In The Beginning

In June 1982, BC was the site for the first Vipassana meditation course outside of India to be led by assistant teachers of S.N. Goenka. Since the first course in 1982, courses have been held regularly at rented sites. In recent years the main sites for courses in BC have been church camps at White Rock and Shawnigan Lake. In August 1997 a 56-acre property was purchased just above the Coldwater River, near Merritt.

Centre Construction

Construction of the Centre began in spring 1999. Following clearing and excavation of the centre building site, a small crew of carpenters and labourers framed the footings and concrete for the foundation was poured. The Centre was built in several phases with the first phase completed in the April 2002.Click to view construction photo album

In the Present

The Centre consists of a building of approximately 9300 sq. ft., which includes the following facilities:

• Indoor sleeping accommodations for 60 people (supplemented in the warmer months with tents);
• A meditation hall that holds 70 meditators;

• Fully wheelchair accessible site;
• A teachers residence and an interview room;
• A dining hall for about 60 students and a commercial kitchen;
• Miscellaneous storage, office, and bathing facilities; and
• A building with four wings and an inner courtyard garden.