As part of the application process, all course applicants must read, understand and agree to follow the Code of Discipline. It is essential that you understand the serious nature of the ten-day course before applying. Therefore, please take the time to carefully read the Introduction to the Technique and Code of Discipline prior to applying to a course.
The Michigan Vipassana Association has been offering meditation courses in Michigan since 2002. These courses are made possible by all the volunteers who serve the courses and the donations made by the students who participate in them. The teachers conducting the course, the course managers and all those who work in the kitchen are all old students of this tradition, who have generously volunteered their time.
Courses are run solely on a donation basis.
Donations are accepted only from old students, that is, those who have completed at least one course with S. N. Goenka or one of his assistant teachers. This is because they have realized for themselves the benefits of this meditation practice. When you have completed a course you will be considered an old student. At the end of the course everyone is welcome to give a donation, small or large according to one's own volition. One gives a donation not with the idea of paying for what one has received. It is rather with the understanding that "Because someone donated so that I could take this course, may I now donate for someone else to receive the same benefit."
Each center is financially independent, and these donations are the only source of funding. There is no wealthy foundation or individual sponsoring them.
Once you have completed one 10-day course in this tradition, you are welcome to apply for volunteer service at any center around the world.
Because these meditation courses are supported solely by the donations of those who participate and are staffed by volunteers, the spread of this technique is carried out with purity of purpose, free from any commercialism.