Celebration Of The Centenary Year
- by S. N. Goenka
(The following is a translation of an article by S. N. Goenka published in the March 1999 issue of the Hindi Vipaśhyanā Patrika)
My life has seen seventy-five springs.
Someone came and said, "Let us celebrate amrit mahostav on your birthday."
Amrit mahostav?
Meaning celebration of one who has not died till now. But one who has seen seventy-five springs and has not died, will surely die after seeing a few more springs. What is the use of amrit mahostav of such a mortal person?
Instead, let us celebrate the amrit mahostav of my revered Teacher, Sayagyi U Ba Khin. His rūpa kāya (physical body) may be no more but on the strength of our boundless devotion to him, we will not allow his glory to be forgotten. We will immortalise it. That would be a meaningful amrit mahostav.
On the auspicious occasion of his first centenary year, let us make a resolve in all gratitude: we will immortalise the glory of that epoch-making Bodhisatta. The Vipassana family not only of today but also of future generations will gratefully remember his benevolence for centuries. As long as the sacred memory of Sākyamunī Gotama Buddha remains alive on this earth, the glorious memory of the boundless benevolence of this Dhamma son of the Buddha will also endure.
We shall also be eternally grateful to Myanmar, who not only preserved the original teachings of the Buddha through the saintly Teacher-student tradition but also preserved the beneficial technique of Vipassana, the greatest gift of the Buddha to humanity, in its pristine purity.
We also feel boundless gratitude to the revered eminent bhikkhu Ledi Sayadaw, who not only made the technique of Vipassana, which had been preserved by bhikkhus for centuries easily accessible to householders, but also trained a householder as a Vipassana Teacher.
We feel boundless gratitude also to the first householder Teacher, Saya Thetgyi, who carried out this special responsibility with remarkable success, so that people were assured that a householder can also fulfil the role of a skilled Vipassana Teacher filled with mettā.
And words cannot express the gratitude we feel towards his chief disciple, Sayagyi U Ba Khin, whose irrepressible enthusiasm and extraordinary Dhamma-inspiration resulted in our receiving this liberating technique. This technique which had been lost for centuries was rediscovered by Sākyamunī Siddhattha Gotama, not only for his own benefit but also for the welfare of innumerable beings. But it was again lost in India, the country of its origin, and in the rest of the world, except in suvaṇṇabhūmi Myanmar. My revered Teacher had unwavering faith in the ancient belief that this technique would arise again and return to the country of its origin. He used to repeatedly say that the clock of Vipassana had struck and that Vipassana would arise again in its birthplace, India. Many people with pāramīs have been born in India at this time who will happily accept it, and thereafter, like the sun it will penetrate the darkness of ignorance enveloping the entire world and become the cause of infinite welfare in the world.
He used to say that Myanmar received this technique centuries ago and was indebted to India. In order to repay this debt, it would have to return the technique of Vipassana to India. He wished to come to India to carry out this sacred work himself but could not do so. Although unable to come to India physically, he certainly came with his Dhamma son in spirit and helped him to accomplish this Dhamma mission.
Let there be no delusion in the minds of Vipassana meditators that they have received this priceless technique from Goenka. Goenka is only a medium. Actually all have received this technique from Sayagyi U Ba Khin. Since July 1969 when Goenka gave his first course up to the present time, he has been humbly acknowledging this truth while giving every course and will do so in the future as well. While giving Anapana, his Dhamma voice reverberates in the course with the words
"Guruvara! Terī ora se, deuṅ dharama kā dāna...."
"Revered Teacher, I am giving the gift of Dhamma on your behalf..."
And similarly while giving Vipassana
"Guruvara! Terā pratinidhi, deuṅ dharama kā dāna...."
"Revered Teacher, I am giving the gift of Dhamma as your representative..."
And at the end of the course, after mettā, while returning to my residence
"Guruvara! Tero punya hai, tero hī paratāpa;
logāṅ nai baṅṭyo dharama, dūra karaṇa bhavatāpa.
"Revered Teacher, it is because of your merit, your glory;
That I distribute Dhamma to the people to eradicate their misery.
All assistant Teachers also play these tapes during their courses, and in future, all Teachers of this generation and of future generations will conduct courses with these tapes. Therefore, it is clear that the real credit for the return of pure Vipassana to India and its spread to the entire world from India goes to my revered Teacher, Sayagyi U Ba Khin. How can any Vipassana meditator forget his benevolence?
This is a luminous historical fact if it were not for Myanmar, Vipassana would not have been preserved. If Vipassana had not been preserved, there would have been no Ledi Sayadaw. If there had been no Ledi Sayadaw, there would have been no Saya Thetgyi. If there had been no Saya Thetgyi, there would have been no Sayagyi U Ba Khin and if there had been no Sayagyi U Ba Khin, how could there be Goenka? Goenka is the Dhamma son of Sayagyi. If the strong Dhamma inspiration to repay the old debt of India and the Dhamma aspiration to spread Vipassana throughout India and the world had not arisen in the mind of Sayagyi U Ba Khin, how would it have been possible to achieve all that has been achieved? This great householder saint played a major role in the revival and spread of the second Dhamma sāsana. How can we repay our debt to him? Truly
Roma roma kṛitajña huā, ṛṇa na cukāyā jāya.
Every pore is filled with gratitude, this debt cannot be repaid.
The best way to repay this debt is to
Jīyeṅ jīvana dharma kā!
Live the life of Dhamma.
On the auspicious occasion of his centenary, let all Vipassana meditators make a firm resolution to live the life of Dhamma to the best of their ability. We, the students of Sayagyi U Ba Khin, will continue to increase his glory. Walking resolutely on the path of Dhamma, not only will we benefit ourselves but we will also be the cause of the benefit of others. Seeing our Dhammic behaviour, those who do not have faith in Vipassana will develop faith; and those who have faith will strengthen their faith. Thus, the spread of Vipassana will pave the path for the welfare of innumerable people.
It is by virtue of the infinite mettā of my revered Teacher Sayagyi U Ba Khin that Vipassana has gained a firm footing in India within the past thirty years. The people of every class and of every religious community of India have joyfully accepted it. People from more than a hundred countries in all six continents of the world have accepted it without hesitation and gained much benefit.
I do not wish to devalue whatever work has been done in such a short time, but certainly a lot more remains to be done. Accepting whatever has been achieved as the foundation, let us all prepare ourselves for the multifold progress of Vipassana. Let us come together on this occasion and resolve to complete the following projects, so that the beneficent technique of Vipassana may enter the next millennium in an abundantly effective manner, thus fulfilling the Dhamma wish of Sayagyi U Ba Khin.
**The established Vipassana centres in India and around the world where regular Vipassana courses are being organised as well as the newly-formed centres should develop so that many more people can gain benefit from them.
**Even though about 600 students are given admission in every course at the Vipassana International Academy at Dhamma Giri, many have to wait for months to gain admission to a course. It is becoming difficult to conduct 20, 30, and 45-day courses along with 10-day courses because of insufficiency of accommodation. Therefore, it has been decided that only 10-day courses will be held at Dhamma Giri. A new centre called Dhamma Tapovana will be established adjacent to Dhamma Giri, where not only 20, 30, and 45-day courses but 60, 75, and 90-day courses will be conducted. All meditators at the new centre will be provided with self-contained single rooms with all necessary facilities as well as solitary meditation cells to enable them to meditate for long periods without any disturbance. This centre should be developed quickly so that serious meditators can meditate intensively there and derive maximum benefit from this technique.
**In addition to courses in established Vipassana centres, non-centre courses are organised in many countries to enable many more people to benefit from Vipassana. Such non-centre courses should be organised at more and more places.
**Vipassana courses held in the prisons of India, Nepal, Taiwan, UK and the US have played an important role in the rehabilitation of the inmates of these prisons. Such prison courses should continue in these countries and should also be conducted in prisons in other countries.
**Extremely fruitful Vipassana courses have been conducted for the visually impaired in India and Nepal. Such courses should be organised not only in these countries but in other countries as well.
**Vipassana courses for leprosy patients are being conducted in India resulting in great improvement in their mental attitude. Because of Vipassana, their feelings of inferiority have been dispelled and there is contentment in their lives. This successful application of Vipassana should be continued.
**Many people addicted to gambling, tobacco and intoxicants have become free from such addictions because of the practice of Vipassana. In Australia and Switzerland, government-funded research work has been done and continues in the application of Vipassana in rehabilitation of drug addicts. Such beneficial research should be encouraged in other countries as well.
**Thousands of school children are benefiting from Anapana and college students are benefiting from Vipassana in India as well as in many other countries. Multifold progress should be made in this area so that future generations will be able to live happy and harmonious lives with mutual love, affection and goodwill.
**In India, particularly in Mumbai, Anapana is being successfully taught to street children. This should be encouraged elsewhere.
**Paṭipatti Vipassana is the practical aspect of Dhamma. The Vipassana Research Institute which was established to throw light on pariyatti, the theoretical aspect of Dhamma, has achieved remarkable success. It has produced a CD-ROM containing the original Pali Tipiṭaka along with all its commentaries, sub-commentaries, sub-sub-commentaries, and many other Pali texts. The remaining rare Pali texts wherever available should be included in this CD. The publication of these books is also progressing satisfactorily.
**Similarly the praiseworthy work of producing a CD containing the entire scriptural literature in Sanskrit has begun. It is necessary to complete it soon. This will help to undertake serious research work which will enable us to understand why the beneficial technique of Vipassana and its related literature was lost in this country. Awareness of these causes will help to preserve Vipassana and its literature for a long time so that my revered Teacher’s wish "ciraṃ tiṭṭhatu saddhammo" will be fulfilled. This work should never be done by generating aversion towards any other religion it should be done only for the investigation of the actual reality. My revered Teacher was a supporter of the Dhamma policy of satyameva jayate the truth will prevail. These very words were written behind his chair in Myanmar language.
**In order to complete the above objective, a Dhammakula (university) will soon be established in Vipassana Research Institute, where students of different countries will be provided with accommodation and training facilities. Foreign students will be taught Pali, Sanskrit, Hindi, and other Indian languages and Indian students will be taught Myanmar, Sri Lankan, Thai, Cambodian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, and other languages. These bilingual or multilingual students will revive ancient Indian literature in India and abroad where it has been lost. They will translate it enabling serious research work to be carried out.
**One more extremely important project is the early completion of the construction of the memorial of revered Teacher Sayagyi U Ba Khin in the form of the Grand Vipassana Pagoda in Mumbai. This Pagoda will be used only for Vipassana meditation, which will help to fulfil my revered Teacher’s Dhamma dream. Thousands of Vipassana meditators will benefit from group meditation or one day courses in its vast meditation hall. It can be easily inferred that when meditators benefit so much from group meditation of 50-100 meditators, how much more effective and beneficial will be the group meditation of thousands. The words of the Buddha will be directly experienced there, "Samaggānaṃ tapo sukho" Meditating together is a source of happiness.
It is natural for misconceptions to arise in the minds of uninformed people about this Pagoda. They may feel that the symbol of some sectarian religion is being created. But when they see that no other religious ritual is being performed, there is no sign of incense, lamps, offerings, bells or idol worship only Vipassana meditation is practised this misconception will be dispelled.
It is true that even without the external shape of a pagoda, it would have been possible to construct a vast pillarless hall for the group meditation of ten thousand people. Then why create this shape of a pagoda that can produce this misunderstanding of sectarianism? People will stop harbouring this misconception when they become aware that the purpose of this shape is a reminder of the gratitude that we owe to Myanmar. This Pagoda is a symbol of our boundless gratitude towards that Dhamma country. When the technique of Vipassana went to neighbouring countries, the first pagodas built by those people were replicas of the stupas in India of that time. They were built so that whenever the people there saw those stupas, they would remember this great gift of India and bow their heads in devotion. In exactly the same way, people here will see the replica of the Shwedagon Pagoda and will remember the gift of Myanmar, the country that preserved this technique for a long time like a priceless inheritance. They will also remember the householder saint born in Myanmar, Sayagyi U Ba Khin, because of whose irrepressible enthusiasm India regained this ancient treasure and which spread from here to the corners of the world, as a result of which India again became worthy of fulfilling the role of viśhvaguru Teacher of the world. Therefore, this Pagoda will be a symbol of our gratitude, not the symbol of any sectarian religion. In fact, this Pagoda will be a magnificent symbol of the revival of Vipassana in India. It will be a monument to the greatness of Sayagyi U Ba Khin.
The special gallery that will be built outside the Pagoda will throw light on the true nature of the glorious historical superhuman personality of Gotama Buddha by extricating it from the mire of mythological legend so that India will again be able to hold its head high in the world. This gallery will depict numerous important events of the life of the Buddha as well as the ancient technique of Vipassana through the use of sophisticated audio-visual techniques. As a result of this, the widespread darkness of ignorance in India about the Buddha and his true teaching will be dispelled and many people will accept his non-sectarian, scientific and beneficial teaching. A large number of people who come to see this magnificent Pagoda will learn about Vipassana meditation and many among them will take part in a Vipassana course in India or in their own countries and gain great benefit. In this way, Vipassana will spread throughout the world and result in world happiness.
This was the sacred Dhamma aspiration of my revered Teacher, Sayagyi U Ba Khin. Come, completing all the above projects and fulfilling his noble wishes, let us attain our own welfare and help in the welfare of others.
