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Satya Narayana Goenka Biography
Satya Narayana Goenka (Satyanārāyaṇ Goyankā) was a lay Indian teacher of vipassanā1 meditation.
He was born on 29 January 1924 in Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar) to a conservative Marwari family, a father devoted to Shiva and mother to Krishna. His grandfather had emigrated to Burma after the British invasion of South Burma.
As a child Goenka used to go with his grandfather to the Mahamuni Temple in Mandalay and sat silently by his grandfather, which constituted his first connection with the teachings of Buddha.
Another early influencer in his life was Mahadev Nathani, his brother-in-law, a devout Hindu who led a restrained life, was skilled in Sanskrit and able to debate Hindu religious texts from memory.
Mahadev taught Goenka chanting in praise of god Shiva, which he later recalled: “It was his resounding voice that was most captivating; its vibrations would give rise to a tingling in my heart. Some of his daily recitations made deep impressions on my heart that have lasted to this day.”
S. N. Goenka with his wife while giving a talk on "Values in Education - Good Governance through Vipassana Meditation" in New Delhi on January 5, 2004. Photo: Wikipedia.At age thirteen he was adopted by his uncle Dwarkadas Goenka and his wife Ramidevi Goenka, who at that time had six daughters but no sons.
His adoptive mother was a devoted student of Sayagyi U Ba Khin.2
Around age fourteen he became involved with the Arya Samaj3 movement. During weekend meetings, Mangaldevji Shastri, a local priest, taught yoga postures, breathing exercises, Indian martial arts, and the ideas of Dayananda Saraswati.
Goenka joined his family textile business in 1940. As the Japanese army invaded Myanmar in 1942, Goenka and his family along with hundreds of thousands of Indians fled on foot to India. There he unsuccessfully attempted to get involved in the Indian nationalistic movement, however, was quite successful in expanding the family businesses.
While a refugee in India he developed more distrust in the teachings of Buddha. He thought that Buddha was an extreme pessimist, his doctrine creating an “atmosphere of hopelessness and despair.”
After the end of the war and Japanese withdrawal, they returned to Myanmar in 1947. He established several manufacturing corporations. He became a leading figure in Burmese Indian community and involved himself in Indian nationalistic politics with the establishment of All Burma Congress, an organization of Burmese Indians interested in Indian politics.
On one occasion he gave a talk on Hinduism and had a debate with a friend, asserting that the teachings of Buddha were taken from Bhagavad-Gita, as Gita was much older than Buddha’s teachings. On another occasion he felt a deep affront to his Hindutva4 when told that “today’s Hinduism is the offspring of Buddhism.” He received a copy of Dhammapada from Bhadant Anand Kausalyayan5 but he didn’t read it for many years.
For many years Goenka headed such organizations as the Burma Marwari Chamber of Commerce and the Rangoon Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He acted as an advisor for the Union of Burma trade delegations. But he had no peace of mind. Goenka had bursts of rage, which he inflicted at times upon his six children.
Goenka had crippling migraines once or twice a year since early childhood. Around 1955, his migraines became severe, so debilitating that he had to resort to morphine. He traveled to Japan, Europe and America for a cure, but was unable to find medical relief. Later he called this suffering “a blessing in disguise”, as it made him look for a different kind of cure.
On the suggestion of a friend, he met with the Vipassana teacher Sayagyi U Ba Khin, a disciple of Saya Thetgyi (1873–1945) and Ledi Sayadaw (1846–1923). U Ba Khin also had a reputation of a healer, which drew Goenka to him in finding a solution to his suffering.
At first, Sayagyi U Ba Khin refused to accept him saying “Goenka don’t come to me. You are devaluing such a high spiritual path which would liberate you from all the miseries of birth and death; and you want to use it for this disease? Don’t come. If you want to come to purify your mind, to develop love, compassion, goodwill for everyone, then come, you are welcome.” Goenka replied that “being from a staunch, conservative Hindu family, that has a lot of misgivings about Buddha’s teachings, how can I come to your course?” Sayagyi U Ba Khin replied that he will teach him morality (Pali: sila), samadhi and paññā (Skt.: prajñā), which can eradicate the deep impurities of the mind.6
After some months of hesitation, and despite disapproval from some in his family, Goenka decided to attend a ten-day Vipassana course at the International Meditation Center in Rangoon in 1956. He had the strong determination to not become a buddhist. The first day he received a small booklet where Buddha was quoted saying “Don’t believe! Don’t believe! Don’t believe, even if your teacher says something. Your experience only is what counts. Then only accept it.”7 These words deeply affected him.
By the end of the course Goenka was healed of his migraines. Convinced in the efficaciousness of vipassana meditation, he became a regular meditator. He started studying Dhammapada and other Buddhist scriptures, became fascinated, and continued the practice regularly.
In 1962 Goenka’s industries and businesses were nationalized by the new military government of Myanmar. While he lost his businesses and most of his wealth, he felt the event was a blessing as it gave him the opportunity to spend more time with his teacher for training, and with his family of six sons.
His teacher considered it a debt of gratitude to return the teaching of Buddha to the land of its origin, India. But he could not obtain a passport. In 1969, Goenka was authorized to teach meditation by Sayagyi U Ba Khin, who died two years later. The same year Goenka moved to India, where he started the first Vipassana meditation centre at Kusum Nagar in Hyderabad.
Seven years later, in 1976, he opened the meditation centre Dhamma Giri, in Igatpuri near Nashik, Maharashtra. He taught meditation on his own until 1982, and then started training assistant teachers. He established the Vipassana Research Institute at Dhamma Giri in 1985.
From the start, he taught 10-day intensive meditation retreats, and by 1988 had taught numerous people, including several thousand Westerners.
His teaching emphasized that the Buddha's path to liberation was non-sectarian, universal, and scientific in character. He became an influential teacher and played an important role in establishing non-commercial Vipassana meditation centers globally. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2012, an award given for distinguished service of high order.
S. N. Goenka died on 29 September 2013, at his home in Mumbai. He was survived by his wife Elaichi Devi Goenka, also a prominent meditation teacher, and six sons.
Legacy
Goenka trained about 1300 assistant teachers to conduct courses using his recordings, and about 120,000 people attend them each year.
The technique that Goenka taught is claimed to represent a tradition that is traced back to the Buddha. There is no requirement to convert to any religious belief system.
The Vipassana Meditation Centres that Goenka helped to establish throughout the world offer 10-day courses that provide a thorough and guided introduction to the practice of Vipassana meditation.
There are no charges for either the course or for the lodging and boarding during the course. These courses are supported by voluntary donations.
One of Goenka's wishes was fulfilled in November 2008 when the construction of the Global Vipassana Pagoda was completed on the outskirts of Mumbai. He hoped that this monument will act as a bridge between different communities, different sects, different countries and different races to make the world a more harmonious and peaceful place.
Goenka established a Vipassana Research Institute to investigate and publish literature on Vipassana and its effects. The Vipassana Research Institute focuses on two main areas: translation and publication of the Pali texts, and research into the application of Vipassana in daily life.
Goenka was able to bring Vipassana meditation into prisons, first in India, and then in other countries. The organization estimates that as many as 10,000 prisoners, as well as many members of the police and military, have attended the 10-day courses.
“Doing Time, Doing Vipassana” is a 1997 documentary about the introduction of S. N. Goenka's 10-day Vipassana classes at Tihar Jail in 1993 by the Inspector General of Prisons in New Delhi, Kiran Bedi. Bedi had her guards trained in Vipassana first, and then she had Goenka give his initial class to 1,000 prisoners.
“The Dhamma Brothers” is a documentary film released in 2007 about a prison Vipassana meditation program at Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama, USA. The film concentrates on four inmates, all convicted of murder. It also includes interviews of guards, prison officials, and local residents, and includes re-enactments of the inmates' crimes.
Global Vipassana Pagoda, near Gorai, north-west of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Photo: Prateek Manjrekar, Wikipedia.
Sources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5A5mrlQx_Q&t=117s&ab_channel=TheDreamofDreamless
https://archive.org/details/art-of-dying-by-vipassana-meditation-teacher-s-n-goenka-and-others
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayagyi_U_Ba_Khin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._N._Goenka
S. N._Goenka, Emissary of Insight; Daniel M. Stuart
https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com
Footnotes
1. Vipassanā (Pāli; Sanskrit vipaśyanā), literally "special, super (vi-), seeing (-passanā)"
2. Sayagyi U Ba Khin (1899–1971) was the first Accountant General of the Union of Burma. He was the founder of the International Meditation Centre in Yangon, Myanmar and is principally known as a leading twentieth century authority on Vipassana meditation.
3. Ārya Samāja (lit. Noble Society) is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The society was founded by the sannyasi (ascetic) Dayanand Saraswati on 7 April 1875. Arya Samaj was the first Hindu organization to introduce proselytization in Hinduism. The organization has also worked towards the growth of the civil rights movement in India since the 1800s.
4. Hindutva (i.e. ”Hinduness”) is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India. The term was formulated as a political ideology by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923.
5. Bhadant Anand Kausalyayan (1905 – 1988) was a Buddhist monk, scholar, and a prolific Indian writer. He is considered one of the great activists of Buddhism of the 20th century.
6. S.N. Goenka's speech at The World Buddhist Summit, Myanmar, 2004
7. Kālāma Sutta.
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