Responses to Information Requests

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

1. Overview

Sources describe Vipassana as a Buddhist meditation practice (Gunaratana 31 Jan. 2001; Human Rights Watch 22 Sept. 2009, 42; Lion's Roar 3 May 2018). It is also described as "the oldest of Buddhist meditation practices" (Gunaratana 31 Jan. 2001) or one of India's "most ancient" meditation techniques (Dhamma.org n.d.a; VRI n.d.a). According to sources, Vipassana means "to see things as they really are" (Dhamma.org n.d.a; VRI n.d.a) or can be translated as "'Insight,' a clear awareness of exactly what is happening as it happens" (Gunaratana 31 Jan. 2001). Sources indicate that the Vipassana technique is taught during a "ten-day residential cours[e]" (Dhamma.org n.d.a; VRI n.d.a) during which participants refrain from reading and writing, observe silence and receive meditation instructions (VRI n.d.a). In an article published by Tricycle: The Buddhist Review magazine, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka, explains that Vipassana "is an ancient and codified system of training your mind, a set of exercises dedicated to becoming more and more aware of your own life experience" (Gunaratana 31 Jan. 2001).

The website Dhamma.org, which is about Vipassana meditation, indicates the following regarding the practice of Vipassana:

People from many religions and no religion have found the meditation course helpful and beneficial. Vipassana is an art of living, a way of life. While it is the essence of what the Buddha taught, it is not a religion; rather, it is the cultivation of human values leading to a life which is good for oneself and good for others. (Dhamma.org n.d.b)

Similarly, according to the Vipassana Research Institute (VRI), a non-profit organization that conducts "scientific research into the sources and applications of the Vipassana [m]editation [t]echnique" (VRI n.d.b), located in Maharashtra, India (VRI n.d.c), the Vipassana practice "is an art of living" and

courses are open to anyone sincerely wishing to learn the technique, irrespective of race, caste, faith or nationality. Hindus, Jains, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, [and] Jews[,] as well as members of other religions[,] have all successfully practiced Vipassana. (VRI n.d.a)

2. Vipassana Practice in Iran

Information on the practice of Vipassana meditation in Iran was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

Dhamma.org indicates that there is a centre called "Dhamma Iran" in Mehrshahr [a suburb located south-west of Karaj in Alborz province] (Dhamma.org. n.d.c). Similarly, according to information published in 2006 by VRI,

Dhamma Iran is located in Mehrshahr, 40 km. outside Tehran, easily accessible by bus and subway. It has nine rooms and can accommodate approximately 36 students in each course. The number of applicants is usually quite high and Dhamma Iran is normally filled to capacity for both men’s and women’s courses. The purchase was made possible mainly by donations and loans from Iranian students in Iran. (VRI 4 Dec. 2006, italics in original)

The same source further explains that

Vipassana began in Iran in 1999, with 14 participants in the first course. Now, in 2006, continuous courses of 36 students are filled to capacity. Regular group sittings are held in Tehran as well as other cities such as Shiraz and Kerman. (VRI 4 Dec. 2006)

3. Treatment by Authorities

Information on the treatment of Vipassana practitioners by authorities was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a professor emeritus of Iranian studies at Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany indicated that, although he was not able to find information on cases of mistreatment of Vipassana practitioners in Iran, it "is not impossible for local authorities or petty officials to take it upon themselves to start persecuting people because of the 'un-Islamic' character of their pursuits" (Professor Emeritus 7 Sept. 2018). A professor at Concordia University, whose research interests include religions in Iran and Iranian history, provided the following information in correspondence with the Research Directorate:

[T]he Iranian government will not recognize as legitimate (or hence regulate) any spiritual practices not directly tied to Twelver Shi'ite Islam. That said, most of these popular practices and organizations in Iran are tolerated and able to function openly, until they aren't. In Iran, as in other Middle Eastern countries, one never knows if some individual or group will suddenly decide to go after you for whatever reason using whatever pretext, but this applies to everybody. Ideologically-based persecution tends to be post hoc, applied as justification when the real basis may be something more mundane, like property disputes. It is rarely (except in the case of Baha'is) systematic. No one is immune from this possibility, even "devout" Shi'ites, including members of the regime.

… [T]o date, I am not [aware of documented cases where practitioners of Vipassana have been targeted in Iran]. (Professor at Concordia University 30 Aug. 2018)

In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a professor of religious studies at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), whose research interests include history of Iran, as well as religion, politics and society in the Middle East, stated that, although she did not have specific information regarding "the Iranian government’s treatment of individuals who engage in various meditation techniques as a group,"

the government is extremely hostile towards any spiritual movement that is seen as a rival to the state’s Shi’i creed. The only exceptions to this pattern are "People of the Book" meaning Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians; essentially, religions that predate Islam. In recent years, the state [has] also been quite hostile towards organized Sufi Muslim movements and practices. Once a spiritual practice is no longer practiced in the solitude of one’s home and becomes more like an organized religion, with a guru and regular sessions in semi-public places, then the state begins to monitor them and from time to time cracks down. (Professor at UCSB 5 Sept. 2018)

A 2010 article on Buddhism in Iran, published by the academic journal The Muslim World, notes that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [Iranian president from 2005 until 2013] "has threatened on several occasions to 'look into' the activities of meditation centres to verify their Islamic acceptability" (Foltz April/July 2010, 213). According to a 2013 report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, there were reports "regarding the arrest of leaders of spiritual, semi-spiritual and meditation groups" in Iran (UN 4 Oct. 2013, para. 64). Information on the treatment of meditation practitioners by the Iranian authorities after 2013 could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Dhamma.org. N.d.a. "Vipassana Meditation." [Accessed 6 Sept. 2018]

Dhamma.org. N.d.b. "Questions & Answers About the Technique of Vipassana Meditation." [Accessed 6 Sept. 2018]

Dhamma.org. N.d.c. "Locations." [Accessed 6 Sept. 2018]

Foltz, Richard. April/July 2010. "Buddhism in the Iranian World." The Muslim World. Vol. 100. [Accessed 28 Aug. 2018]

Gunaratana, Bhante Henepola. 31 January 2001. "What Exactly Is Vipassana Meditation?" Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. [Accessed 6 Sept. 2018]

Human Rights Watch. 22 September 2009. The Resistance of the Monks: Buddhism and Activism in Burma. [Accessed 30 Aug. 2018]

Lion's Roar. 3 May 2018. Sayadaw U Pandita. "How to Practice Vipassana Insight Meditation." [Accessed 10 Sept. 2018]

Professor at Concordia University. 30 August 2018. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Professor at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB). 5 September 2018. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Professor Emeritus, Georg-August University, Göttingen. 7 September 2018. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

United Nations (UN). 4 October 2013. Human Rights Council. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. (A/HRC/22/56) [Accessed 6 Sept. 2018]

Vipassana Research Institute (VRI). 4 December 2006. Vipassana News letter. Vol. 16, No. 12. [Accessed 13 Sept. 2018]

Vipassana Research Institute (VRI). N.d.a. "What is Vipassana?" [Accessed 6 Sept. 2018]

Vipassana Research Institute (VRI). N.d.b. "About Vipassana Research Institute." [Accessed 6 Sept. 2018]

Vipassana Research Institute (VRI). N.d.c. "Contact Us." [Accessed 11 Sept. 2018]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Assistant professor of Islamic studies and anthropology of religion; Dhamma Iran; lecturer in Iranian studies; political scientist whose areas of interest include Iran, social movements and cross-cultural diversity; postdoctoral associate in Iranian studies.

Internet sites, including: Amnesty International; Center for Human Rights in Iran; Columbia University – Centre for Iranian Studies; Daily Mail; Factiva; Impact Iran; International Crisis Group; Minority Rights Group International; Political Handbook of the World; UN – Refworld, Reliefweb; US – Department of State.