About Satya Narayan Goenka

Mr. Satya Narayan Goenka (born 1924) is the Principal Teacher of Vipassana, the practical quintessence of the Buddha’s teaching. A leading industrialist in Myanmar (Burma) after the Second World War, Goenkaji, as he is affectionately known outside India, is living proof that the mental exercise of meditation is necessary for a wholesome and beneficial life. Known for his humility, deep compassion, unperturbed composure, Mr. Goenka’s emphasis on the self-dependant, non-sectarian and result oriented nature of Vipassana found appeal in a world searching for a practical path out of stress and suffering.

As an indicator of the increasing universal acceptance of the Buddha’s scientific teachings, Mr. Goenka has been invited to lecture by institutions as diverse as the United Nations General Assembly, members of the Indian Parliament, Harvard Business Club, Dharma Drum Mountain Monastery (of Ven. Sheng Yen) in Taiwan, the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Smithsonian Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Silicon Valley Indian Professionals Association.

Mr. Goenka’s success in service comes from being an inspiring example and an ideal, and of practicing what he asks his students to practice. “Develop purity in yourself if you wish to encourage others to follow the path of purity,” he told an annual meeting in Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri, on March I, 1989. “Discover real peace and harmony within yourself, and naturally this will overflow to benefit others.”

Mr. Goenka is a tireless worker. In 2002, at the age of 78, he undertook a remarkable Dhamma tour of the West. Accompanied by his wife Illaichidevi Goenka, a few senior teachers and students, he traveled for 128 days through Europe and North America, joyfully sharing the priceless gift of Vipassana. The second leg of the tour was a 13,000-mile road journey in a motor caravan through the United States and Canada.

A prolific writer and poet, Mr. Goenka writes in English, Hindi and Rajasthani. He quotes the Buddha’s words: “Those who have a strong feeling of gratitude, and a wish to serve others without expecting anything, are very rare people.” With his over 50 years of dedicated Dhamma service, Mr. Goenka belongs to that very rare category.

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