Dhamma Torana

Dhamma Toraṇa ('Auspicious Gateway of Dhamma') is the Ontario Vipassana Centre, owned and run by the Ontario Vipassana Foundation, a registered charity created in 2001. The centre says S. N. Goenka chose the name because Toronto, the nearest major city, is so diverse that he saw a centre there as a passageway for Dhamma to spread to the world. The first 10-day course in Ontario was held in 1980 at a rented site north of Barrie. The foundation took possession of the present property, a former Boy Scout camp near Alliston, on 30 April 2003, and courses began that autumn. It covers more than 140 acres of woods, open land and ravines in farming country, with the towns of Alliston and Cookstown and the city of Barrie nearby. Renovated buildings first allowed courses of about 30; with new residences for men and women it now takes about 90 students in single and double rooms, and its master plan calls for more building to allow courses of 130. The centre is 45 minutes to an hour's drive north of Toronto, reached from exit 75 of Highway 400, and about an hour from Pearson airport. By public transport, the GO train runs to Barrie South, about half an hour's drive away. Courses are taught in English, some with instructions in other languages, and are free of charge.

How to apply

Apply online through the centre's page on dhamma.org (in Nepal, start from np.dhamma.org). New students must first complete a 10-day course, and there is no charge.

What is taught here

Donation-funded 10-day courses taught with S. N. Goenka's recorded instructions, in the line of Sayagyi U Ba Khin, at centres in Nepal and worldwide. Read about Goenka (U Ba Khin).