Mumbai: The Global Vipassana Pagoda at Gorai has curated an experiential centre where visitors can travel through the two-and-a-half millennia-old history of the Vipassana meditation technique after its discovery by Gautam Buddha.
The exposition, spread over an area of 20,000 square feet, uses the latest audio-visual techniques to tell the story of Buddha, his quest for enlightenment, his rejection of ritual penances, and his realisation of Vipassana.
The Global Vipassana Pagoda at Gorai | File Photo
Visitors will then be walked through the period of Emperor Ashoka a few centuries later when missionaries spread Buddha's ideas across the Old World. The exhibition ends with the story of Acharya Shri Satyanarayan Goenka who brought the meditation technique back to India from Myanmar where it had survived even as Buddhism ebbed away in its Indian homeland.
The project is the vision of two shishyas or disciples of Goenka. The exposition's curator said that the centre was the dream of Acharya Goenka. "The two shishyas were close to him and they wanted to fulfill his wish," the curator added.
The Global Vipassana Pagoda at Gorai | File Photo
Goenka, who was born in an Indian business family living in Myanmar (then called Burma) learnt meditation in the 1950s from his guru Sayagyi U Ba Khin. On instructions from the guru he came to India, an unfamiliar place for him, to replant the technique in the birthplace of Buddhism. He held his first Vipassana camp in Kalbadevi in July 1969. Goenka, who died in 2013, established the first centre at Igatpuri near Nashik.
The grand pagoda at Gorai, modelled on the Shwedagon Pagoda at Yangon, Myanmar, and completed in 2008, is one of the largest stone monuments in Asia. The pagoda enshrines a relic of Buddha on the ceiling of its vast pillar-less hall.
The Global Vipassana Pagoda at Gorai | File Photo
The Gorai centre is one of the 240 meditation centres across the world, including 116 in India. Jack Dorsey, former CEO of Twitter (now X) and Hollywood actor Lupita Nyong'o are among the millions of meditators who have attended the 10-day Vipassana course offered at these centres. Their testimonies of the course, in their own words, is part of the exhibition.
A trustee of Global Vipassana Foundation said that in 2018, two significant anniversaries were on the horizon - 50 years of vipassana’s revival in India in 2019 and Puj Goenkaji’s birth centenary in 2024. Various projects, including the museum, were planned to mark the jubilees.
The Global Vipassana Pagoda at Gorai | File Photo
One of the visionaries behind the project, who did not want to be named, said that Vipassana means and teaches to see reality as it actually is and not as it may seem or is believed. "Example, when we feel angry at someone, a vipassana meditator will quickly realise that the seeming cause for anger is not agitating him as much as the agitation he chooses to react with. Thus Vipassana is a huge advantage, even a competitive advantage as the meditator sees both inside and outside while others can see only outside."
The Global Vipassana Pagoda at Gorai | File Photo
The exhibition is currently open only on Sundays, but the Global Vipassana Foundation said they are in the process of making it operational on other days. Like most services at the centre, the exhibition does not charge a fee, relying on donations from meditators to fund their work.
The Global Vipassana Pagoda at Gorai | File Photo
Visitors who experience the exposition are inspired to take the short Aanapan (breathing technique) course as a window to the main programme. "This helps you to learn the art of living. Only peaceful and wise individuals can create a peaceful and a happy world," said one of the persons who is directing the project.
Madhusudan Agrawal, co-founder and vice-chairman of Ajanta Pharma Ltd, and a Vipassana sadhak who is part of the project, said he wanted to share the transformative power of Vipassana meditation with a broader audience.
"Recognising how Vipassana has positively impacted countless individuals worldwide, we felt a strong desire to create an exposition that could introduce its timeless principles in an accessible, engaging manner, allowing more people to discover its potential for inner peace and clarity," said Agarwal who added that Vipassana has been a journey of self-awareness and personal growth. "We hope visitors leave the exposition with a clear understanding of Vipassana’s essence and how it can be a tool for personal transformation."
