Andrea Castillo, born in Mexico City, has practiced Insight Meditation since 1998 under the guidance of Gil Fronsdal. Andrea has taught Dharma in Spanish at IMC since 2011 and more recently at Against the Stream in SF, and at Insight Santa Cruz. She completed a Ph.D. in the Humanities at Stanford University in 2009; she is also a graduate of the Sati Center Chaplaincy Training Program, and of the Dharma Mentoring Training Program taught by Gil Fronsdal and Andrea Fella. Andrea has served the Insight community by being on the board of the Buddhist Insight Network, and presently at the IMC board. She also teaches mindfulness in English and Spanish to various populations in the Bay Area.
Coming Home to Ourselves is about orienting towards our experience and then meeting our experience with an warm heart. To be "at home," means to be here, at ease, in the present moment. Often we're "not at home" because we are experiencing difficulties and feel like we have to go outside of ourselves to figure it out or perhaps we have patterns of avoiding or distracting ourselves. The journey of coming home and connecting with ourselves in a friendly way might be a radical one because it requires letting of the idea that what the heart is yearning for can be found outside of ourselves.
This talk will focus on enthusiasm, clear knowing, and contentment, three beautiful qualities originating from the Satipatthana refrain. We'll explore how to cultivate them as part of the body contemplations.
A story of a mass murder in the time of the Buddha, offers us lessons in how ethical conduct can help support us and countering the forces of ignorance and cravings
