Endorsements from Buddhist Authors and Teachers

Beyond Distraction: Five Practical Ways to Focus the Mind offers a comprehensive map for accomplishing the inviting promise of the title. Shaila Catherine draws on her deep reservoir of meditative experience and her careful study of the Buddha’s teachings to highlight many of the familiar obstacles in meditation practice, and how best to successfully overcome them. This book contains a wealth of pragmatic advice for both new and experienced meditators, and it will be an invaluable guide for all those journeying on the path to greater freedom.

— Joseph Goldstein, author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening

Shaila is a master of the mind. She brings deep wisdom from decades of personal practice and teaching, together with accessible and pragmatic tools in a user-friendly format. Whether you are just beginning to meditate, or have logged many hours on the cushion, this book is for you.

— Judson Brewer, author of The Craving Mind

With clarity and heart, Shaila Catherine shows us many effective ways to be free of stressful, anxious, hurt, and resentful thoughts. Her book is deep and vast, grounded in science and illuminated by Buddhist wisdom, and useful for both specific issues and a lifetime of practice.

— Rick Hanson, author of Neurodharma: New Science, Ancient Wisdom, and Seven Practices of the Highest Happiness

This is one of the most detailed and comprehensive guides to meditation out there. Deeply rooted in the dharma but easy to follow, this very practical book will transform your ability to meditate, so you can transform your mind.

— Kristin Neff, author of Fierce Self-Compassion

We can label anything a ‘distraction’—shopping, cleaning, washing up, kids, emails, work, tasks, thoughts, states of mind, past, present and future. Distraction generates a hierarchy in perception – this (whatever) is more important than that (whatever). Beyond Distraction addresses this widespread issue. more >> Shaila offers readers a treasure trove of practices to live a fulfilled life, free from the division of focused versus distracted. She points out the myriad expressions of distraction—such as daydreams, fantasies and projections. She then offers skillful means to dissolve the notion of distraction and to engage fully with our priorities. Readable, clear and down-to-earth, Beyond Distraction deserves a wide readership.

— Christopher Titmuss, author of The Buddha of Love and The Spiritual Roots of Mindfulness

An excellent, entirely approachable and eminently practical companion on the path of cultivation from one of America’s most beloved Buddhist teachers. Shaila Catherine has that rare combination of extensive understanding of Theravada Buddhist philosophy and decades teaching vipassana and jhāna to Buddhist meditation practitioners in Silicon Valley. If you seek an exceptional guide for developing wisdom, compassion, and freedom from suffering—on the cushion and in daily life—look no further.

— Lisa Dale Miller, author of Effortless Mindfulness

In this thorough and useful book, Shaila Catherine translates ancient Buddhist wisdom into practical explanations and exercises to help us work with our distracted minds. Her clear instructions and wise suggestions will help the reader to no longer be at the mercy of their thoughts and to find deeper places of joy and freedom.

— Diana Winston, author of The Little Book of Being

This book encourages us to understand our minds better, and to trust that we can shift from drivenness toward a gentler, more intentional way of living. Lots of helpful advice for these times, marked by anxiety and uncertainty!”

— Kate Lila Wheeler, editor of The State of Mind Called Beautiful

Shaila excels in making the Buddha’s teachings crystal clear, as well as in providing wonderfully creative practical exercises to help you absorb and apply the teachings. As a long-term practitioner in various Buddhist traditions, I cannot recommend this book highly enough for those who long to finally deal with thought processes that hijack the mind and block awareness.

— Maryleigh B., Oregon

Shaila is a skilled and nuanced teacher who comes at a teaching from many directions, making its essence easily accessible and practically applicable. She teaches what she has experienced and knows, and this brings a penetrative depth and breadth to her words.

In her third book delving into the teachings of Gotama Buddha, Shaila unpacks two suttas on distracting thoughts, more >>methodically laying out a sequence of steps for training the mind and letting go of unskillful thought patterns both on and off the meditation cushion. Her explanations are multi-dimensional; after reading and hearing her words over years of study with her, my experience of her teaching is like a spiraling, circling expansion of understanding from many angles, levels, and perspectives.

— Dorothy R., North Carolina

Shaila Catherine’s Beyond Distraction: Five Practical Ways to Focus the Mind explores two sets of skills that are fundamental to leading a happy, peaceful, and harmonious life on and off the meditation cushion. The first set involves discerning what is wholesome or skillful from what is unwholesome or unskillful in our intentions, thoughts, speech, and behavior as we live our lives from moment to moment. more >>The second set is seven strategies for abandoning thoughts that distract or obstruct our efforts to cultivate the wholesome in our meditation and our daily lives. Developing and using these skills may sound simple, but when we try living in such an intentional way we can often find it challenging and sometimes discouraging. This book, written in a very clear and accessible style, is filled with supportive practice instructions and anecdotes that are easy to relate to and try out. It is also a pleasure to read. I highly recommend it.

— Phil J., Missouri

Beyond Distraction offers wise, helpful, and supportive guidance for any meditator who has wrestled with distracting thoughts—which includes me, and every other meditator I’ve ever known or heard of! Shaila Catherine has gone directly to the original discourses of the Buddha to find practical, step-by-step instructions for dealing with thoughts in meditation. more >>She interprets, explains, and illustrates the Buddha’s own strategies using real-life examples, and offers step-by-step exercises to practice each strategy and learn to apply it. Shaila is well aware of the pitfalls that beginning as well as more experienced meditators may encounter — making thinking a problem, getting stuck in thinking about thinking, falling into the grip of repetitive thought patterns, and many others. Again and again in reading this book, I felt that she was speaking directly to me and my own experience, saying just the right thing to bring a smile and a nod and show me a way forward in my own practice. Very highly recommended!

— Ed H., California

When Shaila Catherine told me she was starting to write a book on overcoming distracting thoughts, I immediately asked to help edit it. I love Shaila’s writing, and I’d already been working intensively with these teachings. The final product, like Shaila’s other books, is simultaneously engaging, rooted in the teachings of the Buddha, and brimming with practical more >>wisdom useful to practitioners at every level. I plan to give copies to friends who’ve said, “I can’t meditate, my mind is too busy”; I’m curious to see whether Shaila’s gentle yet precise coaching might be just the preliminary training they need.

— Terry F., Washington

Distracting thoughts are the biggest obstacle to a peaceful and happy mind. If you want to experience the bliss of a concentrated mind, the beauty of the present moment, or simply to be free from emotional and mental anguish, you will have to do battle with distracting thoughts. There is not a better book on this than Beyond Distraction. more>>It’s a step-by-step manual to help you minimize or even eliminate distracting thoughts. Shaila beautifully presents many different strategies to rid ourselves of these distractions. Her recommendations are easy to follow, filled with wisdom, examples, and practical strategies useful for both beginning and advanced meditation practitioners. I have read many meditation books, and have practiced meditation for more than a decade, but this book still got me to the next level.

— Robin V., Philippines

The table of contents alone illustrates why Beyond Distraction: Five Practical Ways to Focus the Mind is an invaluable, encouraging gift to the reader. Shaila Catherine perceptively guides readers through the knowing of the mind into mastery over thoughts and towards liberation. No matter where you are in your meditation practice, more>>this book will help you observe and control your thoughts in daily life and strengthen your commitment to meditation. The beginning meditator will be encouraged by a step by step guide for quieting the mind, and experienced meditators will find inspiration (and many tools) for strengthening their mind and deepening their practice. Every reader will benefit from practical ways to observe and free the mind from habitual thoughts, misperceptions, and the stories we tell ourselves. In her usual manner, Shaila Catherine offers candid, clear, and sincere insight into the workings of the mind, the dharma, and the meditative process. She frames the problem of distracting thoughts with a deep knowledge of the Buddha’s teachings and how they apply to contemporary life. As she systematically guides the reader in removing distracting thoughts, she is gentle but firm. Her good humor and keen insights allowed me many times to observe how my mind works. Readers, too, will recognize their minds and be offered a variety of strategies and practices to help observe the nature of habitual thoughts and to skillfully gain control over them. This book is a treasure of wisdom and practical strategies to incorporate into daily life, whether meditating or not, all of which will support the readers’ development of the ability to “think what they want to think.

— Deborah V., California

Most of us can relate to struggling with over-thinking, whether it be worry, cravings, fantasy or planning for the future. Shaila Catherine brilliantly translates the Buddha’s ancient teachings on working with thoughts to practical ways of working with the mind in modern times. Her writing is clear and accessible, appropriate for beginners as well as experienced practitioners. more>>The many practical exercises have helped me transform the way I relate to my thoughts. I will come back to these exercises again and again.

— Robin B., New Jersey

Beyond Distraction is such a useful and practical book, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by just how much of an impact it’s had on me since reading it. Just recently I had a somewhat negative experience at work, yet quickly found myself recalling a story offered in the book and the accompanying technique which helped me manage and deal with the situation in a helpful way. more>>While it’s been a very useful book for my meditative practice, the way it’s impacted my daily life has been really profound in how I notice and interact with my thoughts. This is a book I will return to often.

— Greg D., Japan

It’s rare to find a book that, while steeped in the suttas and commentarial tradition, is equally rich in practical ways to bring one’s meditation practice fully into one’s daily life. Shaila Catherine has done just that in her wonderful new book, Beyond Distraction. This book offers a much needed guide more>>on how to live one’s life with awareness, humanity, and deep kindness through the simple act of watching the mind unfold in familiar situations that occur both on and off the sitting mat. Beyond Distraction is an eminently practical guide that highlights simple and doable strategies for dealing with distractions as they arise. The strategies Shaila offers can be used in everyday situations—like standing in line at the post office—or when dealing with the ups and downs that arise on long concentration retreats. It’s practicality sets it apart from other spiritual guides. Often meditation manuals or guides leave me sighing and thinking “well, maybe someday” this will make sense. This book makes sense right now, in this very moment.

— Mary H., Arizona

“Mindfulness” has become an inescapable buzz-word in popular culture—with good reason, given how harried, distracted and stressed-out many if not most of us are, and the proven benefits of learning to be with present-moment experience without judgment. But what’s often lost by omitting more>>the Buddhist origin and context of mindfulness practice is that, far from being merely a palliative, it’s capable of leading to lasting liberation from suffering, complete freedom and joy, independent of circumstance.
Shaila Catherine has studied and practiced Buddhism for over four decades with a rare level of depth and intensity, including over 9 years of silent retreat and close study with several great masters. At the same time, she’s also a layperson dealing with all of the complexities and challenges of contemporary life, who’s been guiding others in doing so for many years on retreats and as leader of Insight Meditation South Bay.
While best-known for her authoritative guides to concentration practice (Focused & Fearless and Wisdom Wide & Deep) her new book Beyond Distraction is sure to be of much broader appeal. It’s a treasure-trove of practical advice that will be of great interest to everyone from beginning meditators struggling to settle in to seasoned practitioners dealing with stagnation in their practice or persistent habitual patterns that seem intractable.
More than any other book I’ve read, Beyond Distraction takes the sometimes dry and archaic words of the ancient Buddhist suttas and brings them alive as pithy and profound ways to cultivate joy and peace, while insightfully letting go of distractions and bad habits that, however ingrained, we know deep down are inconsistent with both our heart’s desire and our capabilities. This training is rooted in mindful whole-body awareness of the present moment but then proceeds, step by step, to help us uproot the hindrances (greed, anger, delusion, restlessness and worry and doubt) that hold us back from realizing our immense potential.
Catherine’s approach is both holistic and profoundly challenging because she makes it clear throughout that this is a 24/7 practice—that far from using meditation to “fix” or ameliorate the stress from unskillful thoughts, words or deeds off the cushion we need to make our whole life our practice, grounding ourselves in ethical conduct and non-harming. Beyond Distraction, far from being an esoteric meditation manual, is a guide to life—one I expect to be reading and benefitting from for years to come.

— Kevin K., Arizona

• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 5. Withdrawing the Fuel: Strategy #3—Avoid It, Ignore It, Forget It

To celebrate the book launch, Shaila Catherine is giving interviews, podcasts, and events that introduce the theme of this book.

Visit the EVENTS PAGE for a schedule of online and in-person upcoming events, talks, courses, and retreats.

Podcasts and interviews that address the book topic, Beyond Distraction, are listed below. Additional podcasts, interviews, and talks are on our LISTEN PAGE.

Reviews of Beyond Distraction

Read this review by Christopher Titmuss. Christopher is a senior dharma teacher and author of many books. He teaches worldwide and is based in Southern England.

Recorded Teachings on Beyond Distraction

• Audio Talk at Insight Meditation South Bay (April 2022)
• Guided Meditation using the series of strategies for removing distracting thoughts. (April 2022 at Insight Meditation South Bay)
• Beyond Distraction at Sangha Live (April 2022). Includes 30 minutes of guided meditation, 30 minutes of talk, 30 minutes of Q&A
• Video and Audio of Teaching on Beyond Distraction given for Still Mountain (June 2022)
• Video of talk given for Sakyadhita Australia (August 2022). Includes approximately 15 minutes of guided meditation, 45 minutes of talk, and 20 minutes of Q&A.
• Video of Insight Meditation Society’s Book Club (November 2022) with Shaila Catherine
• Video of Talk, Guided Meditation, and Q&A. Recorded by Insight Meditation Community of Washington (January 8, 2022).

Interviews & Podcasts about Beyond Distraction

• Wisdom Experience Podcast
• Ten Percent Happier Podcast
• In Search of Wisdom Podcast
• Secular Buddhist Podcast
• Groundless Ground Podcast
• Wisdom With Wangmo Podcast
• Teaching Meditation Podcast
• 30Now Podcast