Wisdom Wide and Deep: A Practical Handbook for Mastering Jhana and Vipassana

by Shaila Catherine, Pa-Auk Sayadaw (Foreword by)

Overview

Wisdom Wide and Deep is a comprehensive guide to an in-depth training that emphasizes the application of concentrated attention (jhana) to profound and liberating insight (vipassana). With calm, tranquility, and composure established through a practical experience of jhana meditators are able to halt the seemingly endless battle against hindrances, eliminate distraction, and facilitate a penetrative insight into the subtle nature of matter and mind. It was for this reason the Buddha frequently exhorted his students,

Wisdom Wide and Deep follows and amplifies the teachings in Shaila Catherine's acclaimed first book, Focused and Fearless: A Meditator's Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity. Readers will learn to develop this profound stability, sustain an in-depth examination of the nuances of mind and matter, and ultimately unravel deeply conditioned patterns that perpetuate suffering. This fully detailed manual for the mind sure to become a trusted companion to many inner explorers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780861716234
Publisher:	Wisdom Publications MA
Publication date:	11/15/2011
Pages:	600
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Buddhist author 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, in California. She has taught insight meditation since 1996 in the USA, Europe, Israel, New Zealand, and Canada. Shaila draws inspiration from the Discourses of the Buddha and maintains an unwavering dedication to awakening. She is known for her expertise in guiding practitioners to cultivate concentration and the deep absorption states of jhana, and for her enthusiasm for sutta study. From 2006–2014 Shaila trained in samadhi and vipassana under the direction of Venerable Pa-Auk Sayadaw. She authored Wisdom Wide and Deep: A Practical Handbook for Mastering Jhana and Vipassana (Wisdom Publications, 2011) to help make his traditional approach to meditative training accessible to western practitioners. Her latest book, Beyond Distraction: Five Practical Ways to Focus the Mind (Wisdom Publications, 2022) shares practical Buddhist strategies for overcoming restlessness and distraction.

Editorial Reviews

"If you are interested in dharma study, then Shaila's book belongs in your library."

Phillip Moffitt

"Catherine has managed a difficult feat—to be simultaneously encyclopedic and charming."

Kate Wheeler

"Shaila Catherine has outlined an ancient way to train the mind in stillness and wise attention. This book can be a guide for cultivating the inner calm we long for."

Christina Feldman

"Shaila's new book converts theory to practice, ideas to application, knowledge about meditation to direct experience. She has written a manual in clear, practical language. The West needs such manuals."

Christopher Titmuss

"Wisdom Wide and Deep is a clear and comprehensive account of a path of meditation leading to profound levels of concentration and insight."

Guy Armstrong

"This book is a powerful inspiration both for those who would like a glimpse of what's possible and for those intrepid explorers of the mind who want to bring these teachings to fulfillment. Highly recommended."

Joseph Goldstein

“Shaila Catherine has outlined an ancient way to train the mind in stillness and wise attention. This book can be a guide for cultivating the inner calm we long for.” —Christina Feldman, author of Compassion: Listening to the Cries of the World

“Wisdom Wide and Deep is a clear and comprehensive account of a path of meditation leading to profound levels of concentration and insight.”—Guy Armstrong, teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center

“Shaila’s new book converts theory to practice, ideas to application, knowledge about meditation to direct experience. She has written a manual in clear, practical language. The West needs such manuals.”— Christopher Titmuss, author of Mindfulness for Everyday Living

"If you are interested in dharma study, then Shaila's book belongs in your library." —Phillip Moffitt, author of Dancing With Life

“This book is a powerful inspiration both for those who would like a glimpse of what's possible and for those intrepid explorers of the mind who want to bring these teachings to fulfillment. Highly recommended.” —Joseph Goldstein, author of A Heart Full of Peace and One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism

“Catherine has managed a difficult feat—to be simultaneously encyclopedic and charming..“— Kate Wheeler, editor of In This Very Life: Liberation Teachings of the Buddha

From the Publisher