Nirodha: Insight Meditation in Finland

Introduction

Nirodha organizes insight (vipassana) meditation related events in Finland. The teachings are based on Theravada Buddhism. 

We offer silent meditation retreats, weekly meditation evenings, monthly practice days, and other activities. The teachers of our retreats come from abroad; many of them have got their teacher training at Gaia House, Insight Meditation Society, or Spirit Rock.

Many Nirodha events take place in Helsinki, but we have online events and local sitting groups in several other Finnish cities as well. Everybody is warmly welcome to practise with us!

Opportunities to Practice in English

Nirodha offers many practice opportunities for non-Finnish speakers. All our retreats and other events led by visiting teachers are taught in English.

In Helsinki, the first Tuesday meditation evening of each month is in English.

The silent sitting on Friday, as well as the monthly practice days, can be attended by non-Finnish speakers. In other cities, there’s no regular program in English, but you’re welcome to ask for details about their situation.

If you’d like to discuss your practice with one of our facilitators, we offer 30-minute appointments on a donation basis. The meetings take place in Helsinki, but sometimes there are Skype sessions available as well.

Meditation Retreats

We organize several silent meditation retreats each year. Most retreats are 5–9 days long and can be attended by both beginners and experienced meditators. Most retreats are taught in English. Most of them take place in Southern Finland, within two hours of travel from Helsinki. Recorded material from retreats can be found here. Registration for the retreats is now opened 6 months prior to the retreat starting.

Upcoming retreats in English

  • 14.-23.3.2025 Soulmaking Dharma retreat: Catherine McGee and Juha Penttilä (For experienced practitioners) 
  • 17.–24.7.2025 Insight Dialogue retreat: Rosalie Dores and Ayya Anopama
  • 28.7.–3.8.2025 James Baraz, Kerstin Deibert and Juha Penttilä
  • 7.-14.8.2025 Trekking retreat: Zohar Lavie and Nathan Glyde 
  • 18–25.8.2025 Zohar Lavie and Nathan Glyde 
  • 23.-30.8.2025 Wilderness retreat: Kirsten Kratz and Juha Penttilä
  • 15.-22.9.2025 Yahel Avigur
  • Some more retreats are planned for 2025, which will be added to the list once their dates are confirmed.

Past retreats

Nirodha has been organizing retreats since 2006. The teachers of our past retreats include Caroline Jones, Patricia Genoud Feldman, Leigh Brasington, Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Martine Batchelor, Rob Burbea, James Baraz, Greg Scharf, Alexis Santos, Kirsten Kratz, Yanai Postelnik, Leela Sarti, Suvaco, Zohar Lavie, Nathan Glyde and Catherine McGee, among others.

Weekly Meditation Evenings

We offer meditation evenings on Tuesdays and Fridays in Helsinki, online meditation evenings on Wednesdays and online meditation mornings every day of the week. All these events are donation based, and there is no need to sign up in advance. If you do not speak Finnish, you can attend the silent sittings on Fridays or the meditation mornings, as well as the first Tuesday of each month, which will be taught in English.

Online

The daily online morning meditations are held on weekdays from 7:30 AM to 8:00 AM and on the weekend at 9:00 AM to 9:30 AM. You can join by following this link.

On Wednesdays we meet online from 6 PM to 7:30 PM. Afterwards, there will usually be the opportunity for conversation. You can join by following this link.

Helsinki

On Tuesdays we meet from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM. The evening typically consists of a guided meditation, dharma talk, group discussion and silent meditation. Afterwards, you can join us for tea, cookies and socializing. Please plan to arrive 15 minutes early on your first visit.

On Fridays we meet from 7 PM to 7:45 PM for a silent sit. The doors open at 6:45 PM. Afterwards, you can join us for tea, cookies and socializing.

Meeting venue is Buddhist Center Sampo in Hakaniemi, address Vetehisenkuja 3.

Other Cities

Nirodha has active local groups in following cities:

  • Joensuu. Active group. More information on Facebook page. Contact Sami Sieranoja (sami.sieranoja(at)gmail.com).
  • Jyväskylä. Active group. More information can be found on the group’s Facebook page and by e-mail at nirodha.jkl(at)gmail.com, where you can also join the mailing list of the group.
  • Tampere. More information can be found on the group’s Facebook page and by e-mail at nirodha.tre(at)gmail.com, where you can also join the mailing list of the group.
  • Turku. Contact Tapio Nasu Envall (tapio.envall(at)gmail.com). More information can be found on the Facebook page of the group.

Inactive groups (easy to restart):

  • Lappeenranta. Inactive group. Try finding meditation friends from their Facebook page. 
  • Lahti. Inactive group. Try finding meditation friends from their Facebook page.
  • Rovaniemi. Inactive group. More information can be found on Facebook page and by e-mail at nirodha.rovaniemi(at)gmail.com.

Monthly Practice Days in Helsinki

We organize a silent practice day once a month, usually on the first Saturday of each month from 10 AM – 6 PM at Buddhist Center Sampo. During the day, we alternate between silent 45-minute sitting and walking meditation periods. We also listen to a recorded English dharma talk. If you’re not familiar with walking meditation, please arrive early for a short introduction. There is a lunch break at 1:30–2:00 PM – please bring your own lunch. If you prefer to attend half a day, it is possible to arrive or leave during the lunch break.

Other Activities

We also organize courses, daylong retreats, study circles, movie nights, social gatherings, etc. For instance, we have had several groups of people attending the Awakening Joy course by the vipassana teacher James Baraz. The best source of information on these miscellaneous events is our mailing list.

Become a member

Anybody can join Nirodha as an association if they commit to the rules of the association. The membership fee is a way to practice generosity, dana, towards Nirodha, but it also gives you the right to vote at the annual meeting and thus participate in the decision-making processes of Nirodha. The retreats and events we organize are open to everyone.

To join the association, you will need to fill out this form. After filling out the form you will receive an invoice via email to pay your membership fee. The invoice does not specify an amount; you can decide the amount of your membership fee yourself. The scale is between 5-250 € per year. If you want, you can set up a recurring monthly payment using the invoice reference number and making it a recurring payment from your online banking. Your membership will be approved by the Nirodha board at their next meeting, at which point your membership will officially take effect. You will not receive a separate notification for this.

Member information is stored in the privacy-protected FloMembers membership register. Nirodha’s Privacy Policy can be found here (scroll down for the English version).

Contact Information

Nirodha ry
Buddhist Center Sampo
Vetehisenkuja 3
00530 Helsinki
Finland

Email: nirodha@nirodha.fi

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nirodha.ry

Juha Penttilä (+358 40 324 6724), meditation teacher

Anu Karvinen (+358 40 4110576), chairperson

Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions, we are happy to help!

Links