Dhamma Suvanna

Dhamma Suvanna (Dhamma Suvaṇṇa, “Gold of Dhamma”) is a Vipassana centre in Nong Rua district, about 30 kilometres from Khon Kaen city in north-east Thailand. Dhamma.org places the city roughly 500 kilometres north-east of Bangkok and 300 kilometres from Vientiane in Laos. It teaches Vipassana as taught by S. N. Goenka in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin. The Thai Vipassana site calls it the third centre of this tradition in Thailand.

Dhamma.org’s description says the first part of the land was donated by old students, and a later purchase enlarged it into a site of shaded forest with local trees. Two large ponds at the front hold water through the year, and the centre says the trees keep the ground cool in the hot season from March to May.

The schedule lists ten-day courses, special ten-day courses and three-day courses for old students, Satipatthana Sutta courses, and long courses of 20, 30 and 45 days. At the time of checking, the ten-day courses were marked as for Thai speakers only, so a foreign visitor should read the schedule note before applying. Dhamma.org’s general line for the centre gives English and Thai as the default languages of instruction, which the Thai-only marking overrides for those courses.

A ten-day course follows the format in the Code of Discipline. It spans twelve days counting arrival and departure. Students keep Noble Silence, meaning silence of body, speech and mind, until the morning of the last full day, with men and women kept apart. They take five precepts and see the teacher in set interview hours. Dhamma.org’s introduction describes the practice as starting with the natural breath and widening to the changing nature of body and mind. Recording devices and cameras are not allowed.

Courses run on donations only. Dhamma.org says gifts are accepted from people who have completed at least one ten-day course in this tradition, and a first-time student may give at the end. Applications go through dhamma.org, and Thai students apply through thai.dhamma.org.