My life has seen seventy autumns. And who knows how many more are left? How can the ones that are left be best used? May this awareness be maintained.
On this occasion some beneficial words of the Buddha come to mind. The incident is of Sāvatthi, in Anāthapinḍika’s Jetavanārama. It is night-time. A devaputta has come to meet the Buddha. He expresses his thoughts to the Buddha in the form of a gāthā of four lines—
Accenti kālā, tarayanti rattiyo
—Time is passing, nights are passing.
Vayoguṇā anupubbaṃ jahanti
—Life is gradually coming to an end.
Etaṃ bhayaṃ maraṇe pekkhamāno
—Observing the fear of (approaching) death
Puññāni kayirātha sukhāvahāni
—Perform meritorious deeds that yield pleasant fruits.
Someone has rightly said,
"Morning comes, evening comes,
Thus the end of life comes."
Do not let this priceless human life end in vain. Even if it is only out of fear of the approaching death, be engaged in meritorious deeds that yield pleasant fruit. If we perform unwholesome deeds, they will result in suffering for us. If we perform wholesome deeds, they will result in happiness for us. This is the unbreakable law of nature. Therefore it is better to do wholesome deeds rather than unwholesome deeds in order to avoid suffering and to enjoy happiness.
We do not know how long we have been crushed under the everchanging wheel of existence of worldly happiness and suffering, and for how long this wheel of worldly happiness and suffering will continue in the future. The Buddha discovered a simple and direct path to full liberation from this wheel of existence. He made it easily accessible to all. He taught the liberation-endowing technique of Vipassana to the people, by the practice of which they could be liberated from the wheel of existence and attain the eternal, unchanging nibbānaṃ paramamaṃ sukhaṃ meaning the ultimate happiness, the ultimate peace of nibbāna, which is much superior to worldly pleasures. But this is possible only after the habit of heedlessly running after the enjoyment of worldly sensual pleasures is broken. And this is just what Vipassana enables us to do. It breaks the habit pattern of multiplication of the saṅkhāras of craving and aversion which lie in the depth of the subconscious mind. It digs out the saṅkhāras of craving for pleasure and aversion towards suffering. It eradicates the longstanding habit of blind reaction. As long as craving for worldly pleasures remains, aversion will continue to arise towards worldly suffering and because of these two, the wheel of existence will continue to roll. Only when the wheel of existence breaks, can ultimate peace, which is supramundane, beyond the worlds, beyond the round of existence, beyond the field of senses, be attained. It was with this purpose that the Buddha taught the beneficial technique of Vipassana.
Hinting at this, upon hearing the above gāthā of four lines, the Buddha, changing its fourth line, said—
Lokāmisaṃ pajahe santipekkho
—One who hopes for the ultimate peace should give up the desire for worldly happiness.
Only by the intensive practice of Vipassana can one eradicate this worldly desire. While practising Vipassana, a meditator should maintain awareness of one’s impending death, but there should not be a trace of fear of death. Whenever death comes, one should be constantly prepared for it with a tranquil mind.
On the occasion of every birthday, a Vipassana meditator should certainly look back at the past. He should make a firm resolution that he will not repeat the mistakes he has commited in the past and that he will continue to perform whatever wholesome deeds he has done until now for the rest of his life. The most important wholesome deed of all is the practice of the liberating technique of Vipassana. This should not be neglected; it should be diligently practised. Do not postpone today’s practice till tomorrow. Let these words of the Buddha constantly echo in your ears like a warning—
Ajjeva kiccamātappaṃ
—Perform the work of meditation today itself. (Do not postpone it till tomorrow.)
Kojaññā maraṇaṃ suve
—Who knows, death may come tomorrow.
It is not necessary to invite death, but when it comes, there is no need to be afraid of it. Let us be prepared for it every moment.
From time to time we should practise maraṇānusati (contemplation about death). I have seen from my own experience that this is very beneficial. Sometimes while doing this, one should examine one’s own mind, "If I die tomorrow morning, what will be the state of the last moment of this life? Will any longing remain, even though this desire may be to complete some Dhamma mission? Whenever the saṅkhāra of some excessive emotion arises in the mind, we should immediately practise maraṇānusati and understand that, "If I die in the very next moment, what fearful direction will this excessive emotion give to this stream of becoming?" As soon as this awareness arises, it becomes easy for one to be liberated from this excessive emotion.
There is one more advantage of maraṇānusati from time to time. The mind thinks, "Who knows how many lives I have been rolling in the cycle of existence? This time, as a result of some wholesome deed, I have obtained the invaluable life of a human being. I have come in contact with pure Dhamma. I have developed faith in pure Dhamma, which is free from meaningless rituals and philosophies as well as from sectarian barriers. What benefit have I derived from this?" When one makes an assessment of this, whatever shortcomings remain, one develops enthusiasm to correct them. Whether death will come tomorrow morning or after a hundred autumns, I do not know. But no matter how many days I have to live, I will use them to perfect my pāramitās with a contented mind and make my human life meaningful. Whatever results come, let them come; whenever they come, let them come then. I leave that to Dhamma. On my part, let me continue to keep making the best use of the remaining time of this important life to the best of my ability.
For this purpose, let these inspiring words of the Buddha be with us—
Uttiṭṭhe nappamajjeyya dhammaṃ sucaritaṃ care.
—Arise! live the Dhamma life with diligence.
May I keep living the life of Dhamma. The results will naturally be beneficial.
Highlights Of 1997
International Events
The foundation-laying ceremony for the Grand Vipassana Pagoda took place at Gorai island near Mumbai on 26 October, 1997 in the presence of Venerable monks, the Principal Teachers, dignitaries from various countries and a large gathering of Vipassana students. During the ceremony, the Maha Bodhi Society presented sacred relics of the Buddha which will eventually be enshrined in the pagoda.
Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 1999, a fitting tribute to Sayagyi U Ba Khin in his centenary year.
At the same function the first Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana CD-ROM was released. This CD-ROM produced by Vipassana Research Institute contains the entire Tipiṭaka and allied literature in Devanagari, Roman and Myanmar scripts. It will be distributed worldwide as Dhamma dāna to research scholars, institutions and others wishing to read the Tipiṭaka in Pali.
"Doing Time, Doing Vipassana", a film about Vipassana in Tihar Central Prison, Delhi, produced by Karuna Films, was shown on Israeli TV, leading to an overwhelming demand for more courses in that country. It is also being sold to public television networks in the USA and Ireland.
Dhamma on the Internet: Vipassana Homepage information for new students, currently available in English, is being translated into Spanish, German, French, Italian, Swedish and Japanese and in 1998 will also be available in Hindi and Hebrew. During 1997, 1000 to 2000 contacts were received daily from over 50 countries throughout the world. More and more people are finding access to Vipassana information from this website. Course registration by E-mail is also steadily increasing.
India
A total of 256 ten-day courses, including about 50 courses in prisons, and 42 old-student courses were conducted in India in 1997 benefitting 13,993 new and 6,991 old students.
Vipassana International Academy, Dhamma Giri, held 21 ten-day and 9 old-student courses benefitting 7350 new and 2892 old students.
A special four-language parallel course for lay people and monks and nuns from Myanmar and Taiwan as well as the usual Hindi and English course was held from 28 October to 8 November.
A group of 48 Iranians successfully completed the 16 November ten-day course.
New Centres
A meditator had donated forty acres of land at the foot of the Shivalika mountains in Hoshiarpur, Punjab for a Vipassana centre. Goenkaji has named it Dhamma Dhaja.
Three new centres started conducting regular courses in 1997: Dhammānanda, Pune; Dhamma Nāga, Nagpur; Dhamma Koṭa, Rajkot.
Courses for Special Groups
(a) Three courses were held at the Akworth Leprosy Hospital exclusively for people with leprosy in May, July and August, 1997, with about forty students in each course. More courses are planned for next year.
(b) Two courses exclusively for the visually handicapped were successfully organised in Mumbai in September and November, 1997.
(c) A number of courses have been held exclusively for the students and faculty members of the Jawaharlal Nehru Engineering College, Aurangabad and the Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development, Pune.
(d) Over 2133 inmates participated in about 50 ten-day, 2 Satipaṭṭhāna, 7 ānāpāna and 5 short courses in jails in Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan. In addition, more than 100 female inmates and over 400 adolescent inmates also took part in Vipassana courses.
(e) The Gujarat State Govt. has given permission for Vipassana courses to be held in four Police Training Centres.
Children’s Courses
Approximately 22,000 children attended courses in India in 1997.
Land is being acquired in Nashik, Maharashtra, in order to establish a centre for conducting regular ānāpāna courses for children. Regular children’s courses will be also be held in Raipur from April 1998.
Many children who have been practicing ānāpāna regularly are now sitting Vipassana courses. For example, Suyash Vidyalaya, Sholapur has Ānapana as part of the daily curriculum and students meditate for half an hour every day. Ten of these students undertook a ten-day course at Dhamma Giri in March 1997. This year forty of the students in Xth class are ready for Vipassana. Similarly, Bunyadi Girl’s School, Gujarat has Ānapana as part of the curriculum and at the end of the school year, class X students do a ten-day course in the school itself. Some schools in Rajasthan are also following a similar programme.
A new 12-minute film has been prepared to explain children’s courses to educators. Copies of this are being distributed to all centres.
Tipitaka mein Samyaka Sambuddha-Volumes 1 & 2, written by Goenkaji, have been prescribed as text books by the Mahabodhi Society, Bangalore, for students of Pali.
Nepal
Two new centres have been established: Dhamma Tarāi in Birganj and Dhamma Jananī in Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha.
The first 30-day course in Dharmashriṅga, Kathmandu, was conducted in 1997. In addition, a ten-day course was organised especially for monks and nuns from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan, at their request.
North And Latin America
The Vipassana Foundation has purchased 56 acres of undeveloped land for a Vipassana centre in a rural mountainous area near the small town of Merritt, 145 miles east of Vancouver, British Columbia. Goenkaji has named it Dhamma Surabhi. A three-day old student course, using tents, was held from 29 August to 1 September to inaugurate the new centre. Plans are being drawn up and construction will proceed as more funds become available.
A suitable site for a second Vipassana centre in Canada has been found near Montreal and is likely to be purchased.
A programme is currently underway to introduce Vipassana courses into the prisons of North America. The first prison course to be given in the West was successfully conducted at the North Rehabilitation Facility, Seattle, from 28 October to 8 November. The next course, for women prisoners is scheduled to begin from 24 February, 1998.
The first Vipassana course in Bolivia was held and the first children’s course in Latin America took place in Venezuela.
Australia And New Zealand
Dhamma Āloka, Victoria, has developed very rapidly. 1997 was the first full year of operation—one ten day course was held every month, serving an average of 25 students in each course.
South And East Asia
Japan: The launch of the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana CD-ROM at an international Buddhist conference in Kyoto was a major event this year. The CD project introduces the activities of the Japan Vipassana centre to respected Pali scholars and establishes this centre as a serious meditation retreat, where the authentic technique of Vipassana is being taught and practiced.
Thailand: The first long course was held at Dhamma Kamala during 1997 and work has begun on a pagoda and cell complex for 160 persons. Recently two additional centre sites have been donated. Both are currently under development. One is in north-central Thailand near Visnulok and the other in Chumporn in the south.
Cambodia:.. 7 ten-day courses were held at Dhamma Kamboja from November 1996 to March 1997, each filled to capacity. In addition, children’s courses have been very heavily subscribed.
China: Recent efforts to arrange courses in the country were rewarded with the successful completion of the first ten-day course in Hong Kong in Decenber 1997. Newly recorded materials in Cantonese were also used for the first time.
Mongolia: Two ten-day courses were held for the first time in Mongolia during 1997, using specially prepared bilingual teaching materials. The courses were very successful and as a result, land for a Vipassana centre has been obtained near the city of Ulaanbaater. Goenkaji has named it Dhamma Maṅgala.
Europe
France: Eighteen meditation cells have been built at Dhamma Mahī and another twelve will soon be added. A studio has been established to record course materials in various languages. The Cambodian community has purchased a property east of Paris where they hold regular group sittings.
Austria: The first Vipassana course was successfully held in November, 1997.
Russia: Ten-day course material is being recorded in Russian and a Vipassana World Contact has been appointed for the territories of the former Soviet Union.
Annual Conference—9 and 10 January, 1998
More than 500 meditators participated in the Annual Conference. On the first day, reports of achievements in 1997, both in India and abroad, were presented and then delegates split into groups to discuss various topics. Committees also met to review action taken during the year and plan for the future. In the evening Goenkaji gave a lucid exposition of the Tikapaṭṭhāna. On the second day, the members of the Vipassana Research Council met to plan action for the forthcoming year and in the evening a question-and-answer session with S. N. Goenka, followed by his closing address concluded the Conference.
Another year is over
1997 was a year that was marked by a rapid and substantial spread of Dhamma throughout the world. Even though there are more than fifty Vipassana centres worldwide and over 400 assistant teachers appointed by S. N. Goenka, the demand for Vipassana courses continues to outstrip the supply. The single most important factor responsible for this growth is the quality of Dhamma itself, the quality of "ehi passiko" (come and see).
May Dhamma continue to spread through India and the world for the good and benefit of many.