January 2025

Inspiring words

2025 – a decisive year for Vipassana in Austria

State of developments in Dhamma Muditā

Opportunities for Dhamma service

Financing of the centre construction

Dhamma works! My long-term service in August 2024

Do you have questions regarding your practice?

Dates

Inspiring words

	“Anicca is inside of everybody. It is within reach of everybody. Just a look into oneself and there is anicca to be experienced… Anicca is, for householders, the gem of life which they will treasure to create a reservoir of calm and balanced energy for their own well-being and for the welfare of society.” Sayagyi U Ba Khin

As Vipassana meditators, we learn to be aware of anicca as continuously as possible. Anicca means change, and the new year will bring many changes that will gradually unfold their power. This is the first year in which regular 10-day courses will be offered by the Association for Vipassana Meditation Austria in its own centre ‘Dhamma Muditā’. The dāna of the course participants, a major part of the donations, will then no longer go as rent to the providers of large hostels, but will be invested in a place where the Dhamma can take permanent root in Austria. Dhamma Muditā will be a place where not only a few courses will be organised from time to time in winter – as has been the case up to now – but a place that will function as a permanent contact point. Those seeking Dhamma will have the opportunity to find Dhamma all year round. They can work there on their own development in Dhamma and also participate in the running and further development of a meditation centre that will be there for all of us and also for themselves.

The meditation centre – a place to develop your own pāramis

The special thing about the service at Dhamma Muditā is that you can currently help to create a new centre there. First and foremost, a good Dhamma atmosphere needs to be established, which is done through regular meditation and one’s own constant efforts to observe all sīla precepts. In addition, it is important to create a place that supports meditation as much as possible. How can these or those disturbances be avoided for the upcoming meditators? How do we ensure that the constantly changing helpers find their way around and enjoy the Dhamma service? And so on.

Throughout autumn and winter, professional companies carried out construction work on the accommodation buildings in the first construction phase. At present, all rooms in the new buildings have to be aired regularly to dry the screed so that tiles and flooring can be laid and the interior work can proceed. Painting work, installations, the installation of the kitchen – this work is due to start soon in the New Year.

As part of several service periods, the former ‘garden hut’ was extended for medium-term use as a meditation hall. Under the guidance of experts, dedicated helpers have extended the wooden structure, insulated the outer walls and laid new electrics. Now, in addition to other small details, the panelling of the walls, the underfloor heating and the flooring are still missing.

Before the actual start of the courses in Dhamma Muditā at the end of May 2025, a concerted effort by as many experienced helpers as possible is required: All the rooms are new and need to be cleaned and equipped with the planned furnishings. Up to 70 beds and shelves need to be assembled for this first phase of the centre’s operation, the kitchen needs to be equipped with all the necessary devices and utensils, tables, chairs, buffets, crockery etc. need to be purchased for the dining rooms and much more. And the equipment for the entire housekeeping department has to be placed in the right places. This requires many helping hands.

• You can take part in the guided service periods, which take place at weekends. Registration for one of the next service periods is possible via the course programme:

• You can also register flexibly for one of the two longer service periods ‘Dhamma Hall extension’ (02.01.-20.03.) and ‘Furnishing of accommodations’ (21.03.-25.05.). However, it is only possible to work outside the above-mentioned service periods if a long-term helper is also on site.
• As a long-term helper between now and the end of May. The requirements for this and how you can register for the long-term service can be found here, and a report from a long-term helper can be found later in the newsletter.

IMPORTANT: The Garden Committee also urgently needs permanent and, if possible, committed support.

The farmer from the neighbouring farm will NOT be mowing our meadows in the next years any more. When planning the site, it is intended that the maintenance will be as little work as possible. However, there will be some areas that will require regular maintenance. There are numerous ‘small duties‘ (“Patenschaften” in German) – these are recurring, small tasks that would like to be taken on reliably – that are part of this committee and are still looking for volunteers. As there are no paid gardeners, it is important that the work and responsibility is spread over as many shoulders as possible. If you are interested in taking on such a small duty or would like to join the forest and garden committee, please get in touch at [email protected].

As already reported in the last newsletter, the costs of the construction work for the first three new buildings (construction phase 1a), which will enable the start of 10-day courses in Dhamma Muditā, are largely secured. However, there is still a lack of funding for the green roofs required by the municipality and for the canopies over the entrances to the accommodation. The latter are intended to protect the meditators, the new buildings and the interior spaces from rain, snow and dirt. Both projects together will cost around 128,000 euros.

Furthermore, we are still looking for accommodation for the teachers that offers sufficient space and can be moved flexibly in the course of further construction activities. The idea is therefore to provide two mobile accommodations for the two teachers, e.g. construction trailers or tiny houses with sanitary facilities that can also be used in winter. Until the final permanent teacher accommodation is built next to the future large Dhamma Hall, this mobile accommodation would be used for many years and should therefore be of good quality. Costs of approximately 80,000 euros must be calculated for this additional accommodation. If anyone can help the association to find and finance suitable mobile accommodation, or even provide such accommodation as a gift or loan, that would be a great help. Under the given circumstances, a permanent loan would also be very interesting, i.e. a winterised caravan or a tiny house that would remain in the owner’s possession but would be made available to the association for a certain period of time.

Dhamma works! My long-term service in August 2024

Do you have questions regarding your practice?

Then please do not hesitate to contact [email protected]. Please state in your e-mail when, where and with which teacher you attended your last course and provide your contact details. An assistant teacher will get in touch with you.

Dates

For information on official group meditations and short courses in Dhamma Muditā (Upper Austria), Vienna, Graz, Innsbruck, Dornbirn and Bolzano (South Tyrol) please follow this link and register with oldstudent/behappy.