Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum

Good day!
I'm going to Myanmar this November and would like to attend a short (3 or 4 days max.) vipassana course, more particularly the technique taught by Mahasi Sayada.

Is this possible?

I've completed 3 10-day SN Goenka courses. Although I'm having great benefits from those courses I would like to learn walking meditation and mental noting. I have been curious about these for a while now and am sure that they would benefit me greatly in my practice.

I should be arriving in Yangon around November 7, 2012 on a 28-days tourist visa. Thanks for your time!

metta

I don't know what the policy is at Chanmyay Yeikthā nowadays, but you could try calling them.

This is what it says on the Mahasi Yeikthā site:

Foreign Yogis seeking admission should be ready and willing to undergo full-time Vipassana meditation for about six to twelve weeks which is considered and appropriate period of retreat for one to gain a basic knowledge and experience of Vipassana meditation.

There are plenty of other centres in Rangoon and elsewhere that teach the Mahāsi Method — over 300 centres at the last count.

If you're planning on touring beyond the confines of Rangoon, I can recommend a visit to Mahasi Yeiktha in Taungyi, where the climate is much more tolerable.

Saddhamaramsi Yeiktha is another possible centre in Rangoon.

There are lots of centres in Yangon, I see a few have already been suggested, I'm just not sure any would be happy with you spending such a short time.

As would have been impressed on you at the Goenka courses you need at least 10 days to learn the technique properly, I suspect you need longer for Mahasi technique.

I strongly suggest you make available at least 1-2 weeks.

Thanks kindly for the feedback and info!

Yeah, I can see a meditation center being reluctant to accept me for such a short period, also from my own experience sitting in a 3-day Goenka course which felt like I barely got into it.

I'll modify some of my plans in Myanmar and find 10 days somewhere. This will be my first time in Myanmar so I was planning on seeing a lot of it but just the fact of being there to practice vipassana will be great, something I've been wanting to do for a long time.

Still plenty of time to find a center which will accept me, although with the new boom in tourism going on over there it'll be nice to have some fixed retreat dates.

Again, I appreciate the links, leads and contacts and will make sure to keep you posted.

metta

Gaston