JayaDhamma

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The aim of JayaDhamma has always been to collect and share some of the nicest places around the world for practicing Buddhist meditation, in the spirit of One big Dharma/Dhamma. Now with this map, it has become ever more easy and accessible to share these gems with fellow meditators and Dhamma seekers around the world!

Share the link as you like, and if you want to contribute in any way to the project, don’t hesitate to interact! Click here for contact details.

Boonkanjanaram Meditation Center, Thailand

Boonkanjanaram Meditation Center in Pattaya, Thailand is a good place for self practice. They do teach a Burmese Kayanupassana technique there but you can do a self retreat if you inform them that you want to practice your own style. No Dhamma hall, no dining hall, no timetable, food is brought to your kuti twice per day and you are left alone to practice in your own way. They do charge a daily fee which is 300 baht per day short term, 8000 baht per 1 month, 14000 baht 2 months and 18000 baht 3 months.

You can find more info on their Facebook page here.

Foreigners, disillusioned with the increased materialist outlook in the West, and looking for meaning in their life kept flocking to Kopan to attend the teachings of the lamas. Many of them took ordination vows, and  stayed as a small western sangha community at Kopan under the supervision of Lama Yeshe, till they were forced to leave Nepal due to a change in Nepal's visa regulations in 1985.

As they say - the rest is history.

Over the next 30 years Kopan developed and grew into one of the biggest Gelug monasteries in Nepal with 380 monk and 360 nuns, and an extensive program of Buddhist courses for foreigners. The  one-month course first taught in 1971 became an annual event and is till happening now, with more than 250 people attending every year.

The nuns who were originally staying at Kopan and attending classes with the monks moved into their own place in 1994. The nunnery is  now home to 360 nuns, studying philosophy, and engaging in intensive practice such as the annual Nyung ne retreat.

Panditarama Lumbini International Vipassana Meditation Center is located in Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha and one of the four main places of pilgrimage for Buddhists. Lumbini is an international project including re-developing the ancient sites and constructing countless new monasteries. It is located in southern Nepal, near the Indian border.

Panditarama Lumbini International Vipassana Meditation Center was set up by Ven. Sayadaw U Panditabhivamsa of Myanmar in cooperation with the Venerable Sayadaw U Asabhacara and inaugurated on February 7, 1999.

Panditarama Lumbini offers a supportive, comfortable and peaceful setting for dhamma-students seeking practice. The meditation method is Intensive Vipassana in the tradition of the Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw of Myanmar, which consists of sitting meditation and formal walking meditation throughout the day. Almost daily interviews and regular Dhamma-talks in English are offered. Meditators observe Noble Silence and keep eight precepts.

Study Buddhism in Myanmar, one year or more as a monk, nun or layperson. The teachers are of varying quality so come with no expectations. You will get food and accomodation plus the visa required for free during your year. It could be worth a try!

You can download the application on the website. The safest way to apply and do the entrance examination seems to be in person though, at: Registrar, International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University, Dhammapala Hill, Mayangone P.O., Yangon.

You can also do the entrance examination at a Myanmar embassy near you, but this process I do not know about. Try to contact the embassy where you want to do the exam.

The closing date for submitting the application to the course was 15th december year 2016, so probably the same following years. Allow some weeks for the registered mail to reach ITBMU, and don’t forget to use full name on all letters to the university!

Here are some ways to get in contact with the university: Fax: 095-1-650700 Phone: 095-1-650712 Pro-rector (admin): [email protected] Registrar: [email protected]

You need to show a document with your application that you can study on university level, and a medical certificate that your health is good from your doctor.

So, I just got my third meditation visa for Myanmar (Burma) in my passport. All of them I got at the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, which is one of the most straightforward and quickest places to get the visa.

After reading all there is on the web on this particular subject, I now would like to give all of you meditators seeking refuge in the Golden Land an easy and up-to-date guide (23rd December 2016) how to apply for in your self, particularly in Bangkok which is highly recommended.

Alright, so where to begin? With the meditation centre/monastery of course! If you decided where you wanna go, contact them and ask for a sponsorship letter, which is an official invitation and has your name and passport-number on it. This is essential in order to be able to apply for the meditation visa (also called religious visa).

If you are planning to stay just a short time for meditation, and want to do some tourist stuff also, you don’t need the meditation visa and can now easily apply online for the tourist e-visa which is 28 days long. This could also be a start if you are unsure which place you want to ask for a sponsorship. Go to this link if you wanna do that. (Visa-free travel is permitted for Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos passport holders for 14 days, or longer in some cases.) You are allowed to travel and see some sights even with your meditation visa, but best to do that before or after your meditation, or ask for permission if you want to go out in the middle of a longer stay.

You can get the meditation visa at many Myanmar embassies, but then you need to plan your stay well in advance, because all meditation visas need approval from the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Myanmar, and they can take between 2 to 4 months to process. The only exceptions seems to be Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, where it takes less than a week to get a meditation visa.

In Bangkok, the normal time is now one working day (pick-up day tomorrow afternoon) for the visa which costs 2000 baht. You can pay extra to get it the same day if you need, but then it’s good to also show your flight itinerary. They will write the date you can pick up the passport on the receipt that you get, after giving them the passport for the visa.

From 1st of December 2016 the meditation visa has shrunk and is now 70 days long and costs 2000 Baht, about 55 US Dollars. You can still extend the meditation visa without leaving the country, but try to arrange the extension in the beginning of your stay, since this process take a long time.

The Myanmar Embassy is located in the Sathon Area in central Bangkok and has this adress: 132 N Sathon Rd, Silom, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500. Look where the Embassy is on Google maps here. It’s close to Surasak station on the BTS Skytrain (Silom line); head east on Sathorn Road for the new embassy building.

This 5 items is what you need to get the visa:

1. The sponsorship letter from your meditation centre/monastery. 2. The filled out application form. (business/meditation visa is only one page) 3. The original passport. 4. 2 passport-photos with a white background. 5. A copy of the passport ID-page.

Both the passport-photos and the passport-copies you can get on the spot, if you enter Thanon Pan (Pan road) which is the next street, if you come from the east. You will most likely find a small van supplying you with this service, which looks like this:

When you arrive inside the embassy you will get the application form and a number for the business visa counter. They will also supply you with glue for the photo and a clip for the extra photo.

The Embassy is open between 9-12 AM for applications. Note that there are often long queues – particularly in the high season from November to March. The embassy is closed at special Thai and Myanmar weekends.

To pick up your visa, be there between 3.30-5.00 PM. Start queuing a bit earlier if you want a place in the front of the line when they open 3.30. I started 2.30 and got place number four in the business visa line.

Good luck!

Thanks to all those people that helped me collect this information and succeed in getting my visas.

With metta, Jayadhamma

The technique of Vipassana Meditation is taught at ten-day residential courses during which participants learn the basics of the method, and practice sufficiently to experience its beneficial results. There are no charges for the courses - not even to cover the cost of food and accommodation. All expenses are met by donations from people who, having completed a course and experienced the benefits of Vipassana, wish to give others the opportunity to also benefit.

Silent, art, meditation, nature, teachings, friendship, adventure… The majority of these events are retreats: a time during which we step back from our daily life in order to regain a clearer perspective on what is truly important for us in our life. For us, to « meditate » means to be still and to observe, and in that, there is no connection to dogma, belief or religion.