Vipassana Centers
The centre is currently located at Vietnam Mahaprajapati Nunnery, which is situated on the well known Vishwa Shanti Pagoda Road at Vaishali. It can accommodate about 70 male and 50 female students and courses are offered in all major foreign languages.
Mahaprajapati Gautami and her five hundred companions entered the monastic life and established the first Bikkhuni Sangha at Vaishali. The Buddha recited the Ratan sutta here. At the time of leaving Vaishali after his last rain retreat, the Buddha, on his way, turned around and gave the profound metta to Vaishali.
How to reach
Air: The nearest airport is Patna – 70 km
Rail: Patna Railway Station – 63 km, Hajipur Railway station – 35 km, Muzaffarpur Railway station – 40 km
Road: Vaishali is well connected by road to Patna, Hajipur, Muzaffarpur, Motihari etc. Buses and taxies are available at all the locations.
Climate Information
The month of March marks the start of summer season and it lasts till June. Temperature ranges between 22 to 44 degree celsius during these months. Vaishali experiences monsoon between the months of July to September. The month of November marks the start of winter season. Temperature drops down in between 4 to 28 degree celsius. Winter lasts till February in Vaishali
The Austrian Vipassana Trust has been established in 2008 in order to serve the growing demand for Vipassana courses in Austria. From 2008 till 2010 three courses could be organized annually at rented sites with capacities of up to 150 persons. In 2011 and 2012 four courses have been held and even five courseshave been scheduled for 2013 and 2014.
The long term perspective is to establish an Austrian meditation centre, dedicated solely to running Vipassana Meditation Courses. A site has been bought. Planning, design and funding are already in progress.
The first 10 day course in Portugal was held in Algarve in 1990 for only 9 students. Two of the students were old students and they were not Portuguese. At that moment, there were only two Vipassana students in Portugal. Since then, one 10 day course was conducted every year, having increased later on to two/three courses a year. Until 1998 the courses were conducted in English and Spanish, but thanks to the efforts of several Brazilian students, the course was recorded in Portuguese, allowing more and more Portuguese students to learn the technique.
In 2011, the Vipassana Association of Portugal was formed (non-profit Association), which is responsible for the organization of courses and also the spread of this meditation technique that promotes self-knowledge, morality, mental concentration, the observation and profound understanding of one’s own physical and mental reality. The Association is constituted by old students who meet at least once a year and are appointed every 3 years.
Because the Association is not connected to any type of organization, the running of the courses is only made possible by the voluntary donations. These donations are only accepted from those who have completed at least one course and who wish that other courses may happen so that other people may benefit as well
At present only short courses for old students are held in the Territory. The nearest ten day courses for new and old students are in Bali.