A foreign meditator at Panditarama Shwe-Taung-Gon Sasana Yeiktha in Bahan township.

DAW Vajiranani has a look of serenity on her face as she speaks of meditation practise.
“It takes me away from my troubles, and I can’t describe the peacefulness I get while meditating,” she says.

Daw Vajiranani is a 50-year-old American who became a Buddhist nun in the United States in 1991. Since 1993 she has lived and meditated in Myanmar, and now practices as a nun at Panditarama Shwe-Taung-Gon Sasana Yeiktha in Bahan township and at its branch, Hse-Main-Gon Forest Meditation Centre on the Yangon-Bago Road, about 65 kilometres from Yangon.

She has also passed the exams for two subjects towards earning her Dhamma Cariya (Teacher of Dhamma) degree.

“I am now studying the last subject, and if I pass it, I will get the degree,” she says.

Daw Vajiranani says that before coming to Myanmar she often meditated with the Insight Meditation Society in the US.

Like her, there are many foreigners studying meditation techniques in centres throughout Myanmar that welcome people from abroad who are interested in learning the practise.

At Shwe-Oo-Min Dhamma Thukha Tawya Yeiktha meditation centre in Yangon’s Mingalardon township, there are now more than 90 foreigners who are practising the principles of meditation, which include conscious awareness of every thought and movement.

U Hla Htwe, a spokesperson from the meditation centre, says this is the largest number of foreign meditators the centre has ever hosted, and that in the past there were only about 40 of them at any one time.

He thinks one reason the number of foreign meditators is increasing is because the centre is away from downtown Yangon in peaceful and quiet surroundings.

No foreign meditators come to the centre as part of a group, he says, but rather as individuals or with one or two friends. “And no groups of foreign meditators come to the centre through tourism companies.”

Most of the centre’s foreign meditators are women from South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia and China (Taipei), with a few coming from the US or Europe.

In order to study at the centre, U Hla Htwe says, students must have a meditation visa. “There are no additional restrictions for foreign meditators at our centre, but they must be able to speak English so they can discuss their meditation experiences with the abbot during their daily interview.”

Although Myanmar meditators are not allowed to stay more than three months at the centre, foreign meditators can stay as long as they wish if they continue practising meditation techniques.

“The meditation centre also assists foreign meditators in getting visa extensions through the Immigration and National Registration Department by providing a recommendation if the foreign meditators want to stay past their visas,” he says. “But they must meditate at the centre during the visa extension.”

He says the centre can also arrange for foreign meditators to become monks if they wish.

Daw Carudassini, a Pali teacher and an interpreter at the Panditarama Shwe-Taung-Gon Sasana Yeiktha meditation centre, says there are 46 foreign meditators at the main centre and at the branch forest centre, Hse-Main-Gon Sasana Yeiktha.

These foreign meditators come from a range of countries, including the US, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, China and South Korea. Some are Buddhist, but others come from different religious traditions.

Daw Carudassini says the number of foreign meditators reaches a peak during the special retreat period, which runs from December through January at Hse-Main-Gon Sasana Yeiktha.

“At that time, the number of foreign meditators increases to more than 100 at the Forest Meditation Centre, and most of them are women,” she says. During the retreat, Dhamma talks by the chief monk from the main centre and frequent Dhamma interviews take place at the branch.

In addition to individuals, the centre also accepts groups of foreign meditators from Malaysia, Indonesia and the US, though these groups do not come through tourism companies. Foreigners who want to meditate at the centre must inform the centre in advance by phone, email or letter, fill in an application form, and request a meditation visa.

According to Daw Carudassini, some foreign meditators stay for more than a year, and the centre gives them a recommendation so they can extend their visas, but the students must continue practising meditation techniques only at the centre during the visa extension period.

As with all other meditators, “Foreign meditators are required to practise intensively in accordance with the guidelines provided by the meditation teacher,” she says.

She adds that they must also be mindful not only in formal sitting and walking, but also in their general daily activities. All students must also follow the centre’s schedule, which includes 14 hours of intensive practise from 3 am until at least 9 pm.

The centre arranges Dhamma talks and interviews for foreign meditators in English. And the centre is also able to provide food, lodging and minor healthcare free of charge “due to generous donations of both local and foreign devotees,” Daw Carudassini says.

Shwe-Taung-Gon Sasana Yeiktha also has branches in Pyin-Oo-Lwin and Mawlamyine in Myanmar, in Melbourne, Australia, and in Nepal, but any student wishing to study at one of the branches must first apply to the main centre.

The International Meditation Centre, on Inyamyaing Road in Bahan township, accepts local meditators for 10-day residential courses that begin on the second Friday of every month.

The centre doesn’t accept foreign meditators for the 10-day courses because it is mainly focused on providing instruction for locals during these periods.

He says although foreigners cannot take part in the 10-day courses, with advance notice they can meditate at other times, and must stay for at least 10 days.

U Than Tun Aung, an administration officer of IMC, said foreigners come from Germany, South Korea, Australia and other countries, and also come from a variety of races, cultures and religious backgrounds.

U Than Tun Aung says most of the foreigners who come to the centre leave when their visas run out rather than asking to extend them.

Rubyland Tourism Services Company Ltd is one company that arranges for meditators to visit Panditarama Shwe-Taung-Gon Sasana Yeiktha, Mahasi Sasana Yeiktha and other meditation centres in Yangon.

U Aye Kyaw, the managing director of the company, says that people who arrange visits to meditation centres through his company only stay
Most foreigners become interested in meditation only after they arrive in Myanmar, he says.

“Those who come to Myanmar only for meditation are rare. Most become interested in meditation after they visit pagodas and see Myanmar people meditating.”

Rubyland now arranges meditation tours in collaboration with travel agencies in Nepal, India and Thailand, sending local people to meditation centres in other countries and organising stays for foreigners in Myanmar.

U Aye Kyaw says the company has arranged for meditation groups from Thailand, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia to visit Myanmar’s pagodas and meditate.

According to him, about 100,000 foreigners come to Myanmar each year just to visit pagodas and meditation centres.