The Buddha or Goenka's Vipassana?

(Buddha's Wisdom) GOENKA: The man who removed Buddhism from Buddhism?

Let go. Stop clinging. Be free right now.

S. N. Goenka (Satya Narayana, Satyanārāyaṇa Gōyaṅkā, Burmese ဦးဂိုအင်ကာ) lived from Jan. 30, 1924–Sept. 29, 2013. He was an Indian Burmese businessman and teacher of Buddhist insight (vipassanā) meditation.

Born in neighboring Burma to an Indian family, he learned vipassana from Sayagyi U Ba Khin (Int'l Meditation Centre, Rangoon).

• Be Cheerful and Laugh a Little
• Practicing Insight On Your Own
• Fundamentals of Vipassanā Meditation (Mahasi Sayadaw method)

It's never too early or too late to practice.

Goenka-jii (an honorific added out of great respect) retired from business in 1962, during a period of business nationalization by the military junta in Burma, then moved to India in 1969 to start teaching vipassana meditation.

Do yourself at home the U Ba Khin way

His teachings are secular and therefore stay away from anything that might appear to be rites or rituals and instead emphasize that Buddha's path to liberation, which was non-sectarian, universal, and scientific (rational) in character.

This led to vipassana meditation appealing to people of all religions as well as no religion, theists, nontheists, atheists, and agnostics, from all parts of the world, East and West.

• Vipassana, in the Burmese Theravada Buddhist tradition, is derived from the Abhidhamma (as taught by the Buddha to the monk he declared "foremost in wisdom" Ven. Śāriputra [27, 28]).
• Although some Burmese teachers hold that vipassana and Abhidhamma study are inseparable [29], Goenka invited students to consider the theoretical aspects of these Teachings (pariyatti), advising them that the most important aspect of the technique is its practice (paṭipatti), contrasting book learning from experiential learning. Students are free to accept the theoretical background or reject any part they find objectionable.
• Goenka reported the words of the Buddha as follows [30]: "Filled with these compassionate and loving thoughts, [the Buddha] proclaimed: Apārutā tesaṃ amatassa dvārā Ye sotavanto pamuñcantu saddhaṃ "Open are the gates of the deathless state to those with ears [to hear] who renounce their lack of [confidence]," that is to say:
• "Open are the gates of Nirvana so that people who hear and practice will be able to overcome all doubt," which is one of the Five Mental Hindrances.

Free 10-day course

I thought I'd join a 10-day course, get enlightened, then go get my nails done. Boy, was I wrong.

Four Foundations begin with the body breathing

Mr. Goenka became an influential teacher and played an important role in establishing non-commercial vipassana meditation centers globally where vipassana meditation is taught as a free 10-day residential program with no charges for food, lodging, or meditation instruction, with centers funded by voluntary donations from "old" (past and present) meditators.

• How could it possibly be free? It is non-commercial. The rule is that only "old" students (who have completed at least one course) are allowed to donate. "New" students (who have not yet completed at least one course) are not allowed to donate. Donations are accepted after the completion of a course, which everyone qualifies to donate to at the end of each course, so there's never really a time when centers are open to donations and not accepting them. As soon as they are open to accepting dana (donations, gifts, charity), everyone present who just completed the course can give. Give what? Dāna

Goenka was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the government of India in 2012, an award bestowed for distinguished service of a high order.

• Sign up for free 10-day courses worldwide at dhamma.org
• The Vipassana or Insight Meditation Movement

Meeting Goenka-jii in person

The kalyana-mitta S.N. Goenka and his wife

(Wisdom Quarterly was fortunate enough to meet S. N. Goenka, 88, and his lovely wife when they were invited to the Dhammakaya Meditation Center in Azusa, Los Angeles, for a lunch in his honor and to receive an award for service to humanity, circa 2012. This was just as the Aztec Calendar was wrapping a cycle and the world was about to end, with few people noticing that a new cycle and new world would immediately be continuing. He seemed very kind, and not nearly as Dracula-like as one might think from hearing his droning, baritone Transylvanian/Indian accent on the standardized tapes played during all free 10-day courses). More

• Buddha's Wisdom (video); Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, CC Liu, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

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Foolishness of the Ten Commandments

Hey, God, do you hate evil Eretz Israel, or is it just Ana K and the rest of us?

(The Big Why) The foolishness of the 10 Commandments

Obey these or die, stupid kvetching Israelites!

If the Ten Commandments of Christianity, as borrowed or modified by Judaism because they come in varying official lists from the all-knowing, never wrong, and never ever misquoted or misunderstood God of All Things, are foolish. Not because rules are bad. Rules good. Clear instructions good. Boundaries good. Kindness and fairness to all, very good.

The foolishness derives from the fact that the religion can't even agree and these rules straight. Then we hear that the Black Egyptian Jew Moses (of the founding myth, aka the Exodus that never happened, who has now been scrubbed and completely Ashkenazified) dropped another list and broke the tablet, or perhaps he threw it in anger. In any case, the list changes. Who knew the list ever changed?

Henotheistic Judaism loves their bloody gods

The Ultimate Creator (the Demiurge, the El, the god, Baal, Molech, Yahweh, YHWH, Yaldabaoth, Jehovah, God thirsty for sacrificial blood when nothing else will do but black magic for the forgiveness of sin even if it means killing His son, the Big Whomever, Lord of the Universe and Children's Playgrounds and Hell because He rules all, knows all, decides all, wills all, controls all, and is never wrong not to the slightest, which is why He never changes His mind or His word or His law, unless someone talks to Him and gets a personal variance or exception) is said to have decreed them, so who can argue with them? They are the law, the Ritual Decalogue, the Finger of God pointing and cursing when He doesn't get His patriarch way. So OBEY and shut up.

Who knew secular Jews would make God look so bad?

Israel's PR (public relations) problem

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• Ana unleashed on Jewish Zionist propagandist‼️🔥 #israel #hasbara #palestine #iran #gaza #lebanon #propaganda #knesset

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