What We Do
In 2014, Shaila Catherine formed Bodhi Courses with a team of dedicated volunteers. Together we serve meditators around the world by offering interactive online courses that deepen concentration, mindfulness, and meditative skills. Enjoying the expert guidance of Shaila Catherine and the support of an international community of friends, we have served students from over 24 different countries on 6 continents.
Bodhi Courses produces two live online courses each year; each course runs 6-10 weeks. Several of our courses are organized into topical series that enable an in-depth and progressive exploration of concentration, jhana, and satipatthana practices. Our courses are presented in English, and allow participation from any timezone. Class size is usually between 40 – 140 participants, which creates an atmosphere that is both intimate and diverse. Most participants who take one of our courses choose to enroll in additional courses. Gently and naturally we are building an online community of practitioners who are dedicated to deep meditation, and eager to explore the practical and liberating teachings of the Buddha.
Online classes usually include:
- recorded lectures
- reading assignments
- sutta study
- guided meditations
- daily life exercises
- peer led discussion forums
- online video meetings with Shaila Catherine
- online video meetings are recorded as audio files
Meet the Teacher
Shaila Catherine
Shaila Catherine is the founder of Bodhi Courses, this online Dhamma classroom, and also Insight Meditation South Bay, a center for mindfulness, compassion, and wisdom in Silicon Valley, California.
Shaila has been practicing meditation since 1980, with more than nine years of accumulated silent retreat experience. She has taught insight meditation since 1996 in the USA, Europe, Israel, New Zealand, and Canada. Shaila has dedicated several years to studying with masters in India, Nepal and Thailand, completed a 10-month intensive meditation retreat with the focus on concentration and jhāna practices, 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. From 2006-2014 Shaila trained in samādhi and vipassanā under the direction of Venerable Pa-Auk Sayadaw of Myanmar. She authored Wisdom Wide and Deep: A Practical Handbook for Mastering Jhāna and Vipassanā (Wisdom Publications, 2011) to help make this traditional approach to meditative training accessible to western practitioners. Her third book, Beyond Distraction: Five Practical Ways to Focus the Mind (Wisdom Publications, 2022) shares practical strategies for overcoming restless thinking and distraction.
Resource Links
- ShailaCatherine.com
- Shaila’s Retreat Schedule
- Teachings, programs, resources are listed on IMSB website
- Dharma Talks
- Listen to an indepth interview with Shaila Catherine published on the Wisdom Publications website.
- Listen to a dialog with Shaila Catherine and Ajahn Brahm on The Deep States of Samadhi
Volunteer Opportunities
We couldn’t offer these courses without the generous support of many volunteers! More than twenty active volunteers work behind the scenes to support this online dhamma experience. Bodhi Courses is deeply grateful for the many unnamed volunteers who assist with audio editing, administration, registration, publicity, website maintenance, and course development.
If you value the spirit of service and would like to share your time or talents, please contact us.