The Vipassana Meditation Center Dhamma Dharā is one of about 100 centers worldwide offering courses in Vipassana Meditation, taught by S.N.Goenka and his assistant teachers in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin

Dhamma Dharā is located in Shelburne, Massachusetts, approximately 90 miles west of Boston and 200 miles north of New York City. The center is situated in a traditional, rural farming area of Massachusetts. Dairy farms, maple syrup and lumber are some of the local industries. The nearby Deerfield and Connecticut rivers flow through an agricultural valley that traverses much of New England. Five well known universities and several community colleges are situated in the valley, attracting many students. The nearby village of Shelburne Falls records that Native American tribes kept a peace treaty for the area of one day's journey in each direction. Their Mohawk Trail is now a state road and a national tourist destination for viewing the autumn tree foliage colors.

Dhamma Dharā means "Land of Dhamma". The Shelburne center, founded in 1982, was the first center in North America. The original facility was merely a roomy, comfortable two-story house and barn on eight acres of meadowland. Local farmers report that the house was once a temperance tavern (i.e. not serving alcohol) for horse drawn coaches. Just eight students completed the first ten-day course and early courses in the house were limited to 25 students. Slowly the center began expanding to meet the demand of students. In 1989, a group of meditators donated an adjoining seventy acres of land which brought the land back to its original parcel. Today the center consists of 108 acres and many new buildings have been added, including a bathhouse, two dining rooms, meditation hall for 200, a 60 cell pagoda, separate residences for men and women and a center manager's house.

Presently the center is able to accommodate 50 women and 44 men for a total of 94 participants year round. During the summer months course our capacity is 146 students, when we can use tents and cabins. New residences were completed in December 2004 with individual rooms and private baths so students can meditate seriously with the very least distractions.

Approximately nineteen 10-day courses are scheduled in Shelburne per year, with nearly every course full with a wait list. Approximately 1,725 students from around the world complete our courses annually. The center also offers courses for children and teenagers as well as 20-, 30- and 45-day courses. The Vipassana Meditation Center supports regional prison outreach as well.

Future expansion plans include construction of the upper floors of a pagoda building with 64 cells, a teachers' residence and two more student residences. From its modest beginnings as a farm house on eight acres of land, the meditation center has continued to grow. In the past 20 years many student meditators have moved to the area to be close to the center. There is now a large community of meditators living in the immediate vicinity who have given invaluable service to the center as well as establishing warm relations between the center and local community.