The Caravan of Dhamma (Diary of S.N. Goenka's Meditation Now Tours Europe and North America)

In 2002, at the age of 78, Goenkaji embarked on a remarkable Dhamma tour of the West. He traveled for 128 days through Europe and North America, giving many Dhamma talks, leading meditation sessions, giving media interviews and guiding students in private interviews along the way. The United Kingdom was the first stop of Goenkaji’s tour. He arrived in London on April 10 and left on April 18 for New York. There, he began the second leg of the journey of over 13,000 miles of road through the United States and Canada to spread the gift of Dhamma with compassion and joy.

He returned to Europe in August, this time to Belgium from where he traveled to Holland and Germany for Dhamma talks. This diary does not give all the details of this remarkable tour. It merely gives glimpses of Goenkaji’s daily life on the tour.

The author is a Vipassana Teacher and Secretary to Goenkaji. This chronicle was the result of informal notes compiled during the author’s travels with Goenkaji during this marathon Dhamma tour.

Goenkaji has not had time to read this diary completely. Any errors in it are solely the responsibility of the author.