in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin
Course Schedule
Centre Location: Website | Map
** Unless noted otherwise, course instructions are given in the following language(s): English / Japanese
The first Vipassana meditation centre established in Japan (1989), Dhamma Bhanu lies in the northwestern part of Kyoto prefecture, near to Mizuho town.
The centre is easily reached by public transport from Kyoto JR station (90min) which has rail and bus services to all major cities and airports.
Dhamma Bhanu is located in rural countryside, in a peaceful location surrounded by forest and farm land.
Courses are held at the centre throughout the year and are conducted in both English and Japanese with participants attending from all over Japan.
Dhamma Bhanu currently has the capacity to accommodate 65 students plus teachers and management and is administrated by the Japan Vipassana Association, a non-profit organization.
- Access the application form by clicking Apply for the desired course. Old students will be given the option to serve.
- Please carefully read the Introduction to the Technique and Code of Discipline which you will be asked to follow during your course.
- Fully and completely fill out all the sections of application form and submit it. An application is required to register for all courses.
- Await notification. All correspondence will be through e-mail if you give an e-mail address in your application. Due to the large volume of applications, it may take up to two weeks before receiving notification.
- If your application is accepted then we require you to confirm you will be attending in order to secure your place in the course.
Address: 2-1 Iwakamioku Hatta, Kyotanba-cho, Funai-gun, Kyoto 622-0324 Japan
Tel: +81(771)86-0765 - Email: [email protected] , [email protected]
Important Notice
Corona 19 and New Requirements for Courses at Dhammabhanu
Please read before applying.
We ask for your understanding and cooperation.
The maximum number of students in the meditation hall will be about 20-25, and the seats will be placed at a sufficient distance from each other.
(*The previous limit was 75 people in the meditation hall.)
Meditation courses may be cancelled even if their registrations are still open, depending on the status of the COVID-19.
Requirements to attend a course for both students and servers
- You do not have any of these medical conditions: high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease, or underlying diseases that cause immunodeficiency.
- You have no symptoms that would suggest Covid19 infections at the time of application.
- You are not pregnant.
- You are a resident of Japan.
- You have Japanese health insurance or an insurance certificate, and will present it at the course reception
- Someone willing to meet you, in an emergency, or if you feel sick and need to return home.
- Returnees from abroad must have been in Japan for more than 2 weeks
- You agree to follow the Centre's Covid19 guidelines
- In the past two weeks, you have not been
- in contact with a Covid infected person
- in contact with anyone who has been in Japan for less than two weeks
- to places where there is a high risk of infection (events and dinners where many people gather, gyms, karaoke, group trips, etc.)
- to a medical institution that poses a risk of infection (including a dentist)
See Comments for any special instructions for events in this section.
All ten day courses begin on the evening of the first day and end on the early morning of the last day.
See Comments for any special instructions for events in this section.
The online application form encrypts your information before it is sent from your computer to our application server. However, it may not be totally secure even though encryption is used. If you are concerned about the possibility of security risks of your confidential information while it is on the Internet, do not use this form and instead download an application. Print and complete it. Then please send the form to the course organizers. By faxing or posting your application form it may delay the registration process by one to two weeks.
To access the Old Student Regional Site please click http://bhanu.dhamma.org/os. A user name and password will be required to access these pages.
Questions may be addressed to Email: [email protected]
All courses are run solely on a donation basis. All expenses are met by donations from those who, having completed a course and experienced the benefits of Vipassana, wish to give others the same opportunity. Neither the Teacher nor the assistant teachers receive remuneration; they and those who serve the courses volunteer their time. Thus Vipassana is offered free from commercialisation.
Old students are those who have completed a 10-day Vipassana Meditation course with S.N. Goenka or his Assistant Teachers. Old students have the opportunity to provide Dhamma Service at the courses listed.
Bilingual courses are courses which are taught in two languages. All students will hear daily meditation instructions in both languages. The evening discourses will be heard separately.
Meditation courses are held at both center and non-center locations. Meditation centers are dedicated facilities where courses are held regularly throughout the year. Before meditation centers were established in this tradition, all courses were held at temporary sites, such as campgrounds, religious retreat centers, churches and the like. Today, in regions where centers have not yet been established by local students of Vipassana who live in the area, 10 Day meditation courses are held at non-center course sites.
