How to Apply
Apply Early. Courses at Illinois Vipassana Center fill up quickly, sometimes on the day that enrollment opens. We encourage you to apply early.
- Read the Introduction to the Technique so you are familiar with the practice before you arrive.
- Read the Code of Discipline page carefully, as you will be required to follow it during your course.
- Review the Course Schedule and choose a course that is suitable for your schedule. Please note that you are expected to arrive between 3 pm and 5 pm on the day the course begins and you are expected to stay until the course is completed, which is approximately 7 am on the last day of the course.
- Fully and completely fill out all the sections of the application form and submit it. You can fill out an application online or you can download, print, and mail a paper form.
- Once you have submitted your application, you will receive an email confirming your application has been received. Please note that this first email is not a notice of acceptance to the course.
- Await notification of whether you have been accepted for the course. All correspondence will be through e-mail if you give an e-mail address in your application. Due to the large volume of applications, it may take up to one month before receiving notification.
- Once you are accepted into the course you will receive an email asking you to confirm your attendance. Please make sure to confirm promptly to reserve your space. If we do not receive your confirmation, your spot will be given to a student on the waitlist.
- If you choose to send a paper application through the mail your application will be accepted in the order received (please remember that mailed applications take much longer to receive than applications that are sent electronically). Please provide an email address in your application so we can respond to you in a timely way.
Course Capacity and Alternatives
If the course for which you are applying is full, you may want to consider applying for a course at other center or non-center location. A non-center location provides the same quality of instruction as does a center, under fully qualified teachers, and with adequate accommodation. Non-center courses are offered in nearby Minnesota and Michigan.
Please note that the course taking place over New Year’s course is in very high demand at all of the locations that offer one. If you are enrolled for one of these courses, and discover that you are unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can make that space available to someone else.
Wait List
You are welcome to apply for courses that are waitlisted. People do cancel, and just because a course appears full now does not mean that you might not have the opportunity to attend it. Once you are accepted to the wait list, you will be asked how much advance notice you will require an order to be able to attend the course. Knowing this information makes it easier for us to work through the list.