Vipassana centres in Nepal

The first Vipassana course for Nepalis was held in November 1975 at Raxaul, just across the border in India, because S. N. Goenka's Myanmar passport was not endorsed for travel to Nepal. The Vipassana Research Institute says his first course in Kathmandu followed in 1981, the year Dhamma Shringa, the Nepal Vipassana Center at Budhanilkantha, was founded. Mahasi Sayadaw's tradition arrived in the same decade: the International Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu dates from 1985, and Panditarama Lumbini opened in 1999.

dhamma.org lists 20 centres in Goenka's tradition in Nepal, covering all seven provinces, from Dhamma Birāṭa near Itahari in the east to Dhammayāna near Mahendranagar in the far west. They include Dhamma Jananī at Lumbini, the Buddha's birthplace, and Dhamma Sagar near Lukla at about 2,850 m. Two serve particular groups (monks at Dhamma Ādhāra, prisoners and officials at Dhamma Āsaya), and two, near Ramgram and at Hetauda, are still being built.

To apply for a Goenka course, choose a centre on np.dhamma.org or dhamma.org, click Apply next to a course date and fill in the whole form. The centre replies by email, which can take up to two weeks, and you must confirm to keep your place; there is no charge for teaching, food or lodging. For Dhamma Shringa, students register at the Nepal Vipassana Center's city office at Jyoti Bhawan, Kantipath, and a chartered bus takes them to the centre, while the two Mahasi-tradition centres are booked by contacting them directly.