in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin
Dhamma Korea Vipassana Center
Dhamma Korea Vipassana center is located in small village about 30 KM east of Jeonju city, which is a famous tourist city with its beautiful traditional Hanok homes.
The distance from Dhamma Korea Vipassana center to various major locations is:
- Seoul 250 km
- Busan 226 km
- Daejeon 110 km
- Jinan 9 km
Building New Dhamma Hall and Cells
In 2013, with the help of the increasing number of old students Dhamma Korea trust finally purchased an old school near Jinan town and made it the site for building the first Vipassana center in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin in Korea. The cost of buying the site was covered by interest-free and low interest loans offered by old students and thanks to their donations some had been paid back, however a debt of 162,738,738 won is still existing.
Since then the site is gradually becoming an established Meditation center and the number of courses given is increasing. The demand for joining Vipassana courses at Dhamma Korea continues to grow, and in more and more courses there are now people on the waiting list, unable to get a seat in the course they have applied for.
It seems that now the time has ripen to proceed with developing this center into an ideal meditation center, for which Dhamma Korea trust is preparing to build a new Dhamma hall, to accommodate the increasing number of students and at the same time to improve their conditions within the given environment.
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The most important place in a Vipassana center is the Dhamma hall. Students learn the technique of Vipassana in the Dhamma hall and spend most of their time there in serious meditation. So to create a comfortable and pleasant space, with least disturbances from outside the Mediation hall is to be made of good quality materials and with proper insulation so that it will be quite and not too cold nor too hot a place to be in.
Moreover, in order to create ideal conditions for Meditation the initial plan is to construct number of cells for students to be able to meditate in which will be attached to the Dhamma hall.
Followers of the Buddha found quite spaces in which to deeply practice the gift of Dhamma-such as in natural caves or in small huts that were especially built for them. Since ancient times meditation centers have provided cells for students to practice their meditation in quiet seclusion. Sayagyi U Ba Khin realized the significance of cells, within which students could deepen their practice. He saw cells as an essential part of a center, allowing students to practice what they learned in seclusion and for deepening their meditation.
As students go deeper they will like to join a longer courses of 20 days or even longer than that. With new Dhamma Hall and cells built, Dhamma Korea will be a suitable center for having these long courses. Then students from neighboring countries where facilities for long courses are lacking will also have the opportunity to join such courses here.
Plans
- Build a New Dhamma hall for 82 students, 16 servers, 36 cells, an interview room and a mini hall..
- Convert the present dhamma hall into a female dormitory with 18 additional rooms. So that in total accommodation will be available to 45 Female students and for 26 Male students.
- Buy the 250 PY rice paddy (near the eastern gate) to be used as a parking lot and as a residential area for long term servers. (The present parking lot will be used as a walking path).
- Other plans on the agenda are:
New AT rooms
History
- 2001– The first Vipassana course in Korea took place at Dabo sa temple near Sangju.
- Since then number of rented sites were used, included a site in Gyeongju in which 25 ten day courses were hosted from 2012 -2013.
- 2013 - The trust purchased the present site in Jinan which became the first vipassana center in Korea.
- 2013 - S. N. Goenka named the future centre “Dhamma Korea”.
Timeline of developing the center:
- Remodeling of the site started in 2013 and courses started the same year.
- In the spring 2016 the dining halls has been extended and in the fall 2017 the residential areas were at last painted.
- The progress of work since the beginning of March 2017 was as followed:
- The master plan committee made a draft plan for building a new Dhamma hall for future development of the center.
- A contract with an architect was signed.
- Completion of the basic plan with the help of an old student Architect.
- Plans to be achieved until Januray 2018
- To complete the final blue print of the New Dhamma hall.
- To get all Government construction permissions
- Farther steps to be taken during the coming winter:
- Deciding a construction company for building the Dhamma hall and signing a contract with that company.
- April 2018:
- Start the new Dhamma hall construction
- Fall 2018:
- Complete the new Dhamma hall construction.
Construction photos (updated on June 16)
