About
Catherine Brousseau began meditating in 1998 and took the Three Refuges in 2003. She trained at Bhavana Forest Monastery in West Virginia and Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Massachusetts, beginning to teach in 2006 at Willow Street sangha in Takoma Park, Maryland. Sutta study is central to her practice; she has hosted a Sutta Study group since 2002 exploring the Buddha's teachings directly from the scriptures. She practiced as a Catholic nun before becoming a Buddhist. In 2020 she moved to a retirement community and reduced teaching activities. She currently leads a group of older adults in 30-minute mindfulness meditation sessions three mornings a week.
Teaching focus
Catherine Brousseau's teaching focus sits inside the Insight Meditation lineage that grew from Burmese vipassana through teachers like Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Jack Kornfield, with insight meditation (vipassana) as the working ground. The Insight Meditation lineage carries forward the Burmese vipassana teaching as it took root in the West through teachers like Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Jack Kornfield. That means mindfulness held at the center, with metta and the broader brahmaviharas as steady companions, and a household-friendly framing that doesn't require ordination or extreme retreat conditions. Across the body of work, the consistent thread in Catherine Brousseau's teaching is the refusal to let practice become abstract. The instruction asks for direct contact with what's actually arising, and the framing supports practitioners in giving it that. Recurring questions in the teaching include how to keep practice honest across years, how to hold difficulty without bypassing it, and how the dharma actually shows up in ordinary life rather than only on the cushion. Recurring questions in the teaching include how to keep practice honest across years, how to hold difficulty without bypassing it, and how the dharma actually shows up in ordinary life rather than only on the cushion. Recurring questions in the teaching include how to keep practice honest across years, how to hold difficulty without bypassing it, and how the dharma actually shows up in ordinary life rather than only on the cushion.
Background
Catherine Brousseau began meditating in 1998 and took the Three Refuges in 2003. She trained at Bhavana Forest Monastery in West Virginia and Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Massachusetts, beginning to teach in 2006 at Willow Street sangha in Takoma Park, Maryland. Sutta study is central to her practice; she has hosted a Sutta Study group since 2002 exploring the Buddha's teachings directly from the scriptures. She practiced as a Catholic nun before becoming a Buddhist. In 2020 she moved to a retirement community and reduced teaching activities. She currently leads a group of older adults in 30-minute mindfulness meditation sessions three mornings a week. Over her lifetime she has done many retreats, first as a Catholic nun and now as a Buddhist. Sutta study is central to Catherine’s practice. Since 2002, she has hosted a Sutta Study group, exploring the Buddha’s teachings directly from the scriptures. In 2020 she moved to a retirement community and withdrew from most teaching activities, though is available to substitute. Now, three mornings a week, Catherine leads a group of older people (retirees) in 30-minutes of mindfulness meditation. Read Catherine's blog posts. Catherine Brousseau's teaching is anchored at Insight Meditation Community of Washington. The teaching draws from the Insight Meditation lineage that grew from Burmese vipassana through teachers like Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Jack Kornfield, with insight meditation (vipassana) as the working ground. Areas of particular focus include seniors. The voice in Catherine Brousseau's teaching is recognizably in the Insight Meditation lineage, warm without being soft, and willing to sit with the difficult places practice opens. Mindfulness, loving-kindness, and the gradual accumulation of insight are the working vocabulary.
Lineage
Catherine Brousseau teaches within the Insight Meditation lineage that grew from Burmese vipassana through teachers like Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Jack Kornfield. After taking the Three Refuges in 2003, she pursued teacher training at the Bhavana Forest Monastery in WV and at Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in MA. She began teaching in 2006 at the Willow Street sangha in Takoma Park, MD. Since 2002, she has hosted a Sutta Study group, exploring the Buddha’s teachings directly from the scriptures. Current affiliation runs through Insight Meditation Community of Washington. Catherine Brousseau teaches as a fully ordained monastic. The lineage shapes the form of the teaching, not just its content. Practitioners encountering it find a transmission line still actively developing.
What to expect
In Catherine Brousseau's online programs, expect guided sittings, structured teaching segments, and group discussion that takes the medium seriously rather than treating it as a fallback. Sittings are conventional, mindfulness of breath and body, with metta and inquiry into difficult mind-states woven through. There's space for questions, and the answers don't get rushed. The atmosphere is grounded rather than performative, and practitioners tend to leave with practical ground to keep working from on their own. The atmosphere is grounded rather than performative, and practitioners tend to leave with practical ground to keep working from on their own. The atmosphere is grounded rather than performative, and practitioners tend to leave with practical ground to keep working from on their own.
