SN Goenka

S. N.
Goenka North American Tour 2002

Meditation Now: Inner Peace for Inner Wisdom
BIOGRAPHY: S. N. GOENKA
Mr. S. N. (SATYA NARAYAN) GOENKA, the foremost lay teacher of Vipassana meditation,
was a student of the late Sayagyi U Ba Khin of Burma (Myanmar). The technique which Mr.
Goenka teaches represents a tradition that is traced back to the Buddha. The Buddha never taught
a sectarian religion; he taught Dhamma— the way to liberation— which is universal. In the same
way, Mr. Goenka’s approach is totally nonsectarian. For this reason his teaching has a profound
appeal to people of all backgrounds, of every religion and no religion, from every part of the
world.
FROM BUSINESSMAN TO SPIRITUAL TEACHER

Mr. Goenka was born in Mandalay, Myanmar, in 1924. He joined his family business in 1940
and rapidly became a pioneering industrialist establishing several manufacturing corporations.
He soon became a leading figure in Myanmar’s large influential Indian community and for many
years headed such organizations as the Burma Marwari Chamber of Commerce and the Rangoon
Chamber of Commerce & Industry. He often accompanied Union of Burma trade delegations on
international tours as an advisor.
In 1956 Mr. Goenka took his first ten-day Vipassana course at the International Meditation
Center in Rangoon, under the guidance of Sayagyi U Ba Khin. In 1962 Mr. Goenka’s industries
and businesses were taken over when the newly installed military government of Myanmar
nationalized all industry in the country. This gave him an opportunity to spend more time with
his teacher for meditation and in-depth training, all the while remaining a devoted family man
and father of six sons.
After 14 years practicing with his teacher, he was appointed a teacher of Vipassana and devoted
his life to spreading the technique for the benefit of all humanity. Shortly thereafter he came to
India and conducted his first ten-day meditation course in 1969. In India, a country still sharply
divided by caste and religion, Vipassana has been widely and easily accepted because of its
nonsectarian nature.
The Vipassana International Academy (Dhamma Giri) was established in 1974 in Igatpuri, near
Bombay, India. Courses of ten days and even longer duration are held there continuously. In
1979 Mr. Goenka began traveling abroad to introduce Vipassana in other countries of the world.
He has personally taught tens of thousands of people in more than 400 ten-day courses in Asia,
North America, Europe and Australasia.
(more)
S. N. Goenka Backgrounder Page 2
In response to an ever-growing demand, he started training assistant teachers to conduct these

ten-day residential courses on his behalf. To date, he has trained more than 700 assistant teachers
who have, with the help of thousands of volunteers, held Vipassana courses in more than ninety
countries including the People’s Republic of China, Iran, Muscat, the United Arab Emirates,
South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mongolia, Russia, Serbia, Taiwan, Cambodia, Mexico, Cuba and all
the countries of South America. More than 80 centers devoted to the teaching of Vipassana have
been established in 21 countries.
Today more than 1,000 courses are held annually around the world. One of the unique aspects of
these Vipassana courses is that they are offered free of any charge for board, lodging or tuition;
the expenses are completely met by voluntary donations. Neither Mr. Goenka nor his assistants
receive any financial gain from these courses.
A prolific writer and poet, Mr. Goenka composes in English, Hindi and Rajasthani and his works
have been translated into many languages. He has been invited to lecture by institutes as diverse
as the Dharma Drum Mountain Monastery (of Ven. Sheng Yen) in Taiwan; the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland; and the Millennium World Peace Summit at the United Nations
where he stressed for the assembled spiritual leaders the overreaching importance of inner peace
to effect real world peace.
TEACHING FOR ALL SECTIONS OF SOCIETY: FROM PRISONERS TO CIVIL SERVANTS

Vipassana meditation has been taught to prison inmates and staff in many parts of India as well
as the United States, Britain, New Zealand, Taiwan and Nepal. There are permanent Vipassana
centers in two Indian prisons. More than ten thousand prisoners have attended ten-day Vipassana
courses in jails and prisons. One thousand prisoners participated in a ground-breaking ten-day
course conducted by Mr. Goenka in Tihar Jail, Delhi, in April,1994. What started in a dramatic
way in Tihar has now spread all over India. Convinced of its positive effects the Government of
India has recommended that every prison in the country should organize ten-day Vipassana
courses for inmates. As a result hundreds of prisoners continue to participate in Vipassana
retreats every month. In addition, thousands of police officers have also attended Vipassana
courses in the center at the Police Academy, Delhi and at other centers in India.
Men and women from all walks of life successfully practice Vipassana. They include the highly
educated and the illiterate, the wealthy and the impoverished, aristocrats and slum-dwellers,
devout followers of every religion and followers of none, the powerful and the powerless, the
elderly and the young. Courses have been organized for people with disabilities, including the
blind and leprosy patients. Other programs have focused on school children, drug addicts,
homeless children, college students and business executives.
(more)
Meditation Now: Inner Peace through Inner Wisdom Goenkabio.doc

S. N. Goenka North American Tour 2002
S. N. Goenka Backgrounder Page 3
High level institutions in India, such as the governments of the states of Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh; large corporations such as the Oil and Natural Gas Commission;
leading research institutes such as the Bhabha Atomic Research Institute; and national training
institutes such as the Indian Institute of Taxation—all encourage their employees to attend
Vipassana courses as part of their ongoing job training.
COMMITMENT TO PEACE
Mr. Goenka believes and teaches that for peace outside (among nations, among different
communities) there must be peace inside. Individuals must learn the "art of living "in order to
live peaceful lives. This is the heart of his teaching to people from different backgrounds. One
important consequence of his work in India has been a subtle but telling influence on inter-
religious harmony. Thousands of Catholic priests, Buddhist monks, Jain ascetics, Hindu sanyasis
and other religious leaders have come and continue to come to Vipassana courses. The
universality of Vipassana—the core of the Buddha’s teaching—is providing a way whereby
ideological differences can be bridged and people of diverse backgrounds can experience deep
benefits without fearing conversion.
Mr. Goenka recently made history in India when he and a leading Hindu leader, HH
Shankaracharya of Kanchi, met and together exhorted Hindus and Buddhists alike to forget past
differences and live in harmony. After this initial meeting Mr. Goenka also met HH
Shankaracharya of Sringeri and many other top Hindu leaders in an effort to establish
harmonious relations between Hindu and Buddhist communities.
Despite this uniquely positive development, mere exhortations cannot bring about the much
desired reconciliation and cooperative spirit. Only when individuals undertake to remove from
within themselves the blocks to peace and harmony can peace begin to flower outside and affect
society. For this reason Mr. S. N. Goenka has always emphasized that the practical application of
meditation is what will enable man to achieve inner as well as outer peace.
-30-
Further information, downloads and local media contacts: www.MeditationNow.org

National media contact: Josh Baron, 212.779.2666
International web site: www.dhamma.org
Meditation Now: Inner Peace through Inner Wisdom Goenkabio.doc

S. N. Goenka North American Tour 2002

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Who is S.N. Goenka and what is his background?

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S. N.

Goenka North American Tour 2002

FROM BUSINESSMAN TO SPIRITUAL TEACHER

In response to an ever-growing demand, he started training assistant teachers to conduct these

TEACHING FOR ALL SECTIONS OF SOCIETY: FROM PRISONERS TO CIVIL SERVANTS

Meditation Now: Inner Peace through Inner Wisdom Goenkabio.doc

Further information, downloads and local media contacts: www.MeditationNow.org

Meditation Now: Inner Peace through Inner Wisdom Goenkabio.doc

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