Financial Times (UK) investigates Goenka's Vipassana Meditation
The elephant in the Goenka meditation hall
In January 2024, Financial Times investigated the impact on some vulnerable people who attended the 10-day Vipassana (Insight Meditation) courses initiated by S.N. Goenka (1924 - 2013).
FT made an Introduction with four podcasts. Audio and transcription available. These are harrowing reports.
An Introduction
A ‘desperate’ father, named Stephen, tells of the experience of his twin daughters after a Goenka course.
Madison Marriage (FT Special Investigations Editor) ‘hears multiple accounts of terror, hallucinations and psychosis.’
Story of Jackie, 22, who died after a Goenka course
Marriage asks what the organisation is doing, if anything, to protect people from harm.
Goenka’s 10-day Vipassana (Insight Meditation) Courses have much to offer those sound in mind and body. The rigorous 10-12 hours a day of sitting meditation for an hour at a time challenges presence and equanimity of the meditators.
An Indian businessman, Goenka travelled the world in the 1960s to find a cure for his intense migraines. He attend in Myanmar, where he lived, a 10 day Vipassana course with U Bha Khin, which cured him of his migraine.
Goenka said the Buddha taught this form of Vipassana and named the last two generations of teachers in his lineage – U Bha Khin, a government minister, whose teacher was Webu Sayadaw.
Those who enter the retreat with a sense of wellbeing will learn much about the power of concentration, working through mental hindrances, moment-to-moment focus on the body and more.
After four years of daily intensive practice in Thailand as a monk, I sat a few Goenka courses in the Burmese Monastery in Bodh Gaya and Varanasi, India, taught by Goenka in 1974. He gave 10 identical talks, word for word, with each course.
Outline of the 10-Day Course
For the first three days, we concentrated on the tip of the nose in the sitting posture. In the afternoon of Day 4, we switched to what he called Vipassana – often referred to among his students as sweeping. The practice consisted of moving the attention from the top of the head slowly down to the toes experiencing a full variety of sensations - a key word in his teaching. Meditators witness impermanence and develop equanimity.
A few years later, Goenka instructed that meditators could sit for three retreats and with any other tradition. After that, meditators had to commit themselves exclusively to Goenka and his teaching to keep the pristine purity of the technique. Goenka gave no teaching in the other three primary postures of walking, standing and reclining. He did not permit any kind of individual exercise, such as yoga, tai chai, reiki therapy or informal exercise.
Meditators sat on the floor, keep eyes closed and not move until it was unbearable. Participants committed themselves to noble silence throughout the course. After lunch, Goenka gave five minutes for a practitioner to meet with him in his room. He would see up to 12 people in the 60 minutes granted.
Goenka said during his discourses there was one medicine for all and the medicine was vipassana. In the 10,000 discourses in the texts (suttas), the Buddha offered hundreds of medicines to address the range of suffering on this Earth.
Yes, the hard course discipline worked well for those who could handle it. For others it was a very different story. On the 1974 retreats in India, I recall witnessing in the meditation hall one or two with intense shaking of the body, an individual screaming and others breaking down sobbing during a meditation. Nothing was said. I did not see Goenka offer any personal response to their distress during the sitting or immediately after. The managers did not know what to do, except say a few sympathetic words to the person going through torment.
In his evening talk, Goenka made regular reference to samkharas. He defined samkharas as mental formations. As the person practised vipassana, he said their old samkharas would come up. He told the meditators to keep meditating, develop equanimity (upekkha) and see the impermanence (anicca) of these samkharas.
The Impact on the Vulnerable
Assistant teachers do not appear to know teachings/practices suitable for the needs of those who enduring hellish states of mind. This ensured day by day the physical/emotional/mental impact on a small percentage of their students. Over the years as a Dharma teacher, I had my ears burnt listening to distressing stories of the horror these courses inflicted on certain vulnerable people.
The harm included psychological breakdown, depression, psychosis, self-harm and suicide. Parents or friend had to take their son, daughter or loved one to a mental hospital for medication and treatment. Others left disillusioned with meditation, the Buddhist tradition and spirituality. The media and families in different countries brought their attention to the Goenka organisation of the tragic consequences of their loved ones attending these courses. The Goenka organisation continues to ignore their valid concerns.
The Goenka organisation has come up with the same get-out clause for 50 years. They claim the students’ samkharas arose during the course triggering the consequence or the students had engaged in some other kind of meditation/spiritual practice before the course. They claim the ‘mixing of techniques’ contributed to the suffering.
Prior to attending a Goenka course, applicants fill out a detailed registration form detailing any history of psychological problems and medication. This approach certainly acts as a filter.
Many teachers in meditation/wellbeing/spiritual practices require submission of such a form. Some people told me they wrote NO to questions starting with “Have you…” even with a history of mental health issues. They feared being told they would not be allowed to attend the course.
Others join with no history of psychological problems, trauma, abuse, recreational drugs and more. They have no idea of their vulnerability to the intensity of control, sitting still for long periods and the outer-inner pressure. The combination of such conditions can trigger fear, nightmares and terrifying distortions of perception.
Comment in the Financial Times
This is what the Madison Marriage wrote in the Financial Times about the Goenka courses.
“Abuse of power doesn’t look the same everywhere. Sometimes abuse of power can come from a collective failure to acknowledge something.
From not accepting responsibility. From doing nothing. And the Goenka organisation, it seems, is choosing no response; is not accepting responsibility; is doing nothing to rectify things with the power it most certainly has.
At the centre of this, there are still people who have lost their lives and families who are left grieving without answers."
I agree with her. Unreservedly.
The Goenka organisation needs to address this elephant in the meditation hall. They could explore other ways of safeguarding practitioners. Sadly, the organisation has never attended any of the national or international meetings of the networks of those deeply connected with the Buddha-Dharma. They have isolated themselves from the range of teachings offered elsewhere including the monastic/religious tradition to secular mindfulness and much more between these two poles.
It is not unusual for meditators to ask at the end of the retreats about ways to develop further practice, recommended teachers and locations for meditation, East and West. Around 30-40 years ago, I stopped recommending meditators join a Vipassana Course with Goenka or his assistant teachers, who only speak about the technique and briefly check the practice of the students. I did not want meditators risking a breakdown.
A Response to FT from a Goenka meditator
Financial Times received responses to their investigation from dedicated Goenka students. Here is one response from a person who has attended the courses for 13 years.
As someone who has been involved in Vipassana meditation for over 13 years, I feel compelled to offer a different perspective to the narrative presented in the podcast “Untold: The Retreat” presented by Madison Marriage (Podcasts, FT.com, January 31, 2024).
First, it’s important to clarify that Vipassana, as taught by SN Goenka, is rooted in the teachings of the Buddha and is distinct from the religious practices and rituals associated with Buddhism that developed centuries later.
Goenka’s approach is not about creating a cultlike following but about teaching a meditation technique that has helped countless individuals worldwide, including myself, find inner peace and personal growth.
The podcast’s portrayal of these meditation courses as harmful and cultlike is a significant deviation from my experiences. While it is true that meditation requires discipline and can be challenging, it is equally important to recognise that these courses clearly state they are not suitable for those with severe psychological disorders.
It’s crucial for such investigative pieces to offer a balanced view. A single narrative should not define an ancient practice that has stood the test of time and helped many leads more mindful and fulfilled lives.
FT Headings and a Goenka Meditator Miss the Point
In my view, the headings in the Financial Times and letter of the meditator to the FT miss the point.
FT makes a sweeping generalisation and asks a rhetorical question in its headings
THE RETREAT — AN INVESTIGATIVE PODCAST INTO THE PERILS OF MEDITATION
CAN AN INTENSIVE FORM OF THE PRACTICE CAUSE PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS?
The Goenka meditator also slipped into a sweeping generalisation. Yes, as I stated above, many people worldwide benefit from the course. The meditator neglects to speak up to supports the needs of the minority. The deep concern of families, friends and others focusses on the best interests of every single person that attends a course. In Dharma teachings, the majority does not dominate or ignore the needs of the minority.
The 10-day model fails certain vulnerable people. Instead of reduce suffering, the demands of the course and the latent vulnerability of certain people can intensify their suffering to the most tragic possible degree.
A Suggestion for 10 Changes to the Goenka Course
It doesn’t take a great deal of imagination to make changes to a course.
Short courses: A weekend for beginners, then five days, a week and then 10 days
Meditators then develop a gradual practice leading up to a full on 10-day course.
3. Provide upright chairs
4. Offer daily a different guided meditation - on the breath, body scan and loving kindness (metta) through the retreat.
5. Offer specific mindfulness practices outside the meditation hall.
6. Vary length of sitting times – 30 mins, 45 mins leading up to an hour and start at 5.30 am instead of 4 am.
7. Small group meetings to discuss openly the practice for 30 – 60 minutes in a room led by an assistant teacher
8. Offer a different kind of timetable for those struggling with the form/technique with daily guidance from a senior
9. Assistant teachers to give talks so meditators can develop a supportive connection/relationship with a teacher during the course and after.
10. Seniors in the Goenka tradition have contact with seniors in other Vipassana retreats for mutual benefit. Assistant teachers have contact with senior teachers, East and West, with decades of experience of Dharma teaching.
The Goenka students practice intensely seeing anicca/impermanence/change in the course.
The time has come for the Goenka course to change out of loving kindness and compassion for vulnerable students.
Here is the link to FT report including text and audio versions.
https://www.ft.com/content/b3ec8e57-5cf9-4f96-9267-56c3bcd9c102
May all beings live in peace
May all beings live in harmony
May all beings live in peace and harmony.
17 years ago I lost my partner to suicide and the Vipassana practice harmed him by, I believe, uprooting deep, unresolved early childhood trauma that he ruminated on and had never dealt with nor found support to heal with professionals. I didn't understand any of this at the time and it charted me on a long course to learn & understand how trauma manifests in the body and the brain and how adverse effects can happen from these courses. And while it has been one of the most effective tools for myself, due to this extreme loss and the effects that meditation can have on certain folks, I no longer recommend it to all. They began adding the mental health questions to their application process shortly after I shared my partner's suicide note that signaled psychosis connected to his Vipassana practice. I agree completely that the Goenka Vipassana community should adhere to some of the points you have mentioned, allow for more support with conversation among the assistant meditation teachers and new students, and also have professional mental health practitioners as advisors when adverse effects arise. I became a chaplain in response to what I learned in long-term Vipassana practice and what I experienced serving courses and offering support to new students. Cheetah House out of Brown University in the U.S. offers good support around adverse events. Thank you for this post. 🙏
I attended the 10 day retreat a few years ago. I found it challenging but beneficial. The forms you fill out are to ascertain whether you are psychologically prepared for it. If people are not truthful about those matters because they don’t want to be prevented from attending the course, as you note, then the organizers can hardly be blamed when said people face difficulties. It’s a matter of taking personal responsibility. That said, I do realize that emotional difficulties may arise. At times I felt I was going a little bit “crazy” because of the high-level of awareness of the monkey mind, but I was also attending the retreat after many years of individual practice. Again, this is where individuals have to use some common sense —if they don’t already have a practice or have not done shorter one to three day retreat, then jumping into a 10 day silent retreat may not be the best choice. It’s like going jogging a few times a week and then deciding you’re going to a marathon! .I don’t think it’s up to the Goenka org. to provide shorter retreats, but perhaps to let people know that it might be beneficial for them to work up to something like this. There are hundreds of shorter retreats in the Buddhist tradition being offered elsewhere. But try finding a retreat especially in the US where you don’t have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to join a retreat and meditate for 3 to 10 days! What is remarkable is that the Goenka organization offers their retreats through dana at absolutely no charge. There is something remarkably pure about this.
There are also opportunities to consult with the teachers in whispered conversations about challenges in practice. And accommodations are made if you request it for being seated against the wall or in a chair. But no one is prevented from leaving if it’s too much to bear. I remember at least 2 people leaving after 3 days of the course.
All this said, It might be wise to start allocating some funding to a psychologist to be on hand for any issues that arise. Also, while it’s painful to hear of people who have suffered from attending these retreats, I’d like to see what the statistics are. Thousands of people have gone through these retreats unscathed and so what is the percentage of people who have had a negative outcome? And do we also have that data to for people attending other similar rigorous meditation retreats? Without data, anecdotal stories can overshadow the tremendous benefit that most people have received.