Shaila Catherine has been practicing meditation since 1980 and has been teaching since 1996 in the United States, India, Israel, England, and New Zealand. She has seven years of accumulated silent retreat experience. She is the founder of Insight Meditation South Bay and lives in Menlo Park, California. One of her teachers H. W. L. Poonja in India told her: "You are just a half-step from liberation." She was excited by this assessment and at first took it to mean that she was on the right path and very close to enlightenment. But then she realized:
"Wisdom is a much more trustworthy guide than attachment. The metaphor of the half-step describes a wise and unattached movement through life. Liberation is not discovered by traversing a distance; it cannot be measured in terms of 'near' or 'far.' Awakening is always available when the mind is not attached."
Meditation practice offers a fine training ground that can take us beyond the delusion of a self-centered orientation toward spiritual attainment. In this paperback, Catherine examines the cultivation of concentration through non-clinging, effort, intention, mindfulness, overcoming the negative forces of habit and thought, dealing with emotions, and learning to let go.
In her discussion of happiness, the author touches upon the joys of equanimity, a quality of mind that is difficult for many in our consumer culture with its emphasis upon attachment to appreciate. It enables us to hold steady through trouble and to experience joy and peace beyond both pleasure and pain. Since attachment is the root of suffering, this is a healing practice to try daily along with letting go. Catherine concludes the book with three doorways to insight, a new way of seeing, and emptiness. All of these lead to a concentrated mind that is focused and fearless.
