Shaila Catherine is the founder of Bodhi Courses, an online Dhamma classroom, and Insight Meditation South Bay, a center for mindfulness, compassion, and wisdom in Silicon Valley, California.

Shaila began meditating in 1980, and has accumulated more than nine years of silent retreat experience. She has practiced with Western and Asian teachers, and devoted several years to studying with masters in India, Nepal, and Thailand. Shaila completed a one-year intensive meditation retreat with the focus on concentration and jhana using the breath as the primary object, and has dedicated seven retreat months to developing Brahma Viharas. From 2006-2014 Shaila trained in both samadhi and vipassana under the direction of Venerable Pa-Auk Sayadaw of Myanmar.

Shaila began teaching in 1996 at the invitation of Christopher Titmuss. She leads retreats worldwide, and offers online courses. Her teachings reflect her love of the Discourses of the Buddha, deep commitment to retreat practice, confidence in the liberating goal, appreciation of meditative techniques, and a pervasive curiosity about the functioning of mind.