1986- Vipassana
A
large number of foreigners participated in some courses held at
Dalhousie. An elderly Christian priest and two elderly nuns participated
in one of these courses. They were
happy that many hippies discontinued LSD and other intoxicants as well
as sexual misconduct after practising Vipassana. But they wanted to find
out whether I was converting their followers to Buddhism. After
directly experiencing the benefits gained from the course, they were
delighted. Mother Mary said, “Goenka, you are teaching Christianity in
the name of Buddha.”
After
this course, many Christian priests and nuns started participating in
courses. Now, a course is held exclusively for them in Mumbai. More than
6,000 priests and nuns have benefited from Vipassana courses so far.
My friend, Shri Yashpal Jain and Vishnu Prabhakar attended one of the courses held at Dalhousie. Both of them were pleased with this teaching. Shri Yashpal Jain told Acaryashri Tulsiji, the Principal Teacher of Terapanth Saṅgha, about Vipassana and introduced me to him. Acaryashri Tulsiji was impressed and organized a course in Delhi for Acarya Munishri Nathmalji and other male and female disciples. All of them liked the purity of this teaching. As a result, he organized two courses in Tulsi Adyatma Needam of Ladnun, in which many of their male and female disciples participated and took benefit. After Acarya Tulsiji, the young Acarya Mahapragya (Munishri Nathmalji) became the Principal Teacher of Terapanth Saṅgha. He had already taken four courses in Vipassana. He made some modifications and started teaching it as Preksha Dhyan.
Sthanakvasi Sramansanghiya Chaturth Patdhar Acarya Dr. Shivmuniji and Munishri Amarendravijayji, Munishri Bhuvanchandraji, Munishri Parshwachandraji of Parshwachandragaccha Saṅgha had participated in many courses. However, there is no report of any of them making changes in the teaching of Vipassana. Along with Upadhyaya Amarmuniji, Sadhvishri Chandanaji, the manager of Virayatan, arranged a course at Rajgir and also at their second branch Naval Virayatan in Pune. Several other munis and sadhvis benefited from Vipassana and encouraged others to practise it.
Nirmalaji, Gandhiji’s daughter-in-law, organized the 50th Vipassana course at Mahatma Gandhi Ashram, Wardha. Some of Gandhiji’s followers participated in it. At the end of the course, I was taken to Vinoba Bhave’s Ashram. He stated that he will accept Vipassana only if it benefits prison inmates. I accepted the challenge. However, due to the government’s policy, a course could not be organized in the prison then.
Later, the first prison course was made possible by the efforts of Shri Ram Singhji, the Home Secretary of Rajasthan, who had participated in the 109th course. He relaxed the prison rules so that the courses could be conducted in the Central Jail of Jaipur. The beneficial results achieved in these courses paved the way for Vipassana courses in prisons all over the world. Kiran Bedi arranged several courses in Tihar Jail and a Vipassana centre was established there. Courses are being held in prisons of different countries. The Government of Myanmar has also allowed courses in prisons and centres have also been opened in two prisons there.
~ SNG @ Chronicles of Dhamma !!!
My friend, Shri Yashpal Jain and Vishnu Prabhakar attended one of the courses held at Dalhousie. Both of them were pleased with this teaching. Shri Yashpal Jain told Acaryashri Tulsiji, the Principal Teacher of Terapanth Saṅgha, about Vipassana and introduced me to him. Acaryashri Tulsiji was impressed and organized a course in Delhi for Acarya Munishri Nathmalji and other male and female disciples. All of them liked the purity of this teaching. As a result, he organized two courses in Tulsi Adyatma Needam of Ladnun, in which many of their male and female disciples participated and took benefit. After Acarya Tulsiji, the young Acarya Mahapragya (Munishri Nathmalji) became the Principal Teacher of Terapanth Saṅgha. He had already taken four courses in Vipassana. He made some modifications and started teaching it as Preksha Dhyan.
Sthanakvasi Sramansanghiya Chaturth Patdhar Acarya Dr. Shivmuniji and Munishri Amarendravijayji, Munishri Bhuvanchandraji, Munishri Parshwachandraji of Parshwachandragaccha Saṅgha had participated in many courses. However, there is no report of any of them making changes in the teaching of Vipassana. Along with Upadhyaya Amarmuniji, Sadhvishri Chandanaji, the manager of Virayatan, arranged a course at Rajgir and also at their second branch Naval Virayatan in Pune. Several other munis and sadhvis benefited from Vipassana and encouraged others to practise it.
Nirmalaji, Gandhiji’s daughter-in-law, organized the 50th Vipassana course at Mahatma Gandhi Ashram, Wardha. Some of Gandhiji’s followers participated in it. At the end of the course, I was taken to Vinoba Bhave’s Ashram. He stated that he will accept Vipassana only if it benefits prison inmates. I accepted the challenge. However, due to the government’s policy, a course could not be organized in the prison then.
Later, the first prison course was made possible by the efforts of Shri Ram Singhji, the Home Secretary of Rajasthan, who had participated in the 109th course. He relaxed the prison rules so that the courses could be conducted in the Central Jail of Jaipur. The beneficial results achieved in these courses paved the way for Vipassana courses in prisons all over the world. Kiran Bedi arranged several courses in Tihar Jail and a Vipassana centre was established there. Courses are being held in prisons of different countries. The Government of Myanmar has also allowed courses in prisons and centres have also been opened in two prisons there.
~ SNG @ Chronicles of Dhamma !!!
Labels: HEALTH, Personality, Religion, Self development
posted by C. Narayana Rao at 11:19 pm
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