Dhamma Sumeru Vipassana Meditation Center

Dhamma Sumeru is the first Swiss Vipassana Centre named in Pali the heavenly mountain of the Dhamma.

It was founded in November 1999 and is located on the Mont-Soleil (Mount Sun) in a village of the Swiss Jura mountains on an altitude of 3600 feet surrounded by pastures, fields and forests. Mont-Soleil means in English Sunny Mountain as it is one of the sunniest places in Switzerland and is situated near St.Imier, between Biel and La Chaux-de-Fonds.

The house was built in 1904 and was used as a hotel up to the 1920s, as it was then transformed in a holiday camp for children. It had still the same purpose when the Swiss Vipassana Association bought it in autumn 1999. The house is in the middle of two acres of land with many tall trees, green pastures and walking paths.

Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation. It was taught in India more than 2500 years ago as a universal remedy for universal ills, i.e., an Art of Living.

The technique of Vipassana Meditation is taught at ten-day residential courses during which participants learn the basics of the method, and practice sufficiently to experience its beneficial results. There are no charges for the courses - not even to cover the cost of food and accommodation. All expenses are met by donations from people who, having completed a course and experienced the benefits of Vipassana, wish to give others the opportunity to also benefit.