“Don’t let this priceless human life end in vain. Even if it is only out of fear of the approaching death, be engaged in meritorious deeds that yield pleasant fruit. If we perform unwholesome deeds, they will result in suffering for us. If we perform wholesome deeds, they will result in happiness for us. This is the unbreakable law of nature. Therefore it is better to do wholesome deeds rather than unwholesome deeds in order to avoid suffering and to enjoy happiness.”
S.N. Goenka

 

New Dhamma Hall at the centre

Contents

The Nordic Vipassana centre is growing!

The new Dhamma Hall

You can support the development of Dhamma Sobhana

Donations

Vipassana in the Nordic area – some important events

Master plan

The Nordic Vipassana centre is growing!

Since the first course was held in 2007, the centre has continued growing.
Today 25 courses a year are held, including many in Danish, Norwegian and Finnish, as well as some weekend courses for children and teenagers. In total about 1800 people participate in courses every year and the courses fill up immediately with long wait lists. For every 10-day course there are hundreds who can't get a place. In the presently used hall the students sit tight, with little space between them, and airing the hall is difficult.

For these reasons a new meditation building is planned, with space for 120 students plus servers, maximum 150 people. In the long term the centre plans to also build houses with single rooms with attached bathroom and toilet for 40-50 people. Here you will find information about the project.

The new Dhamma Hall

Many share a strong wish that the course participants are offered ideal conditions for meditation. Many improvements have taken place during the last few years but the most important one remains: a large and spacious meditation hall with good air quality.

The new meditation building is planned with the size of about 450 square metres (m2). This includes a meditation hall of about 285 m2, a discourse room of about 50 m2, lobbies for men and women and storage facilities. In comparison, the present meditation hall is about 100 m2.

The new hall will have place for about 150 people. Estimated cost is about 9,5 million Swedish kr (830 000 euros).

The new meditation building will be built in the forest area west of the existing buildings, between the walking areas. The house will be constructed in wood, with wood-based insulation, on a concrete slab with floor heating. The heat- and moisture buffering capacity of the wood will provide for a pleasant indoor environment. Quiet ventilation and an inner ceiling height of an average of four metres will ensure good air quality. The building will be well insulated and thus energy efficient. The meditation building will be accessible for the disabled by handicap adapted entrances. Building permit has been approved by the local city council.

Here is a short movie about building the new Dhamma Hall made in January 2021.

Please click here for a virtual panorama from the inside of the meditation hall.

For more information about the project, please contact: [email protected]

You can support the development of Dhamma Sobhana

THROUGH A DONATION
A donation, large or small, is the most wholesome way to support the project. This gives the centre the best financial conditions to develop. A donation can be given to the centre’s bank account or by using the PaylPal link at the centre’s website for old students. It’s also possible to sign up to give a monthly donation.


THROUGH AN INTEREST FREE LOAN
Offering an interest free loan is also a wholesome way to make the project possible. The centre has limited possibilities to borrow from banks and the interest rate is high. At other European centres, the building of a meditation hall has often been partly financed through interest-free loans.


THROUGH A LOAN WITH INTEREST
The centre is willing to take up loans at a low interest rate, maximum two per cent. To ease the work of the centre’s finance committee, the loan must not be at a low amount or run for a short period of time.

Donations

Account number: 1195 31 00414
IBAN: SE15 3000 0000 0119 5310 0414
BIC: NDEASESS (Nordea Bank)
Swish nr: 123 230 98 39
Plusgiro: 95 56 46-5


LOANS
For loans please download a loan contract form here and post it to the centre, or contact [email protected] for more information.


MONTHLY DONATIONS
To support the project on a monthly basis, please download an autogiro form here and post it to the centre (within Sweden) or set up a monthly donation with your bank or through PaylPal (outside Sweden), or contact [email protected] for more information.

SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT A DONATION WILL PROVIDE

  • One meditation cushion: 300 kr
  • One square metre of insulation: 600 kr
  • Ten square metres of wooden facade: 1000 kr
  • One front door: 10 000 kr
  • One place in the meditation hall: 60 000 kr
  • Floor heating for the whole building: 450 000 kr
  • One meditation building: 9 500 000 kr

 

Vipassana in the Nordic area – some important events

APPR. 528 BCE
Enlightenment of the Buddha, in Bodhgaya, India.

JULY 1969
S N Goenka conducts his first 10-day course in Bombay, India.

AUGUST 1992
First 10-day course is held in Sweden, in the Stockholm archipelago. During the coming years one or two courses a year are held in Sweden.

APRIL 1998
First 10-day course is held in Denmark.

JUNE 2004
First 10-day course is held in Finland.

JULY 2005
First 10-day course is held in Norway.

JANUARY 2007
A property is bought in Östergötland province to establish a Vipassana centre.
Goenkaji names the centre Dhamma Sobhana (”The Beauty of Dhamma”).    

APRIL 2007
First 10-day course is held at the centre with 53 students. This was also the first course to be given bilingually, in English and Swedish. During this year, seven 10-day courses are held at the centre, with about 400 students.

DECEMBER 2011
The annex to the main building is renovated and starts being used as a meditation hall for about 80 students.
The centre now holds fifteen 10-day courses a year plus some 3-day courses, with about 1 100 students.

SEPTEMBER 2013
The centre buys forest land from a neighbor, to be used for building a new meditation hall.

2017
The 10-day course is given in Danish, Norwegian and Finnish for the first time. This year the centre holds twenty 10-day courses, three 3-day courses, one Satipatthana course and many childrens courses, with a total of 1 700 – 1 800 students. All 10-day courses are fully booked with long waiting lists.

2018
The centre trust decides to build a new meditation hall with capacity for 120 students plus servers. An architect
is hired and plans for the new hall are approved.

2020
Building permit is approved and entrepreneurs are invited to send in offers.

Master plan

Here you can download the centre master plan in PDF format of the centre.

 

“A place for meditation is praised by the Enlightened Ones as the greatest of gifts. Therefore wise people, concerned about their own welfare, should establish pleasant dwellings where those who have heard about Dhamma may come and practice.”
Vinaya, Cullavagga
(The Buddha’s words to a merchant who had donated a meditation centre)