Vipassana Meditation Center

Language falls short for my gratitude and appreciation to Dhamma Dharā. It is an enormous blessing that Vipassana centers can exist in such a pure form. The management is incredible and the full-​time staff is incredibly dedicated and kind.

Excellent facilities, wonderful program and the meditation technique is very scientific, pragmatic and definitely challenging, eye-​opening and very complimentary to all forms of spiritual practice.
Highly recommended to all who wants to learn about themselves and a healthy, scientific, effective meditation technique.

Dont have words to express my gratitude for this place. I found meaning of my existence. The place is a perfect example of great management. Recently did a 10 day course and it was such a blissful experience right from the check-​in till check-​out.
Women’s get a residence dorm room — depends if you have to share or get your own room. All the rooms have attached baths. For guys — they have the construction plan to provide the same kind of residential quarters. At present guys are accommodated in tents or cabins.
The food is vegetarian — and very delicious.
The meditation technique called Vipassana had traces in ancient Indian history. S.N.Goenka (Guruji) very well explains in every evening discourse the purpose of each day’s meditation practice and shares many stories and his experience to make everyone comfortable. This place is run purely on the basis of donation and volunteers (for serving, assistant teachers, management team etc). They also have long term accommodation facilities for full time volunteers.
Everyone is so calm, peaceful, understanding, accommodating to all your needs that you feel being at home. 10 days of noble silence brings lot of inner revolution.
Will definitely volunteer for my services as well as attending more courses.
Bhavattu Sabba Managalam.

I have sat several 10-​day courses both abroad in India and in the US as well as serving a 10-​day course. This is a great place to do the inner work.
For those sitting their first course know that it will be equally challenging and rewarding.
When the going gets tough keep trying. Know many people before you have gone through it so you can too with a balance of surrender and perseverance!
This center provides a great facility to practice and learn a profound technique that I have found most useful off the cushion into the world in my day to day life.

I won’t go into what others have said unless someone replies to this review and asks. The other reviews are excellent and I wholeheartedly share their comments.
I’ve sat 3 10-​day courses and served 1 10-​day course. This kind of work without a doubt changed my life in positive ways I will keep to myself. I go out of my way almost every year to disconnect from the world and either attend one of these classes or give back by serving.
The teachings and this center are two things everyone should make an extra effort to attend no matter how busy you are. A 10-​day commitment is rather large, but there’s very few reasons you shouldn’t be able to do it. I am a manager with 10 direct reports that service another 100 individuals in our company across 2,300 clients. If I can find 10-​days in a year after working 60 – 80 hrs/​week, I’m sure you can find the time:)

This meditation center runs 10-​day courses for new students, and a variety of other courses for experienced students. It’s donation-​run, so room, board, and the teaching are free. The rooms are comfortable enough. The food is really good vegetarian food (vegan friendly) that my meat-​eating friends have said they liked.
As for the teaching: Just like anything that’s called a therapy, it’s a no-​pain, no-​gain activity. Your daily schedule is strictly regimented, and the day begins before dawn. You meditate ten hours a day, I believe, although you never have to do it for more than an hour at a sitting. There’s no talking allowed, except to ask technical questions of the teachers, and practical questions of the course administrators. No reading, no writing.
Sounds like a meditation boot camp. Maybe so. But while the technique itself is challenging (and rewarding!), every last detail of the facility and the course is lovingly designed to support you through your day. You have to experience this first-​hand to understand it. The staff, too, always very supportive.
This is one of several affiliated Vipassana centers throughout North America and the world. The daily program and the teaching is the same at each center. (The instructions are actually given by a master teacher, on video. The teachers on-​site are there for any additional guidance you need.) The staff and facilities are all that differ from center to center. In the U.S., this campus, along with the Central California one, are the oldest, best-​established ones. They have the most experienced people, some of the best grounds, and, as some people are wont to put it, the best energy.
It’s not for everyone. I can tell you from my experience as a student and volunteer here, though, about 95% of those who sign up for a 10-​day course do complete it, and say they are glad they did it. Personally, I flee from anything that smells like religion, and I hate flighty spiritual mumbo-​jumbo. Yet I tell you the meditation I learned here has really saved my life (not that everyone who comes here should need that!). I can’t imagine where I’d be without it.

Edit 2014-​05-​25:
Another Unilocal user asked me about the men’s sleeping accommodations.
I did not have my own room. As a 24 year old male I was put in the ‘outdoor accommodations’. The male side still has tents and cabins that they put the younger guys in. I was in a tent with one roommate. It was nice to feel like camping but had lots of bugs and got very cold and very hot.
I liked the tent but one time is enough for me.
The older men and all the women have actual rooms. I never set foot in one but I think they are two to a room. Each room has a full bath.
The tent and cabin men share the common men’s bathroom which has five or so toilets, sinks, and shower stalls.

The teaching is hard and the course is rigorous, but the experience is life altering. I call it boot camp for the brain. The food is great (and I’m not vegetarian), and it’s fresh and well prepared. The Indian dishes are particularly good. The rooms are spotless and the beds are comfy. Better accommodations than Kripalu! This course is not for everyone, but if it is for you, you will find your way there.

I can’t believe this is listed on Unilocal.Adorable!
Yes, the other reviewer has said it well… words cannot describe VMC Dhamma Dhara.
You must go for a 10 day course.
It is free (very nice accomodations, homecooked vegetarian meals), and to all suspicious Westerners, no, it is not a cult, nor is it affiliated with any organized religion. You may donate what you wish to only after you have completed a ten day course.
The course is held in silence, with instruction given to guide you through the process of learning the technique of Vipassana. The technique itself is quite simple, but mastering it is quite challenging, yet also the most rewarding thing you can do for yourself.
Visit their website for more info. There are courses held around the world at many Vipassana sites, but Dhamma Dhara is the first to be built in the US in the early 1980s and as it was the first place I experienced Vipassana, it holds a special place in my heart.
May all be happy!

Words would simply not do VMC — Dhamma Dhara its due justice… need I say more?