dhamma mother Daw Mya Thwin, to my companions and supporters in the field of Dhamma: Prof. U Ko Lay, U Ba Po, U Tint Yee and fellow-writer, U Pargu.

Among my other family members, I am grateful to my eldest brother, Bal Krishna, who supported me from my early days as a Vipassana teacher. While serving in India for the spread of Dhamma, I saw many cases of Indian relatives ill-treating refugees who had arrived here after leaving their jobs or businesses in Myanmar. In one case, a person was cheated by his own son. On the other hand, after arriving here, I did not serve a single day in the industries or businesses of my extended family in India. Despite this, eight years after my arrival, when my brothers divided their business assets, my generous elder brother gave me an equal share. During those eight years, he provided for all my necessities. He paid for my travel and meals as well as for donations in all the Vipassana courses in India, right from the first course. On arrival, he instructed a newly appointed Hindi typist in his office, Ram Pratap Yadav, to serve me day and night. Since then, he has been serving me as my devoted assistant along with Narayan Dasarwar.

Despite following a different spiritual path at that time, my brother Bal Krishna supported me in the spread of Vipassana. Now, as a full-fledged Vipassana teacher, he is supervising the meditation centres of South India with the help of L. Shivappa and others. My late brother Babu Lal also supported me and later became a Vipassana teacher.

My sons also supported my Dhamma service. I had handed over all the businesses and cash from my share of the family business to them. I did not sit with them for even a single day to help in these businesses. They continued to bear my travel and other expenses while serving courses. They took full care of my medical expenses as well as all my other necessities. So I was able to devote all my time to serve Dhamma. If my elder brother had ordered me to participate in the family business, how could have I accomplished the noble task of revival and spread of Vipassana in India? Similarly, after the division of family assets, none of my sons had sufficient experience in business. If they had insisted that I help and guide them in business, and fully knowing and understanding their inexperience, if I had got involved in the business, how could have I accomplished the task of spreading Vipassana in the world? How could have I spread the knowledge of Dhamma to thousands of people? Due to their inexperience, my sons had to face some initial setbacks. However, they still kept me free from all worldly responsibilities to allow me to serve in a detached way. Now, my sons are growing old and their children—my grand children—have joined them in business. Soon it will be time for my sons to free themselves from their business responsibilities. My son, Sri Prakash is looking after the publication of Vipassana books, CDs and DVDs, which was earlier the responsibility of my younger brother, Radhe Shyam. I would be happy if any of my sons wishes to accumulate merits by serving in other spheres of Dhamma.

Finally, how can I forget my life partner? How could I have completed this long Dhamma journey so successfully without her?

Amongst bhikkhus, I am grateful to late Venerable Rewata Dhammaji and Venerable Bhikkhu U Ratanapalaji. I am also grateful to Anagarika Munindraji for his wholehearted support of my mission.

Boundless mettā towards all other servers

The first course in Mumbai was organised by Dayanand Adukia and his son, Vijay Adukia. After the Mumbai course, the first course in Chennai was organised by my elder brother and the first course in North India was organised by my friend, author Yashpal Jain. After that, courses began to be held at different places.

At Bodhgaya, courses were organised by Dwarko Sundarani. Jay Prakash Narayan who came to a couple of these courses to listen to the evening discourses was deeply influenced. However, due to his wife Prabhavatiji’s ill-health, he could not join a course. Nonetheless, he invited me to the annual gathering of Sarva Seva Sangh at Nashik and arranged my discourse there. As a result, the head of the Sangha, Siddharaj Dhaddha and other prominent Sangha leaders attended courses.

Mrs. Nirmala, Gandhiji’s daughter-in-law, organised a course in Sevagram, Wardha which was attended by many elderly companions of Gandhiji. The participants of the course took me to Vinoba Bhave’s ashram at Pavnar and organised a meeting with him.

On being challenged by him, the first course for children was held in a school at Bagaha, Bihar. Later, the first course for prisoners in jail was held in the Jaipur Central Jail. These two kinds of courses continue to be held all over India.

The Home secretary of Rajasthan, Ram Singh and his wife benefitted from a course at Jaipur. Many other high-ranking officers of Rajasthan such as S. N. Tandon and S. Adaviyappa and their wives benefitted from Dhamma and they all played an important role in the spread of Vipassana. Vimalchand Surana, Sher Singh, late Ram Niwas Sharma and late Paliwal helped them in the spread of Vipassana in Rajasthan.

By successfully organising a course in Tihar Jail, my Dhamma daughter Kiran Bedi cleared the path for prisoners of many countries in the world to gain benefit from Vipassana.

Sriram Taparia had a major role in the establishment and management of Dhamma Giri at Igatpuri. In addition, others from the Maheshwari community such as late Laxmi Narayan Rathi and late Ramsukh Mantri from Pune, Toshniwal family and S. S. Taparia also joined Vipassana courses and helped in spread of Vipassana.

Vipassana flourished greatly in the Jain, Gujarati and Kutchi communities with the support of Shivjibhai, Harakchand Gala, Dipchand Shah, Mukundrai Badani, Dr. Bhimsi & Mrs Pushpa Savla, Premji & Madhu Savla, Veena Gandhi, late Natubhai & Kaushalya Parekh, Ratilal & Chanchal Savla, Mahasukh & Manju Khandhar, Shanti Shah, Sudhir & Madhuri Shah and family, Kashyap & Kamala Dharmadarshi, Jayesh Soni, Manhar Patel, Rajubhai Mehta, Jayantilal Thacker, Anil Dharmadarshi, Indravadan Kothadia, Bachubhai Shah, late Ratilal Mehta and his family and many others.

Terapanth’s Acharya Tulsiji ensured that almost all his ascetics, males and females, benefited from Vipassana courses. Similarly, Pramukh Acharya Dr. Shivmuniji, Rajgir’s Amarmuniji, Munishri Amarendra Vijayji, Acharya Munishri Bhuvanachandraji, Mahasati Karunabai and many other prominent Jain Acharyas benefitted from Vipassana. Therefore, many people from the Jain community joined Vipassana courses.

With the support of my Dhamma daughter Usha Modak, N. O. Patil, Prakash Borse, Vishwambhar Dahat, Dr. Dhananjay Chavan, Dr. Hamir & Dr. Nirmala Ganla, Dinesh Meshram, Prakash Mahajan, Vimla Mahajan, Mahavir Patil, Champalal Khinvasara, Sudhakar Funde, N. Y. Lokhande, Digambar Dhande, Kamalatai Gavai, late Rajaram Beri, Arun Suryavanshi and others, Dhamma spread in the entire state of Maharashtra. The following also helped in spread of Dhamma in India: Gita Kedia, Sabrina Katakam, Khaddaria, Kurup, Jaya Modi, Pai family, Rajendra Singh, Iladevi Agrawal, Balraj Chaddha, Chikkanarayanappa, Dr. Chokhani, Sudha and Mohini Dalal, Chothmal Goenka, Dr. Subramanyam, L. N. Todi, Mohan Raj Adla, Ravi Reddy, Praveen Bhalla, Sajjandevi Dhariwal, Rameshwar Sharma, Madan Mutha, late J. K. Tibrewala and Vasudeo Kamath.

Due to the efforts of senior officers in the Maharashtra government such as Ratnakar Gaikwad, D. R. Parihar, Dr. Prem Singh Meena, S. Krishna and others, many government officers took Vipassana courses.

Prof Pyare Lal & Sushila Dhar, Ashok Talwar, late Dr. Om Prakash, late Dr. Vithal Das Modi, late Gurumukh Siddhu, Rajesh Gupta, Manju Vaish, Ashok & Uma Kela, Dr. Narayan & Sharda Wadhwani, Gopal Sharan & Pushpa Singh and others helped to spread Dhamma in northern and central India.

Shashikant & Dr. Sharda Sanghvi, Deshbandu Gupta, Subhash Chandra, Nayan Shah, Vallabh Bhansali, late Radhe Shyam Goenka, Durgesh Shah, Dhanesh Shah, Dr. Rohi Shetty and others played an important role in research and spread of Vipassana.

The role of Thomas Crisman, late Radhe Shyam Goenka, Priti Dedhia, Dhanesh Shah, Craig Miller, Bill Nugent, Frank Snow, Ramnath Shenoy, Gino Morena, Brihas Sarathy and Jay Prakash Goenka in establishing modern electronic mail facility, website development and data entry is equally praiseworthy. Due to their tireless efforts, the vast literature of Vipassana, the entire set of Tipitaka, Newsletters and detailed information related to meditation practice has been made available on the Internet.

S. N. Tandon, Dr. Paul Fleischman, Dr. Savitri Vyas, Bill & Virginia Hamilton, Ram Avadh Verma and others have contributed greatly in the field of literature.

One of my dear Dhamma sons is Bill Hart, whose book ‘The Art of Living’ introduced Vipassana to the entire world. This book has been and continues to be translated and published in many languages. Thousands of copies of this book have been sold. The merits that he has gained are immeasurable.

Nepal’s Yadukumar Siddhi, Maniharsh Jyoti, Uttam Ratna Dhakhwa, Nani Maiya Manandhar, Anand Raj Shakya, Dr. Roop Jyoti, Bodhi Bajra, Bed Nath, Madan and others; Thailand’s Nirand and Sutthi Chayodam; Sri Lanka’s Brindley (now Ven. Siddhartha) & Damayanthi Ratwatte; Myanmar’s Dr. Kay Wain, Daw Yema Maw Naing, U Thaung Pe & Daw Myint Myint Tin, Daw Saw Mya Yee, Sushila & U Shwe (Banwarilal) Goenka, Parsu Ram Gotama, Daw Win Kyi, U Kyaw Khin & Dr. Daw Mya Mya, Daw Sein Sein, U Tin Maung Shwe, U Thein Aung, and others; Iran’s Daryush Nowzohour; Mongolia’s Shirendev, Cambodia’s Mien Tan, Klaus and Nadia Helwig serving Philippines and Vietnam; Atsushi serving Japan, George Hsiao and Venerable Minjia from Taiwan, Patrick Given-Wilson & Ginnie Macleod, late Graham Gambie, Anne Doneman, John Burchall, Steve & Christine Smith, Michael & Trish Barnes, Volker Bochmann & Doris Herrmann from Australia; Don & Sally McDonald serving Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, New Zealand’s Ross Reynolds, UK’s late Drs. Gandhi, John & Joanna Luxford, Dr. Khin Maung Aye & Dr. Daw Kyi Sein, Kirk & Reinette Brown, Chris & Sachiko Weeden, Steve & Olwen Smith serving France, Andy & Caroline, Drs. Shwe & Sann Sann, Ian & Dr. Shelina Hetherington, Spain’s Martin & Deni Stephens, Belgium’s Dirk & Meike, Germany’s Floh Lehman, Heinz & Brunhilde, America’s Barry & Kate Lapping, Harry & Vivian Snyder, Bill & Anne, Dr. Jacques & Denise, Rick & Gair Crutcher, Bruce & Maureen Stewart, Ben and Cathy, Tim and Karen, Parker & Laura Mills, Philix Lee & Yu Yen serving China, Arthur Nichols and Daniel Mayer serving South America, Canada’s Dr. Geo & Cathy Poland, Bob & Jenny, Alain & Rachel, Evie Chauncey and others have played a major role in the spread of Dhamma worldwide.

An important incident:
I was on a world tour to conduct courses. When I reached Japan, an important person spread the rumour by phone that revered Sayagyi U Ba Khin had withdrawn his blessing and support to me; and that he would not even give mettā to me in courses. This message made everyone nervous. I too felt that if this is true, I should not conduct any more courses. I felt that all courses in Japan and elsewhere should be cancelled and I should return home. We were staying in Dhamma daughter Sachiko’s home. This unpleasant news has been spread by what seemed to be a reliable source. According to this news, since I was no longer a teacher in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin, Sachiko could have told us to leave but she didn’t.

John Beary proposed to all the assembled meditators that the next course should not be cancelled. This message may have been spread out of ill will. He suggested that the course should be held and if mettā is found to be weak, then the remaining courses could be cancelled. The course was conducted and it was very successful.

Everyone said that the mettā was even stronger that before. I am grateful to John Beary who ensured that the course was not cancelled. Otherwise, future courses would have stopped. Because of the success of this course, everyone including me was convinced that Sayagyi’s mettā and blessing were definitely with me. Future courses continued to be held successfully without any obstacles. Whenever I recall this incident, I am filled with boundless mettā.

Another incident:
At the end of my first course in North America, I learned that money had been collected from many new students at the beginning of the course. I was saddened because this was totally against the pure tradition of Dhamma. This had never happened in the courses in India in the preceding ten years. The course organisers said that they didn’t have sufficient money to organize the course. I felt that if sufficient funds were not available, the course should not have been held. I decided that henceforth I would not conduct courses in America. On hearing this, my Dhamma daughter Kate Pratt (Lapping) donated enough money for future courses. Therefore, courses began to be held regularly in America. When I recall this, I am filled with joy and mettā for Dhamma daughter Kate.

One more incident:
A course was being held in England. There were many requests to conduct courses in the West in addition to the courses in India. It was not possible for me to visit so many places and to conduct so many courses. Many students had ripened in Vipassana and had become ready to teach Vipassana. However, it was difficult for them to give the discourses every evening. France’s Jean Claude and Dr. Sukhdev Soni from Chicago proposed that my discourses should be video-taped so that videotapes could be given to the students whom I appointed as assistant teachers. They made the necessary arrangements to video-tape my discourses. This opened the doors for the spread of Dhamma. Though the format used by them for recording could not be used in other countries, an important task had begun. So I remember both of them with gratitude.

When I visited America, Thomas Crisman said that he would create videotapes in VHS format from the existing set, which could be used worldwide. Thanks to his efforts of providing teaching sets to them, hundreds of assistant teachers were able to use the videotapes of my discourses in Vipassana courses and the Ganges of Dhamma began to flow in many countries. The merit of my Dhamma son Thomas is immeasurable.

Eilona and Ayelet produced the documentary film ‘Doing Time, Doing Vipassana’ which won many awards and led to the introduction of Vipassana in many prisons. Their other films along with films by Donnenfield played an import
nt role in the spread of Vipassana.

The vital task of proper storage, distribution and transcription of all kinds of audio and video cassettes and CDs of course material and other tapes has been meticulously done by Larry & Ruth since many years. Now suitable arrangements have been made to ensure that these tapes are well protected.

And my Dhamma sons, Dr. Dhananjay Chavan and Dr. Rohi Shetty, while discharging their family responsibilities and sacrificing their livelihood, have been serving me and Dhamma, not for one or two days but for many years.

May the pāramīs of all servers and meditators keep growing! May all beings be happy! May all beings be peaceful! Boundless mettā towards all!

Mettā, S. N. Goenka

Special Program at Dhamma Pattana, Global Pagoda

Guru Purnima is on Friday, 18 July this year. A one-day course is being organized on Sunday, 20 July 2008 at Dhamma Pattana, Global Vipassana Pagoda, Mumbai so that maximum number of Vipassana meditators can attend.

Health permitting, Goenkaji will be present during the course.

Those wishing to attend the course should register at Dhamma Pattana office on phone (022) 2845-1206 and 2845-1204 from 11 am to 5 pm. Registration for the course is compulsory. The Satipatthana course at Dhamma Pattana from 19 to 27 July will now be held from 20 to 28 July to enable participants to attend the Guru Purnima one-day course. All courses at Dhamma Pattana are executive courses. Dhamma servers wishing to serve courses at Dhamma Pattana should call the above phone numbers.

VRI Council Annual Meeting

The Annual VRI Research Council Meeting will be held on 11th January 2009, Sunday, from 9.30 to 11.00 am.

Children’s Courses in Mumbai

To serve children’s courses in Mumbai, call 98200-22990.

Course Timings: 8:30 am to 2:30 pm. Registration: 11 am to 1 pm
Course Venues: Ghatkopar (W): SNDT School, New Building, Cama Lane, Opp Vidyut Society. Tel: 2510-1096, 2516-2505. Matunga: Amulakh Amirchand High School, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road, New SNDT College, King’s Circle, Matunga (CR), Tel: 2510-1096, 2516-2505. South Mumbai: Tel: 2308-1622. Ulhasnagar: Guru Nanak High School, Kurla Camp, Ulhasnagar-4. Tel: (0251) 252-2693. NB Please: *bring cushion, *register on the specified phone numbers, *inform in advance if unable to attend after registration, *arrive on time for the course.

New Responsibilities

Ācaryas:
Ms. Evie Chauncey: To serve Dhamma Modana (Canada)

Senior Assistant Teachers:
Mr. Pemasiri Amarasinghe: To serve Dhamma Sobhā (Sri Lanka)

New Appointments

Assistant Teachers:
1. Mr. Kaushal Kumar Bhardwaj, Delhi
2. Mr. Anil Kumar, New Delhi 3. Mrs. Prerna Parab, Mumbai
4. Mr. Rajendra Prasad, Chandigarh
5. Mr. Prem Chand Sunger, Adampur, Punjab
6. Dr. Khemraj Wankar, Nagpur
7. Ms. Timila Shilpakar, Nepal
8. Ms. Nuntiya Abhabhirama, Thailand
9. Mr. Vitcha Klinpratoom, Thailand
10. & 11. Mr. Paiboon & Mrs. Nate Tantrasuwan, Thailand

Children’s Course Teachers:
1. Mr. Prabhakar Nandeshwar, Indore
2. Dr. Ravi Divekar, Ratlam
3. & 4. Mr. Dilip and Mrs. Lata Sonone, Beed
5. Mrs. Sarika Raut, Parbhani
6. Mr. Anand Rugte, Parbhani
7. Mr. Maan Raghubeersingh, Nanded
8. Mrs. Anuradha Sunil Kulkarni, Nanded
9. Mrs. Rekha Rathor, Nanded
10 & 11. Dr. Mahendra & Mrs. Sujata Gaikwad, Aurangabad
12. Mr. Ravi Nagave, Aurangabad
13. Mr. Nagorao Dongre, Aurangabad
14. Mr. Anil Amrut Charbe, Nagpur
15. Mrs. Rekha Shankar Gokhe, Nagpur
16. Mr. Dharampal Babusha Mane, Yavatmal
17. Mr. Pradyanand Tukaram Ilamkar, Nagpur
18. Mrs. Gitanjali Rahul Borse, Nagpur
19. Mrs. Jui Tushar Borse, Nagpur
20. Mrs. Mandakini Gulabrao, Kandare, Wardha
21. Mrs. Pradnya Sunil Hire Khan, Amravati
22. Mrs. Karuna Bhalekar, Balaghat
23. Mr. Surendra Shende, Balaghat
24. Dr. Madan Singh Gautam, Saharanpur, UP
25. Mrs. Pratibha Jain, Kolkata
26. Ms. Sanjukta Chakma, Tripura
27. Mr. Sanjib Chakma, Tripura
28. Mr. Shishir Chakma, Tripura
29. Mr. Sukumar Chakma, Tripura
30. & 31. Mr. Om & Mrs. Meher Malhotra, USA
32. Mr. Steve Jarand Calagary, USA
33. & 34. Mr. William Ng & Mrs. Esther Low Sung Hu, Singapore
35. Ms. San Sanda Aung, Singapore
36. Mrs. Shirley Yap, Malaysia
37. Ms. Wong, Ah Chan, Malaysia
38. Mrs. Astha Jain, USA
39. Mrs. Lorene (Renee) Cerchie, USA

Dhamma Dohas

Dekha dukhī karūṇā jage, dekha sukhī mana moda;
Sabake prati maitrī jage, rahe samatva kā bodha.
May I feel compassion on seeing the sorrowful;
joy on seeing the happy.
May I feel goodwill towards all;
and equanimity in all situations.

Vyāpe viśva vipaśyanā, bahujana hita sukha hoya;
Jana-jana kā kalyāṇa ho! Jana jana maṅgala hoya.
May Vipassana spread worldwide for the good of many;
May all beings enjoy harmony! May all beings be happy!

Mana-mānasa meṅ pyāra hī, tarala taraṅgita hoya;
Roma-roma se dhvani uṭhe, sabakā maṅgala hoya.
May the mind be suffused by the vibrations of love;
May every fibre resonate with love and good will

Maiṅ karatā saba ko kṣamā, kareṅ mujhe saba koya;
Mere to saba mitra haiṅ, bairī dikhe na koya.
I pardon all beings; may all beings pardon me;
All beings are my friends; none are my enemy.