Taking 10 days to sit a Vipassana course is hard. Sitting 2 hours a day is even harder. But there is a hunger in our society to learn more about meditation. Our society is deteriorating because of the abundance of anger, fear, greed, stress, and anxiety, and meditation can directly reduce all of these negative qualities. It’s time for Vipassana meditators to join the conversation of how to help our society. There is an abundance of research showing that small amounts of breath observation can have a profound impact on a person’s quality of life. Mindfulness is spreading, but many of the people teaching it have far less training regarding students of Goenka. We have wisdom to contribute, and we should take it into our communities rather than wait for people to come to a course.

We also have a lot to learn about how to teach Anapana. Goenka focussed on perfecting the 10 day course, and only late in his life did he create the Anapana for all video. Other groups have been experimenting with how to transmit breath awareness training to diverse populations, and some have perfected their techniques. We shouldn’t let our egos prevent us from learning from them. A math professor can learn teaching techniques from a high school teacher even though the teacher has a limited understanding of higher level math. The world needs dhamma, and people are searching for answers. Let’s find new ways to help people see the benefits of meditation. This may help them to develop the strength and confidence to sit a 10 day course and grown their daily practice. Time to meditate.