Welcome to the Vipassana Meditation Center Groningen
At the Vipassana Meditation Center Groningen, we offer various activities to support your meditation practice. Our Center, rooted in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, hosts regular meditation sessions, retreats, and special events.
About Vipassana / Insight meditation
Vipassana/insight meditation is a form of Buddhist meditation focused on developing mindfulness and gaining insight into both ourselves and the nature of existence. The word Vipassana is composed of two parts: “vi,” which means “clear,” and “passana,” which means “seeing.” So Vipassana means “clearly seeing” or, better, “seeing things as they are.”
At its core, this means being present and aware in the moment, and the knowing of what is happening, moment to moment. While using mindfulness, you practice self-observation by focusing on your inner self in a non-judgmental way. Vipassana/insight makes it possible to understand the nature of those experiences, and to gain deeper wisdom.
Activities
Open Meditation sessions Every Wednesday-evening between 7.30 and 9.30 pm (also during holidays)
Guidance: Ank, Pim, Marieke, Vera
Format: At the Center or online
– Monthly : Every last Wednesday of the month, we host an open vipassana meditation evening in English. This session is specifically there to welcome more internationals! Dutch-speakers are of course still welcome to join these evenings too.
– Weekly : In case you can understand Dutch, you are also welcome to join guided vipassana meditation every Wednesday evening (instructions in Dutch).
– Online: If you would like to join any of the Wednesday evening sessions online, please send an email to:aanmelden@vipassana-groningen.nl. When you sign up, you will receive a Zoom link.
These meditation evenings are mainly intended for people who are already (somewhat) familiar with vipassana/ insight meditation.
If you have little or no meditation experience, we recommend that you first attend an > [Introductory evening] or take our > [Basic course].
The meditation evenings consist of two half hours of sitting meditation, alternated by a half hour of walking meditation. During the last 30 minutes, participants are invited to share their experiences experiences and to ask questions. We also regularly focus on Loving-Kindness – Metta meditation.
Vipassana retreats & Special events
We organize days of silence, weekend retreats and longer retreats with Insight meditation instructions. These events are guided by our own teachers as well as by external teachers from both home and abroad.
A couple of times a year we also have special events that help bring depth and joy to the practice. Some examples are: Vesak, the threefold celebration of Buddha’s birthday, enlightenment and passing away day in May; or a visit from a guest teacher, from the Netherlands or from abroad, such as Bhante Seelegaweesi, a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka.
For our current activities in Dutch: > [Activities]
Dana: The Practice of Generosity
In Buddhism, giving is called ‘dana’. Generosity is a quality to be cultivated, just like meditation, right speech, and right action. Our Center strives to develop these qualities and completely relies on donations and volunteers for its continuation.
Dana, or generosity in the Buddhist context, means giving freely and experiencing the joy of it. The giver offers unconditionally, and the recipient respects the giver’s contribution without expectations.
Our Center and its activities are run on the basis of donations. During open meditation evenings as well as retreats, you are invited to offer whatever is possible for you. As one of our teachers often says: ”If you have a little, feel free to give generously a little. If you have a lot, feel free to give generously a lot’’. You can give your dana in cash after the meeting or make your donation digitally.
Digital Dana : >[Donate] (>doneren)
Adress and contact
Vipassana Meditation Center Groningen
Kamerlingh Onnesstraat 71 (Grunobuurt)
9727 HG Groningen
Tel.: 06 – 44 14 38 28
info@vipassana-groningen.nl