SHELBURNE — A graceful, bell-shaped zedi now tops the pagoda at the Vipassana Meditation Center, completing a building process that began in 1989, with a single-story, rectangular-shaped building that housed about 60 small meditation cells.
The gold-topped dome was made in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) and inspired by a prominent Buddhist pagoda in the city of Yangon. The 13,000-pound fiberglass roof structure was shipped from Myanmar to the United States in four containers, then reassembled last week at the meditation center, where many present and former Vipassana students came to watch as a crane hoisted the pieces into place, guided by volunteer laborers.
When asked what the zedi symbolizes, Michael Stein of the meditation center replied: “For us, it is a showing of gratitude to Myanmar for preserving this meditation technique, and for us being able to offer it to the people.
He stressed that the Vipassana Center is a nondenominational organization that uses a meditation technique “to purify the mind.”
“Everybody is welcome; it’s not a religious technique,” he stressed.
The pagoda now contains small meditation cells, eight small zedis and the large one for special meditations.
Over a year, the meditation center offers 15 to 20 10-day meditation courses, onger meditation courses for experienced students and courses for children. The center has a waiting list and is visited by 2,500 to 3,000 students per year. The center does not charge students for meditation courses, although many students eventually donate money so that more people can take the course. The center is run strictly on donations.