Residential Courses
“I recommend that every student of Vipassana learns at least basic Pāli, the words spoken by the Buddha. I speak from my own experience. Every word of the Enlightened One is so inspiring, provided you continue your meditation practice. You have to make your own research of the truth inside, research about the interaction of mind and matter inside—how out of ignorance, one keeps on reacting, how in wisdom, one comes out of it. This is how the words of the Buddha can be used for your own liberation”
S. N. Goenka
Residential Courses currently being offered:
|
Name of Course |
Duration |
Frequency |
Status |
|
3 Weeks + 3 Weeks |
Daily |
Admission Open | |
|
75 Days |
Daily |
Admission Open |
|
|
15 Days |
Daily |
Admission open |
|
|
Advanced Residential Pāli - English Course |
15 Days |
Daily |
Coming Soon |
|
5 Weeks |
Daily |
Course in Progress |
|
|
Brahmi Worshops |
5 Days |
Daily |
Admission will start in June- July2026 |
Pāli language courses
These courses cater to those who wish to learn Pāli language. When we meditate & hear about the teachings of the Buddha, we wish to go to the source, Tipiṭaka (which is in Pāli) and read for ourselves. Also when we hear Pāli sutta recitations by Goenka Guruji during Vipassanā retreats, an urge to understand Pāli arises. These courses give us fairly good knowledge of the language and help us to decode the suttas (discourses).
Mr. Deepak Gaikwad serves as an Assistant Professor at VRI, where he has been contributing for the past six months. Before joining VRI, he taught Pali for seven years at Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, guiding both undergraduate and postgraduate students. He also successfully conducted the first batch of the Kaccāyana Grammar course, beginning from the second workshop onward. Mr. Gaikwad is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Pali Grammar at Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune.
Residential Basic Pāli - Hindi Course
Basic Pāli - Hindi Residential Course (3 weeks + 3 weeks) 2026-27.
We invite applications from dedicated old students for this special opportunity to deepen their understanding of the Pāli language—the language of the Buddha—and to strengthen their practice through the study of the words of Dhamma.
How to Apply: Interested old students are requested to fill out the application form
https://forms.gle/rgiftYYigCgmi2XP8
Venue: Vipassana Research Institute (VRI), Global Vipassana Pagoda Campus, Mumbai
Course Fee: As per our tradition of offering Dhamma only out of pure volition of Bahujana Hitāya, Bahujana Sukhāya, there is no Fee for the these Sessions. Attendees may, however, donate as per their volition, if the Sessions seem beneficial.
Online Donation Link: https://www.vridhamma.org/Donation-to-VRI
VRI does not charge any fee for any of its services. All expenses are met from donations.
Donations made to VRI before the end of financial year in March 2026 are eligible for 100% tax deduction benefits under Section 35 (1) (iii) of the Indian Income Tax Act,1961.
Donation Related Enquires Call - 022-50427500
Donation Related Email: acounts@global pagoda. Org
Course Duration: The course is divided into Two Durations as follows:
First Part of 3 weeks: 04 July 2026 – 24 July 2026
Second Part of 3 weeks: 06 Oct 2026 – 26 Oct 2026
Eligibility Criteria:
- The applicant must have completed one Satipaṭṭhāna course.
- One year regular practice of two hours at home daily.
- Observation of five precepts since last one year.
- Educational qualification: old S.S.C. or HSC or its equivalent examination (passing certificate is required)
- Recommendation by Assistant Teacher/Senior Assistant Teacher/Teacher is a MUST. The AT recommendation form is a part of the programme application form and must be signed by an AT/SAT/T or Area Teacher who knows the applicant well
- Prior knowledge of Pali is not required
Last date of application: 20th June 2026.
Residential Basic Pāli - English Course
Pāli - English Residential Course - 1st November 2026 To 15th January 2027 .
We invite applications from dedicated old students for this special opportunity to deepen their understanding of the Pāli language—the language of the Buddha—and to strengthen their practice through the study of the words of Dhamma.
How to Apply: Interested old students are requested to fill out the application form.
https://forms.gle/32zYDJzWuWizQhFK8
Venue: Vipassana Research Institute (VRI), Global Vipassana Pagoda Campus, Mumbai
Course Fee - As per our tradition of offering Dhamma only out of pure volition of Bahujana Hitāya, Bahujana Sukhāya, there is no Fee for the these Sessions. Attendees may, however, donate as per their volition, if the Sessions seem beneficial.
Online Donation Link: https://www.vridhamma.org/Donation-to-VRI
VRI does not charge any fee for any of its services. All expenses are met from donations.
Donations made to VRI before the end of financial year in March 2026 are eligible for 100% tax deduction benefits under Section 35 (1) (iii) of the Indian Income Tax Act,1961.
Donation Related Enquires Call - 022-50427500
Donation Related Email: acounts@global pagoda. Org
Eligibility Criteria:
1. The applicant must have completed one Satipatthana course.
2. One year regular practice of two hours at home daily.
3. Observation of five precepts since last one year.
4. Educational qualification: Old S.S.C. or HSC or its equivalent examination (passing certificate is required)
5. Recommendation by Assistant Teacher/Senior Assistant Teacher/Teacher is a MUST. The AT recommendation form is a part of the program application form and must be signed by an AT/SAT/T or Area Teacher who knows the applicant well
Last date of application: 15th October 2026.
Residential Advanced Pali-Hindi Course
Advance Pāli - Hindi Residential Course - 19-April 2026 To 01-May-2026.
We invite applications from dedicated old students for this special opportunity to deepen their understanding of the Pāli language—the language of the Buddha—and to strengthen their practice through the study of the words of Dhamma.
How to Apply: Interested old students are requested to fill out the application form.
https://forms.gle/a7Vbvt568R75pTDo9
Venue: Vipassana Research Institute (VRI), Global Vipassana Pagoda Campus, Mumbai
Course Fee - As per our tradition of offering Dhamma only out of pure volition of Bahujana Hitāya, Bahujana Sukhāya, there is no Fee for the these Sessions. Attendees may, however, donate as per their volition, if the Sessions seem beneficial.
Online Donation Link: https://www.vridhamma.org/Donation-to-VRI
VRI does not charge any fee for any of its services. All expenses are met from donations.
Donations made to VRI before the end of financial year in March 2026 are eligible for 100% tax deduction benefits under Section 35 (1) (iii) of the Indian Income Tax Act,1961.
Donation Related Enquires Call - 022-50427500
Donation Related Email: acounts@global pagoda. Org
Eligibility Criteria:
1. The applicant must have completed BASIC PALI-HINDI Course (Online/Offline) from VRI.
2. The applicant must have completed one Satipatthana course.
3. One year regular practice of two hours at home daily.
4. Observation of five precepts since last one year.
5. Educational qualification: Old S.S.C. or HSC or its equivalent examination (passing certificate is required)
6. Recommendation by Assistant Teacher/Senior Assistant Teacher/Teacher is a MUST. The AT recommendation form is a part of the program application form and must be signed by an AT/SAT/T or Area Teacher who knows the applicant well
Last date of application: 01st April 2026.
Integrated Workshops - KACCĀYANA VYĀKARANA(Pāli-Hindi)
Eligibility: Following special conditions may be necessary while admitting meditators for these workshops:
1. Meditation Courses: Meditators must have completed at least 5*10-Days, residential Vipassana meditation courses and 1- Satipaṭṭhānā (as taught by Shri S N Goenka in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin)
2. Advanced Pāli: Meditators who have previously trained in Pāli language up to the Advanced Level.
3. Seva: The meditators must have sincere interest in offering their Dhamma Sevā in the area of Translation of Tipiṭaka in Hindi Language.
4. Interview: Meditators may be interviewed by the faculty and his team before confirming admission.
Medium of Instruction: Hindi
Duration: Series of five integrated residential workshops on Kaccāyana Vyakarana starting in March 2026 and continuing at regular intervals till March 2027. Each workshop will be spread over 7 days, starting with Zero Day.
Dates: Tentative Schedule of the Five Integrated Workshops on Kaccāyana Vyākarana to be held at the VRI Campus, Global Vipassana Pagoda, Gorai, Mumbai.
| Workshop | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| Workshop 1 | April 01, 2026 | April 08, 2026 |
| Workshop 2 | June 22, 2026 | June 28, 2026 |
| Workshop 3 | September 6, 2026 | September 12, 2026 |
| Workshop 4 | After January 15, 2027 | January/Feb , 2027 |
| Workshop 5 (Concluding) |
March 7, 2027 | March 13, 2027 |
Integrated course-Program-Plan: In the first four workshops, portions of Kaccāyana Vyākarana will be taught for the first Six days and the Seventh day will comprise attempts at translation of suttas. And in this manner, all of Kaccāyana Vyākarana will be taught during the first four workshops.
In the Fifth and the Concluding Workshop, only Translation of Suttas will be attempted by the participants during the
Seven days of the workshop.
Certificate – A certificate will be awarded to the student who has attended all the 5 workshops.
Course Material – Some material may be given free of cost while some of it could be purchased on zero day of the workshop at a nominal cost.
Venue: All sessions will be residential and will be held at the VRI Campus at Global Vipassana Pagoda at Gorai, Mumbai.
Fees: As per our tradition of offering Dhamma only out of pure volition of Bahujana Hitāya, Bahujana Sukhāya, there is no Fee for these Sessions. Attendees may, however, donate as per their volition, if the Sessions seem beneficial.
Online Donation Link: https://www.vridhamma.org/Donation-to-VRI
VRI does not charge any fee for any of its services. All expenses are met from donations.
Donations made to VRI before the end of financial year in March 2026 are eligible for 100% tax deduction benefits under Section 35 (1) (iii) of the Indian Income Tax Act,1961.
Donation Related Enquires Call - 022-50427500
Donation Related Email: acounts@global pagoda. Org
What is expected from Participants/You:
1. The meditators must be willing to attend all five workshops.
2. The meditators must be willing to travel to the VRI Campus at Global Vipassana Pagoda, Gorai, Mumbai at their own cost and means.
3. Meditators are expected to meditate at least twice a day during the workshops.
4. Meditators are expected to follow the timetable of the course diligently.
5. Upon completion of the workshops, meditators will be expected to join the VRI Team and offer seva in translating Tipiṭaka.
Articles/Discourses by Mr S N Goenka on Learning Pāli
The Gem Set in Gold: Pariyatti with Patipatti
(The following article by Mr S N Goenka appeared in the Hindi language Vipashyanaa Patrika of January-February 1985. It has been translated and slightly adapted for Western students).
On 19 January, 1971 my dear Teacher, Sayagyi U Ba Khin, to whom I am ever grateful, passed away. It was always the deep wish of Sayagyi to help repay Burma’s debt to the Buddha and to the land of the Buddha, India, by reestablishing the Dhamma there in the country of its birth. He hoped that the Ganges of Dhamma, which long ago once flowed from India to Burma, could now be channelled back to the land of its source, in order to slake the thirst of millions of suffering people. A seedling from the tree of Dhamma which gives fruit in every season, had been transplanted centuries ago to Burma from India. The mother tree had withered, but the seedling had flourished and grown. Now a cutting must be taken from it and planted in the fertile soil of India, to give sweet fruit and cool, pleasant shade. And this invaluable jewel of the Indian heritage should also be shared with every land throughout the world
To realize this holy wish of Sayagyi, only a small step had been taken in his lifetime. In the fifteen years since he breathed his last, many more steps have been achieved, and if the progress at times was slow, it has been sure and steady. Now, with the gathering momentum of all these years of work, the time has come for the Dhamma to spread at greater pace. Up to now, centres have arisen in various places in India and abroad, and nearly fifty assistant teachers have started conducting courses for the good and happiness of many. Now still more courses must be offered in many more areas by more assistant teachers. Not only that, but meditators must be helped to experience the teaching at deeper levels.
I remember well my own experiences on the path. After I first learned the technique while living in Burma, I kept up a regular daily practice but had to devote much more of my time to my business and family responsibilities. Suddenly, however, there came a change in fortune: in 1964, the government took over all businesses and industries. This action, unfortunate for me in the eyes of others, was actually my good fortune, since a heavy burden was now lifted from my shoulders.
The following five years were the golden age of my life. I had always longed to study and absorb the words of the Buddha relating to Vipassana, but in the hurly-burly of active life how to find the time? Now here I was with unlimited time and with my Teacher close at hand. The result was that my practice took wing. In meditation I could go more deeply than ever before, and when I read the words of the Buddha I would feel a thrill of delight throughout my body. I felt sometimes as if the Buddha was speaking directly to me, as if every word was aimed specifically at me. At home, I would read a sutta and then go to my Teacher, who would take up certain points from it and expound deeply on them. This was a veritable shower of nectar, the nectar of the Dhamma.
Sayagyi, that incarnation of compassion, was always ready to discuss Dhamma with me. Even while sick in bed and badly needing rest, if he came to know that his Dhamma son was waiting to see him, compassion and joy arose in him and he would speak with me, explaining in depth a Dhamma text. As someone might card cotton or wool, combing out snarls and tangles, Sayagyi would remove all confusions, all ambiguities. The translations gave only grammatical explanations. But the explanation of this Vipassana yogi, this king of yogis, was of a different order altogether. He explained according to the experience of meditation, and in this way he could penetrate to the most profound meaning of the text.
His words always filled me with joy and inspiration. And then, after explaining Dhamma to me, he would tell me to go and meditate. At such a time I was able to penetrate deeply at the experiential level as well. Layer after layer of illusions and delusions would pass away, leaving the truth crystal clear. By the time I rose from meditating I would feel freed of all knots, liberated from all confusion.
From these experiences boundless gratitude would arise in me, firstly to the Buddha and then to his Dhamma sons, the chain of teacher and pupil extending link by link from the Buddha to Sayagyi U Ba Khin. To all of them I felt deep gratitude for preserving this technique in its original purity without any admixture whatsoever. At the same time gratitude would arise in me towards all those who had preserved the words of the Buddha free from any corruptions, so that today it is still possible to read them and be inspired by them. Pariyatti and patipatti—study accompanied by practice—these two seemed to me like a gem, the beauty of which is enhanced by its golden setting.
How greatly I benefited from these experiences, yet how little are such experiences accessible to meditators today! Although the Pāli Tipiṭaka has appeared in Devanagari script in India, for many years these books have been out of print. Further, whatever portion of the Tipiṭaka was translated into Hindi decades ago is also unavailable now, while little if anything has been translated into other Indian languages. Meditators in India are, therefore, cut off from the words of the Buddha.
In the West, it would seem that students are more fortunate, since the entire Tipiṭaka has appeared in Roman script and has been translated into English. But, in fact, the passages of it relating directly to meditation have presented unusual difficulties to most scholars. These passages have been translated in a way that many a time could create confusion in the minds of meditators who read them.
When students participate in courses on the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, studying the words of the Buddha while at the same time applying them in meditation, they are inspired and filled with gratitude. They feel as if the technique is revealed to them for the first time in all its brilliant clarity. Naturally they would like to study even more. How happy they would be if they could study in their own language, not only the Tipiṭaka, but also the voluminous literature of the commentaries!
It is not expected or necessary that all should be motivated to study the texts, but certainly there are many who are able and eager to do so, who could plunge easily into the ocean of the Tipiṭaka. For them the opportunity must be provided.
And not only the Pāli texts but also those in Sanskrit and Prakrit contain references to Vipassana. If a meditator undertakes the necessary research, this technique will be revealed as the essence of the entire Indian spiritual tradition.
It is a large task, no doubt, but the time has come to make a beginning no matter how small.
Doing so, however, must never be at the expense of meditation practice. Otherwise, Vipassana centers might degenerate into places where people merely read, write or talk about the Dhamma, and the real purpose might be lost. Our aim is always to experience the Dhamma within ourselves in order to emerge from all suffering. And the means to do so is the practice of Vipassana meditation. Reading, writing and study are merely to find guidance and inspiration in order to go more deeply in the practice, and thus to come closer to the goal of liberation.
Without sacrificing this object, opportunities should be created near all the centers for pariyatti, study of Dhamma. And it must begin at the main center, Dhammagiri. At the foot of the hill, on the approaches to the Academy, is a suitable place to establish facilities for the study of Pāli and for research on the original texts. All who participate, not only students but also teachers, must be regular meditators, and meditation must be an important part of the curriculum. If this is the case, their study will enable the participants to meditate more deeply and experience Dhamma more profoundly within themselves.
May the lofty example of Sayagyi U Ba Khin give you inspiration for still greater efforts in Vipassana throughout this year, for your own benefit and for the good and benefit of many.
Kalyānmitta S. N. Goenka
(Courtesy: International Vipassana Newsletter, April 1986 issue)
Words of Mr. S. N. Goenka on research and Pāli learning
Now about research: The words of the Buddha are lost in many countries, and we should be grateful to the countries that maintained them in their pristine purity.
These words of the Buddha have to spread in order to help paṭipatti [meditation practice]. The pariyatti [theory], the publication of pariyatti, the research in pariyatti should not become our main aim. Our main aim will always be paṭipatti. If we remain satisfied only with reading the words of the Buddha, but do nothing to take steps on the path he taught, then again we have started harming ourselves. The theoretical aspect of Dhamma, the words of the Buddha, are to help us, to encourage us, to guide us, but the main thing will always be to walk on the path step by step. Make use of the words of the Buddha and they will certainly encourage you.
I recommend that every student of Vipassana learns at least basic Pāli, the words spoken by Buddha. I speak from my own experience. Every word of the Enlightened One is so inspiring, provided you continue your meditation practice. You have to make your own research of the truth inside, research about the interaction of mind and matter inside—how out of ignorance one keeps on reacting, how in wisdom one comes out of it. This is how the words of the Buddha can be used for your own liberation.
Suffering is all around, misery is all around. May this wonderful medicine of the Buddha help the suffering people to come out of their illness, to come out of their misery. May the light of Dhamma spread around the world, dispelling the darkness of ignorance.
Bhavatu sabba maṅgalaṃ