About S. N. Goenka
Satya Narayana Goenka (ISO 15919: Satyanārāyaṇa Gōyaṅkā; Burmese: ဦးဂိုအင်ကာ, MLCTS: u: gui ang ka; 30 January 1924 – 29 September 2013) was an Indian teacher of vipassanā meditation. Born in Burma to an Indian family, he learnt Vipassana from Sayagyi U Ba Khin, retired from business in 1962 during business nationalization by military government in Burma, and moved to India in 1969 to start teaching Vipassana meditation. His teachings stay away from rites and rituals and emphasize that Buddha's path to liberation was non-sectarian, universal, and scientific in character, leading to Vipassana meditation appealing to people of all religions as well as no religion, from all parts of the world. He became an influential teacher and played an important role in establishing non-commercial Vipassana meditation centers globally where Vipassana Meditation is taught as a 10 Day residential program with no charges for food, stay as well as for teaching meditation, with centers funded by willful donations from past meditators. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2012, an award given for distinguished service of high order. Goenka was able to bring Vipassana meditation into prisons, first in India, and then in other countries. Goenka trained about 1350 assistant teachers to conduct courses using his recordings, and about 120,000 people attend them each year.
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