Satya Narayan Goenka (30 January 1924 – 29 September 2013), commonly known as S.N. Goenka, was a Burmese-Indian teacher of Vipassanā meditation. Born in Burma to a rich Indian family, he moved to India in 1969 and started teaching meditation. His teaching was notable for emphasizing that the Buddha's path to liberation was non-sectarian, universal, and scientific in character.
He became an influential teacher and established meditation centers worldwide.[1][2] In November 2008, the construction of the Global Vipassana Pagoda was completed on the outskirts of Mumbai. Goenka was an invited speaker at the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders on 29 August 2000 at the United Nations in New York City.[3] He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2012.