Shaila Catherine
Founder & Principal Teacher

Shaila Catherine has been practicing meditation since 1980, with more than eight years of accumulated silent retreat experience. She has taught since 1996 in the USA, and internationally. Shaila has dedicated several years to studying with masters in India, Nepal and Thailand, completed a one year intensive meditation retreat with the focus on concentration and jhana, and authored Focused and Fearless: A Meditator’s Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity, (Wisdom Publications, 2008). She has extensive experience with the practice of metta, including seven months exploring metta as the meditation subject in retreats. In recent years, Shaila had continued her study of jhana and insight with the guidance of Venerable Pa-Auk Sayadaw of Burma. She authored Wisdom Wide and Deep: A Practical Handbook for Mastering Jhana and Vipassana (Wisdom Publications, 2011) to help make this traditional approach to meditative training accessible to western practitioners.

Read Shaila's Blog

Interview with Shaila Catherine

While teaching in New Zealand in 2006, Shaila was interviewed for INSIGHTAotera, a publication for New Zealand's insight meditation practioners and communities. Read the interview.

Endorsements

Shaila brings a wealth of personal experience to the Dharma that exceeds teachers who are a generation older than herself. As a dedicated practitioner of Dharma, she spent several years in India and Thailand to deepen her experience, her meditations and her understanding of the core issues of life. Shaila has never been one to rest on the past. Like yogis of old, she loves entering into extensive periods of silence and personal retreat. Such commitment gives her voice enormous authority. I would encourage everyone, from the complete beginner to the most seasoned meditator and mind/body professional to listen to the teachings and guidance of Shaila.

— Christopher Titmuss author of Light on Enlightenment and An Awakened Life

Shaila Catherine represents a new generation of Dharma practitioner in the West, with in-depth experience studying with some of the greatest masters of both the Theravadan and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Her commitment to intensive practice has been matched by her dedication to study, and her exploration of the practice of concentration and jhanas reflects both these strengths.

— Sharon Salzberg Insight Meditation Society cofounder and author of Loving Kindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness, Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience, and several other books on Buddhism

Guest Teachers

Insight Meditation South Bay hosts an array of guest speakers for the purpose of broadening our understanding of awakening. We at IMSB deeply appreciate the teachings contributed by distinguished teachers of the Theravadan tradition, the atmosphere of open inquiry created by speakers from the Zen and Tibetan traditions, the inspired contributions of local practitioners, and the myriad facets of wisdom offered by a variety of local researchers and guests who offer their expertise and insight on specific topics. You can find biographies for some of our regular guest teachers on the Movement Practices page.