Vipassana, the 10-day course in India

Ten days without speaking, without a phone, waking at four, for free: the Vipassana courses in the tradition of S. N. Goenka are among the best-known meditation retreats in India. Here is what the organisation itself publishes about them.

What vipassana is

Vipassanā is a Pāli word (Sanskrit vipaśyanā) usually translated as insight; dhamma.org defines it as seeing "things as they really are". It belongs to the Buddhist tradition, which says the technique was rediscovered by Gotama the Buddha more than 2,500 years ago. It is not a yoga technique in the sense of Patañjali or the haṭha texts, but India, where the Buddha taught, has the largest number of centres.

The course teaches three steps:

1. Moral conduct (sīla): five precepts for the duration of the course.
2. Concentration on the breath during the first days: attention to the natural, ever-changing flow of the breath.
3. Vipassanā itself: observing sensations throughout the body, understanding their changing nature, developing equanimity. Loving-kindness (mettā) is taught on the last full day.

S. N. Goenka

Satya Narayan Goenka was born and raised in Myanmar (Burma), where he trained for fourteen years with his teacher, Sayagyi U Ba Khin. He settled in India and began teaching Vipassana there in 1969. He died in September 2013 at the age of 89. The courses described here are those given "as taught by S. N. Goenka" by the teachers he appointed.

The rules of the course

The code of discipline published on dhamma.org:

• Noble silence: "silence of body, speech, and mind"; no gestures, signs or notes between students. You may speak with the teacher and the management.
• Five precepts for all: no killing, stealing, sexual activity, lying or intoxicants. Old students also keep three more: no food after midday (lemon water or tea without milk at 5 pm), no entertainment or bodily decoration, no high or luxurious beds.
• No other practices: prayer, worship, mantras, singing and dancing are not permitted, and other meditation techniques are suspended during the course. That includes the mantra practices on this site, such as japa.
• No phone, reading, writing, music or outside communication; electronic devices are deposited.
• Men and women are separated; no physical contact.
• No fasting, smoking or vaping.

The daily timetable

According to the code of discipline, the wake-up bell rings at 4:00 am. The day alternates meditation in the hall or the room with group sittings, breakfast, lunch and a tea break; a recorded discourse of the teacher runs from 7:00 to 8:15 pm, and lights out is at 9:30 pm. New students may have tea with milk and fruit at 5 pm.

The course spans 12 calendar days, including the day of arrival and the day of departure. Chairs are provided for those unable to sit on the floor because of age or a physical problem.

Dāna: no charge

"There is no charge for either the teaching, or for room and board", says dhamma.org. Courses run on voluntary donations (dāna), accepted only from people who have completed at least one 10-day course in this tradition, so that each student's course is paid for by those who came before. Teachers and organisers receive no payment.

Courses in India

On 16 October 2026, the dhamma.org directory listed 130 centres in India. Two are often asked about:

• Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri (Maharashtra), about three hours by road from Mumbai: the Vipassana International Academy, one of the largest centres in the world, co-located with the Vipassana Research Institute. It offered its first course in 1976.
• Dhamma Salila, near Dehradun (Uttarakhand), the centre closest to Rishikesh: in the Doon valley, about 10 km from Dehradun's Clock Tower, established in December 1995, holding about twenty courses a year.

Courses fill up early, especially in the travel season. Apply only through dhamma.org, which handles registration for every centre.

What to expect, honestly

The first days are often the hardest: sitting for long hours, the body aching, the mind restless. The organisation describes the course as "hard, serious work". Meditation can also bring difficult experiences: a 2020 systematic review of 83 studies found adverse events in about 8% of meditation participants overall, mostly anxiety and depression, sometimes in people with no previous history. Intensive retreats deserve the precaution at the top of this page.

We make no claim about benefits here. If you want to prepare, start with daily sitting at home: how to meditate and the 10-minute guided meditation. The meditation chapter explains how vipassana differs from the yoga traditions of dhāraṇā and dhyāna, and our Rishikesh guide helps plan a stay in the region.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. Code of Discipline for 10-day Vipassana courses, dhamma.org checked October 16, 2026
2. About Vipassana meditation, dhamma.org checked October 16, 2026
3. S. N. Goenka, dhamma.org checked October 16, 2026
4. Questions and answers about Vipassana courses, dhamma.org checked October 16, 2026
5. Dhamma Giri, Vipassana International Academy, Igatpuri, dhamma.org checked October 16, 2026
6. Dhamma Salila, Dehradun Vipassana Centre, dhamma.org checked October 16, 2026
7. Farias M et al. Adverse events in meditation practices and meditation-based therapies: a systematic review. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 2020 DOI 10.1111/acps.13225 PMID 32820538 checked October 16, 2026

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