March 2024

Words of inspiration

News from Dhamma Muditā

Course report winter 23/24

Expected deductibility of donations in Austria

Invitation to the Vipassana Days in March

Lineage talks by Patrick Given-Wilson

Do you have questions regarding your practice?

Important dates

Words of inspiration

News from Dhamma Muditā

With the start of the 10-day courses in Raabs in mid-November and the arrival of frosty temperatures in the Mühlviertel region, Dhamma Muditā was sent into hibernation – as in previous years. In December, it even got really wintry for a while and the centre grounds, including the garden hut, were covered in a good layer of powdery snow that glistened in the sunshine. After a few rainy and foggy days in the new year, spring is now just around the corner – and with it the start of construction work at Dhamma Muditā.

Construction is underway!

About the building project: Construction phase 1a comprises two accommodation buildings for the course participants as well as a kitchen and separate dining rooms for men and women. The existing “garden hut” will continue to be used as a meditation hall and will be extended between April and October 2024 for up to 70 course participants.

After completion of this first construction phase in spring 2025, a total of twelve 10-day courses for at least 40 meditators could take place in Dhamma Muditā until the end of the year. However, in order to be able to offer courses for 60 meditators and 10 Dhamma servers as soon as possible and to fully utilise the capacity of the Dhamma hall, it would be ideal to lay the foundations for the third residential building at the same time. As soon as this foundation is in place, the third residential building could soon be erected with the dedicated help of as many meditators as possible, mainly through their own labour. At the moment, however, the association still lacks the funds for the foundations, which are estimated to cost around 286,000 euros.

Service opportunity: remodelling of the Dhamma hall

Please open the image here in full resolution.

Preparing the meditation hall for the first 10-day courses in the new Vipassana Centre in Austria and thus facilitating the first 10-day courses in Dhamma Muditā is a very special service opportunity that does not come along very often.

Course report winter 23/24

The sixth and final 10-day course of the 2023/24 winter season will start shortly, on Monday 4 March. The Vipassana Meditation Association Austria has run a total of five courses since mid-November: a double course in Raabs an der Thaya in autumn (see photos), the popular New Year’s course in St. Arbogast, Vorarlberg, and we are currently in the middle of a series of three consecutive courses in Raabs, the last of which, as mentioned at the beginning, will start shortly.

A total of 82 Dhamma servers have been involved in the four courses completed so far this season, looking after 202 old students and 238 new students. It was with great regret that we had to cancel the course starting on 7 February for the new female students at very short notice, as despite our best efforts we were unable to find a female teacher for the course. In addition, teacher shortfalls due to illness in February demanded a great deal of organisational talent and equanimity, but thanks to the extraordinary willingness of some to serve, all hurdles were successfully overcome and – we hope – to the benefit and satisfaction of all course participants.

A little equanimity was also required at the turn of the year in St. Arbogast: although the seminar house had just been renovated, the team of servers on site were confronted with all kinds of technical difficulties. However, with a little foresight, skill and a talent for improvisation, this course was also successfully completed. The next New Year’s course in St. Arbogast at the turn of the year 2024/25 will be organised jointly with the Swiss association. After that, it is likely that the Swiss association will take over this course location and the regular 10-day courses over New Year. From 2025 onwards, courses organised by the Austrian Vipassana association shall take place exclusively at the new centre Dhamma Muditā in Upper Austria – which we are already very much looking forward to.

Anticipated deductibility of donations in Austria

Due to the Charity Reform Act 2023 in Austria, we assume that the Vipassana association will receive a donation benefit notice in this year, with which donations to the association will be tax-deductible retrospectively from 1 January 2024. These donations must be reported by the association to the tax office in order to be deducted from your taxes. If you want to ensure that your donation is transmitted by us to the tax office, please enter your first and last name according to the population register and your date of birth in the “Payment reference / purpose of use” field.

Invitation to the Vipassana Days in March

You can register for the Vipassana days via the course programme. Minutes from past Vipassana meetings and annual general meetings can be found here (in German only).

Lineage talks by Patrick Given-Wilson

“Patrick Given-Wilson presents an interesting series of talks exploring the lives and teachings of the lineage of Vipassana Meditation teachers in our tradition, the lineage that led to the Vipassana courses as taught by S.N. Goenka. The talks show how, as a result, the teaching of Vipassana—which for generations was only limited available to a few monks in Burma—was able to spread to so many people throughout the world today. They cover Ashoka, who first sent monks to Burma, then Ledi Sayadaw, Saya Thet, Webu Sayadaw, Sayagyi U Ba Khin and S.N. Goenka. The talks are offered to explain the history and origins of this noble tradition, and above all to inspire Vipassana meditators.“

You can listen to and watch them at www.pariyatti.org here free of charge.

Do you have any questions regarding your practice?

Then please do not hesitate to contact [email protected] . In your email, please include your contact details and when and where you attended your last course. A teacher will get in touch with you.

The course programme on the Vipassana website is regularly updated. You can find a current extract here:

For information on official group sittings and short courses in Dhamma Muditā (Upper Austria), Vienna, Dornbirn, Graz and Oberpiesting (Lower Austria) please follow this link, register with oldstudent/behappy and contact the relevant person.