It is with great joy that Dhamma Sobhā shares the wonderful news of its successful first ten-day course with the worldwide Dhamma family. The course was held from 29 March to 9 April, 2007 with 80 students and servers from all the four categories of the Buddha’s teaching: bhikkhus, bhikkhunis as well as male and female lay people.

The students and servers worked hard with minimal facilities and under difficult conditions as Dhamma Sobhā is still very much under construction.

The preparations started two months before Goenkaji’s visit to Sri Lanka in May 2006 to celebrate the 2550th Buddha Mahaparinibbana.

During Goenkaji’s visit, Dhamma Sobhā organized a one-day course in which over more than a thousand old students meditated under temporary coconut-palm thatched tents. The only finished structure at that time was the Teacher’s Residence which was constructed with the generous donation of an old student. Construction crews worked double shifts and built the Teacher’s Residence with all the requisite facilities in less than three weeks. It was indeed a miracle of Dhamma. The workers laid floor tiles and put up the curtains on the night before the course and the final preparations were completed minutes before Goenkaji’s arrival at the centre.

Within ten months of that auspicious visit, a magnificent Dhamma hall that can seat over 120 meditators stands atop a hill. A four story building that functions as kitchen, dining hall, accommodation for male students and male Dhamma servers is two-thirds completed. The female accommodation that provides facilities for 60 students is almost ready. These facilities were provided by a generous old student who is very keen to see the rising need for Vipassana courses in Lanka fulfilled.

On the very first day of the course, there was an undetected leak in the water pipes which emptied the 80,000 gallon holding tanks. As a result, there was no water on the second day. Fortunately, a huge downpour provided enough water to last the twelve hours that it took to fix the leak. Meanwhile a 10,000 gallon water truck was summoned with great difficulty to replenish the well and supply running water in the taps by the end of the afternoon group meditation on the third day.

That night, a rainstorm blew away some of the roofing of the female accommodation blocks. The students were serenely listening to Goenkaji’s “mass of bubbles” discourse with smiles on their faces, oblivious to the wet mattresses on their concrete beds. Meanwhile the servers and construction workers worked untiringly, drenched in the heavy rain, to cover the paneless windows and doorless rooms to keep the rain away.

Sri Lanka is torn by ethnic violence and Guruji pointed out on his visit last year that Dhamma is the only solution to bring peace back to this island of Dhamma. Already there is a high demand for the next course and the next.

However, as the initial construction funds have been spent, completion of the remaining facilities of the centre is a struggle. A large amount was spent on building retaining walls as the land on Dhamma Sobhā sits is located is extremely sloped. Students are currently staying in rooms without windows and doors and permanent toilet facilities are still under construction. This is coming in the way of holding regular ten-day courses. To complete these basic facilities it would cost a minimum of USD 100,000.

Old students who would like to help in any way may contact:
The Treasurer
Dhamma Sobha Vipassana Meditation Centre
No. 38 Pahala Kosgama, Kosgama, Sri Lanka
Tel: [94] 11-280-1183, [94] 36-225-3955
Email: dhammasobha@yahoo.com

May Dhamma Sobhā along with Dhamma Kūṭa in Kandy help countless suffering beings to come out of their suffering in this war-torn island of Dhamma. May peace and harmony prevail in Sri Lanka.

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