Vipasana Gyan

On June 27, 1986, assistant teacher of Vipassana Graham Gambie died after a short illness. Graham was among the earliest Western students of S.N. Goenka. After his first Vipassana course at Bodhgaya in 1971, Graham remained in India. From the time Dhamma Giri was purchased in November 1974, he lived, served and meditated there for the next five years. He was one of the first assistant teachers appointed by Goenkaji and, after returning to Australia in 1979, he worked tirelessly to help develop Dhamma Bhūmi, the first Vipassana center “down under.”  Graham was known to meditators around the world, many of whom he inspired with his Dhamma insight and enthusiasm. What follows is a brief memoir by Graham about his growth in Dhamma. The thought arises that nearly twelve years have now gone past since my first tremulous arrival in India. Twelve years. Difficult to understand how it all happened or even what actually happened but one thing is certain, and that is that it did happen. ...

By walking down the path of Vipassana meditation, we arrive at experiences that season and mature our personalities. The personal transformation we each undergo becomes the cata-lyst for social change as we influence everything around us. The great Vipassana meditation teacher, Sayagyi U Ba Khin, wrote: “Impermanence (anicca) is, of course, the es-sential fact which must be first experienced and understood  by practice.” Anicca is a gateway, an opening. The complexity and multiplicity of the phenomena of the world can appear like a thicket, but as a person walks the path of Vipassana meditation a clearing emerges. U Ba Khin wrote: “Anicca is the first essential factor … for progress in Vipassana meditation, a student must keep knowing anicca as continuously as possible.” The Pali word anicca is translated into English as impermanence or change. But anicca is not merely a concept; it is a sign, a marker like the stone cairns a pilgrim encounters on one of those cloud-huggin...