What is Vipassana?

Vipassana, meaning “to see things as they really are”, is an ancient meditation technique rediscovered by the Buddha over 2,500 years ago. It is a universal, non-sectarian method for purifying the mind and achieving deep happiness through liberation from suffering.

Course finances

Courses are completely free, funded only by donations from past students who benefited and wish to give others the same chance.

How it Works

Vipassana is a path of self-transformation through self-observation. By attentively observing bodily sensations, practitioners uncover the link between body and mind, gradually dissolving mental impurities and cultivating a mind of compassion and balance.

Scientific Insight

Through direct experience, practitioners understand how thoughts, emotions, and behaviors arise, enabling a life of awareness, clarity, and peace.

The Tradition

Passed down in an unbroken lineage since the Buddha, Vipassana is currently taught in the tradition of S.N. Goenka, who spread it worldwide after being trained in Burma by Sayagyi U Ba Khin.

The Courses

Vipassana is taught in 10-day residential courses, free of charge. Participants follow a prescribed Code of Discipline, learn concentration through breath awareness, and then practice observing bodily sensations with equanimity. The course concludes with loving-kindness meditation.

The Outcome

While results build with continued practice, ten days can bring meaningful insight and mental clarity. Vipassana is open to anyone sincere in their effort to find peace within and share it with others.

Vipassana Meditation in Corrections

The first prison course in North America was taught in 1997 at the King County North Rehabilitation Facility in Seattle, WA. Since then, courses have been held at facilities across the United States and Canada, including Donaldson Correctional Facility in Alabama, Maine State Prison, and Manitoba Youth Detention Facility.

Vipassana Courses in Corrections

The practice of Vipassana is made accessible to residents through structured, 10-day residential courses conducted inside corrections. These courses are identical in content and format to those offered to the public at Vipassana centers all around the world in the tradition of Mr. S.N. Goenka, and are available to anyone interested in learning the technique.

Course Structure and Funding

As with all Vipassana courses in this tradition, courses held within corrections are completely free to the students that participate and the corrections facility. There is no charge for courses held within corrections facilities, and they are completely free to the students of the corrections facility. All expenses are covered by donations from people who have completed a course and wish to give others the opportunity to benefit from Vipassana training. Similarly, the people who teach and serve during courses volunteer their time and do not receive any payment.

Course History

Courses in corrections were first offered in India in the early 1970s. Over the years, these courses have also been taught worldwide, in such countries as the United Kingdom, Israel, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, New Zealand, Taiwan, Mongolia, Colombia, USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and others. In all, more than 10,000 residents have attended ten-day Vipassana courses in corrections around the world.

Worldwide Vipassana Prison Course Chronology. North American Vipassana course-related items are in bold.

1969

July: After arriving in India from Myanmar, S.N. Goenka taught the first 10-day Vipassana course in Mumbai. There were 14 students.

1972

S.N. Goenka meets Vinoba Bhave, a spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi, who challenged him to teach children and criminals.

1975

September: S.N. Goenka taught the first 10-day course in a prison. The course took place at Jaipur Central Jail in Rajasthan, India.

1990

In Rajasthan, India, Jaipur Central Jail hosted a 10-day Vipassana course. It was the first course offered to inmates since the 1970s.

1991

In Gujarat, India, six prison courses were held.

1993

During the year in India, 13 courses were held at prisons in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Delhi.
November: In Delhi, India, Tihar Prison hosted its first 10-day Vipassana course. 96 inmates and 23 jail staff attended the course.

1994

January: In Delhi, India, a second course was conducted in Tihar Prison for 300 inmates.
April: In Delhi, India, S.N. Goenka conducted another course inside Tihar Prison for 1,000 inmates. Following the course, he inaugurated Dhamma Tihar inside Tihar Prison. It was the first Vipassana Center located inside a correctional facility.

1996

August: During a visit by S.N. Goenka, Taiwan hosted the first prison course outside India at the Ming Te Branch Prison near Tainan.
March: In Maharashtra, India, Nashik Road Central Prison offered its first Vipassana course. This led to an ongoing course program.

1997

The Worldwide Vipassana Video Project completed a documentary called Doing Time, Doing Vipassana. It was about the meditation courses held in Indian prisons in 1990. The award-winning film is available in many languages and greatly increased interest in Vipassana meditation.
During the year in India, more than 2,100 male inmates participated in approximately 50 10-day courses in prisons. Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, Anapana, and short courses were also taught. More than 100 female inmates and 400 incarcerated adolescents took part in courses.
February-March: The first 10-day course was held in Yeravada Prison in Pune, India. S.N. Goenka went to meditate and talk with the 105 participants on Metta Day. This led to an ongoing program of 16 courses up to the end of 1999.
November: In the United States, the first 10-day course was held at the King County North Rehabilitation Facility in Seattle, Washington. 11 female inmates completed the course.

1998

Prison courses continued in India. S.N. Goenka inaugurated meditation cells for the use of course participants at Dhamma Tihar.
The first prison course was organized in Nepal.
November: At the Lancaster Castle Prison in the United Kingdom, the first prison course took place in Europe.
In the United States, a meditator created Changing from Inside. The film followed seven inmates as they participated in a Vipassana course at the North Rehabilitation Facility in Seattle, Washington.

1999

March: Fourteen assistant teachers jointly conducted a course for 1,021 police cadets and staff at the Police Training College in Delhi, India.
April-May: The first Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta course for prison inmates took place in Nashik Prison, India.
May: In the United States, Dhamma Dharā hosted a conference on Vipassana in prisons in Massachusetts.
May-June: The first 20-day course for prison inmates took place in Tihar Prison, India.
June: The first prison course in Tamil Nadu took place in Chennai Jail.
September: A New Zealand prison held the country's first 10-day course for inmates.

2000

Changing from Inside won a 2000 NCCD PASS Award from the American National Council on Crime and Delinquency. The film followed seven female inmates as they participated in a 10-day course in Seattle, Washington.
In New Zealand, a 10-day course was held at the beginning of each three-month program at a rehabilitation center for inmates.
In India, Goa Central Jail and Ratnagiri Jail held their first 10-day courses.
January: In Delhi, India, approximately 450 participants attended a 10-day course at the Police Training College.
March: In Pune, India, more than 370 inmates completed a 10-day course at Yeravada Prison. 33 old student inmates served the course, and five assistant teachers conducted it.
October: In Maharashtra, India, S.N. Goenka joined inmates on Metta Day of a course in Nagpur Jail. In Pune, he gave a talk to inmates ahead of the start of a 10-day course at Yeravada Jail.

2001

In Punjab, India, Sangrur Jail held a 10-day course for 16 inmates and three officers.
In the United States, San Francisco Jail #7 held a course for 14 inmates in San Bruno, California.
February-March: Two courses were held (one for men and one for women) at Jabalpur Central Prison, India.

2002

Vipassana Research Institute published The Effect of Vipassana Meditation on Quality of Life, Subjective Well-Being and Criminal Propensity among Inmates of Tihar Jail, Delhi, by Dr. Amulya Khurana and Prof. P.L. Dhar.
The Vipassana Prison Trust was formed to oversee prison courses in North America.
January: In the United States, 20 inmates participated in the first 10-day course held at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility, a maximum-security institution in Alabama. The course was conducted by Rick Crutcher.
May: A second 10-day course took place at Donaldson Correctional Facility, conducted by Bruce Stewart. Then on tour in North America, S.N. Goenka meditated with the participants and talked with them on Metta Day.
Summer: S.N. Goenka visited and talked with inmates at the end of a 10-day course at the North Rehabilitation Facility in Seattle, Washington.

2003

Three courses took place at a prison near Almoloya de Juarez, Mexico. More courses were planned in the following year for inmates as well as guards and staff.
April: The first 10-day course took place in Kalyan Prison, Maharashtra, India.
December: Two 10-day courses were held at I-Lan Jail in Taiwan. They were organized by the Taiwan Vipassana Center. One course was for men and the other was for women inmates.

2004

January: S.N. Goenka visited and meditated with old students at Dhamma Tihar, the Vipassana Center within Tihar Prison, Delhi.
The first prison course took place at Bogambara Prison in Pallekele, Sri Lanka. A total of 46 inmates completed the 10-day course.

2005

August: Twenty-eight women inmates completed the first 10-day prison course in Mongolia.
October: In the United States, the first 10-day course to take place at a federal prison happened in a Massachusetts prison.

2006

The first prison course took place in Israel at Hermon Prison. A second course took place later in the year.

2007

May: After a five-year hiatus, 10-day courses were offered again at Donaldson Correctional Facility in the United States. After this, the facility offered an ongoing Vipassana program a few times a year.
May: A second 10-day course took place at a prison for women in Mongolia.
June: A 10-day course took place in an Alabama prison for aged and infirm inmates.
August: In the United States, a film called The Dhamma Brothers was released. It documented the first 10-day course conducted at Donaldson Prison in 2002. The film was directed by Jenny Phillips, Andrew Kukura, and Anne Marie Stein. Jenny Phillips played a key role in opening the door for Vipassana courses at Donaldson Prison.

2008

April: In the United States, Letters From the Dhamma Brothers, by Jenny Phillips, was published. In the book, inmates shared their thoughts, struggles, dreams, and triumphs after participating in the first 10-day course held at Donaldson Facility. It was a follow-up to The Dhamma Brothers (2007). It won an NCCD PASS Award and was a finalist for Foreword Magazine's Book of the Year Award.
June: In Yangon, Myanmar, Insein Central Prison hosted the country's first 10-day course for inmates.
July: At Insein Central Prison in Myanmar, a 1-day Anapana course for young male inmates was held. 169 inmates attended; most were in their teens.

2011

March: In the United States, the North American Prison Trust began publishing a newsletter for Vipassana meditators who are in prison.
March: 35 women completed Colombia's first prison course at a prison in Pereira.
November: Canada's first prison course was held at Westmorland Minimum Security Prison in New Brunswick. It was organized by two old students working at the prison. 15 students participated. One student, who had served 11 years, delayed parole by two months to attend.

2013

According to a report in the March International Vipassana Newsletter, from 2008 to 2013 approximately 7,000 inmates and 100 senior corrections officers attended 10-day Vipassana courses in Myanmar.
A second course was held at Westmorland Prison in New Brunswick, Canada due to strong support from prison officials, including Canada's Atlantic Regional Manager for Corrections. There was interest in further courses, but staffing changes at the prison prevented continuation.
A course was held at a prison in Quebec, Canada.

2014

March: In the United States, Dr. Ron Cavanagh passed away. He was instrumental in bringing Vipassana to Donaldson Correctional Facility in Alabama and in overcoming opposition to the program.

2015

June: The Manitoba Youth Centre in Winnipeg, Canada, hosted Canada's first 1-day Anapana course for incarcerated youth. This began an ongoing program with daily meditation and courses about twice a year.
August: Ireland hosted its first prison course at a low-security institution in County Cavan.

2016

In India, the Maharashtra state government issued a circular calling for Anapana training to be offered to inmates and staff in all prisons as a step toward 10-day Vipassana courses.

2017

December: In the United States at Donaldson Correctional Facility, the first course for old students took place.

2018

April: The first 10-day prison course in Brazil took place near Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais.
July: Jenny Phillips, who helped bring Vipassana meditation to Donaldson Prison, passed away. She co-directed The Dhamma Brothers and published Letters From the Dhamma Brothers.
August-September: Another 10-day course took place in a correctional facility in Sao Paulo state, Brazil.

2019 (Current through 2019)

In the United States, four Vipassana meditation courses were taught at Donaldson Correctional Facility in Alabama each year. A 1-day Anapana course was also taught shortly before each adult course for 16- and 17-year-olds held in a separate unit.
The Manitoba Youth Detention Facility in Canada held 1-day Anapana meditation courses several times a year.

This course changed the way I think. I can pause now before I act.

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