It is almost inevitable that discouragement will arise, from time to time. Perhaps pain, illness, or unemployment creates a difficult time in our lives. Perhaps we apply ourselves to our meditation, but find progress much slower than we had hoped. How do you prevent discouragement from stopping you on this path of awakening? I’m teaching [...]
How much effort does it take to be present right now? How much effort do you need to feel the breath, observe the body sitting, hear the sounds around you, or let go of distraction and worry? Adjusting the quality and quantity of effort is one of the most important meditative skills. If we strive [...]
Our meditation community just held its annual spring retreat—a delightful four days for meditation at a retreat center situated in a redwood forest. Even if you are not standing near a redwood tree right now, wherever you find yourself today I hope you will take a few quiet minutes to relax—to listen to the sounds that surround [...]
I was recently interviewed by Vlad Moskovski for his blog Meditation Secrets Revealed. It was a delight to talk with him about the dhamma, and to see a nice interview result. We titled the interview Settle Into the Bliss: An Interview with Shaila Catherine. I hope you enjoy it.
You know that all beings that are born will die. All beings wish for happiness and wish to avoid suffering. Can you live viewing all beings as friends who share birth, old age, sickness, and death? Recite and contemplate this one sentence: “All beings are my friends who share birth, aging, sickness, and death.” With [...]
In what ways do you offer less than 100 percent dedication to awakening? Learn what drains and diminishes your effort. Notice the effect of daily habits and entertainments on your meditation. Observe the effects that watching TV, engaging in gossip, or surfing the Web might have on your concentration. If you discover that an activity [...]
Today I led a day of meditation on the theme of concentration for the Madison Vipassana community. What a lovely day this was—snow on the ground, sun in the sky, and a room full of attentive meditators! There was tremendous interest in deepening concentration and applying that stability to the insights of everyday life. A [...]
We concluded our six-week series on Right View last night with a talk and discussion on the Dangers of Fixation. Audio recordings will be posted at: https://www.imsb.org/teachings/audioSeries.php. The experience of right view does not require adherence to a set of beliefs or doctrines; it is not a theoretical position or social position. Right view occurs with [...]
"Detachment describes the ease of a mind not adhering, not fixated, and not identified with the fleeting stream of lived events."—Shaila Catherine, Wisdom Wide and Deep, page 398. Often people bring negative associations to the term detachment—thinking it implies cold indifference. However, in the context of meditation practice, detachment refers to a vivid and liberating experience [...]
The following are notes from a recent class on cultivating compassion toward people who occupy a neutral place in our lives. Genuine compassion extends beyond self-compassion or the protection of our social group; it is the wish that all beings be free from suffering. Does your heart ever “tremble” or feel moved when you see [...]
It is not only others who hurt; we each also need compassion. Self-compassion is a necessary foundation for any genuine personal development. Are we kind and considerate toward ourselves? Do we consider our long-term benefit rather than merely temporary pleasures? Do we respond in a truly compassionate way to the difficulties that come to us [...]
How are you today? When we greet each other, we often ask, "how are you?" and then share how we are feeling today. For a moment, please tune into the quality of your mind: how are you feeling right now? Let your feelings be just as they are right now—mindfully aware of how they come, go, [...]
We often link happiness to the attainment of sensory pleasure; or we expect sensory pleasures to bring happiness. The emphasis on the unsatisfactoriness of conditioned experiences, as taught in the Buddhist tradition can, at first, seem disheartening. Why equate innocuous and natural pleasures with suffering? Is the Buddhist path life-denying? We had a rousing dialog [...]
As we start the new year, it is natural to reflect on intention. The three right intentions that are included in the Noble Eight-Fold Path include 1) the intention of renunciation, 2) the intention of non-ill will, and 3) the intention of non-cruelty. Each of these intentions highlights an attitude that we can cultivate as we [...]
"Where do you search for fresh insight? Do you turn to classes, books, teachers, or nature? Meditation invites us to look carefully into our own material and mental experience."—from Shaila Catherine. Wisdom Wide and Deep, page 389 Instead of looking outside of yourself for understanding and insight, sit quietly and look into your own experience [...]