Achieving enlightenment in Youngstown
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oungstown, Alta. has a population of approximately 178 people (based on the most recent census) and is located about two- and-a-half hours
north of Medicine Hat. The town has a K-12 school, a curling rink and is located near an abundance of hunting and fishing. It’s no wonder the village bills itself as a “Sportsman’s Paradise.”
It is an out-of-the-way location, free from many of the distractions of modern life, which is why it makes a perfect location for a meditation centre.
Yes, Youngstown is home to a Vipassana Meditation centre, almost 10 kilometres outside the town limits, with the Alberta Vipassana Foundation taking possession last August. The foundation has been hosting Vipassana courses since 1996, officially becoming incorporated in 2001.
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Laura Law, a volunteer with the centre, says there was previously five Vipassana courses held in different areas of the province during a year, including at a home outside Calgary and a camp near Sylvan Lake. She said the centre was looking for a more permanent home, and ended up discovering the current
facility in Youngstown, which used to be a school and a senior centre.
“When you have nine people that are very different and all come to one place and it feels unanimous that this place is going to be perfect, we had to make an offer,” she said.
“Once we saw it, we saw all of these perks. It was really lush for a prairie property and quite pretty.”
Norman Faulkner has been involved with Vipassana meditation for 20 years, and is now one of the teachers at the facility. He said the building in Youngstown was a perfect location.
“It's fairly central, equal difference roughly from the cities in Saskatchewan, Edmonton and Calgary and Red Deer,” he said. “It's not that much different to drive there from anywhere in the prairies.”
Vipassana, which means seeing deeply, is one of the oldest forms of meditation from India, and has its roots in Buddhism. Vipassana has been around for more than 2,500 years and aims to provide insight into a person’s sense of reality through awareness of breathing, thoughts, feelings and action. The modern version of the meditation has been popularized by S.N. Goenka, who began teaching in 1969. Goenka’s version is secular is nature, and is open to people of all faiths.
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41189942•03/31/15
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