Introducing Karla Medrano
Tuwhiri’s newest editorial board member
We are pleased to welcome Karla Medrano as the newest member of Tuwhiri’s editorial board. Karla became interested in meditation during her early years at university in Mexico and the USA, attending a number of Buddhist communities and sanghas, experiencing their different approaches to meditation and their diverse interpretations of the historical Buddha’s teachings.
After university, she became a schoolteacher, incorporating mindfulness into her teaching with assistance from the Mindful Schools courses. In 2010, Karla combined her two passions of education and mindfulness, enrolling in a MSc. in Education Psychology in Brussels. During this course, she designed mindfulness-based interventions, and conducted qualitative and quantitative research with Belgian and Dutch student teachers.
After graduating, she worked at Leiden University in The Netherlands for a number of years, where she is currently conducting research on Peace & Conflict Resolution. Her research focuses on indigenous traditions and their peacebuilding practices, particularly those that include nature, the environment, and spiritual worlds. ‘I look into the ways ancient wisdom can inform current challenges,’ she said.
Karla is also an associate editor for a scientific journal at a major academic publisher.
‘For many years now, I have been both very lucky and also courageous enough to maintain a meditation practice. After having encountered difficulties, I am now grateful to be under the guidance of Martine Batchelor, following a very simple but deeply gratifying dharma practice.’
‘It is perhaps strange,’ she said, ‘but in the early years of my practice I seem not to have paid attention to the joy present in daily life, in ordinary experience. It has been a marvellous journey towards simplicity, contentment and joy.’
‘Now, as the years go by, I realise how much of a beginner I am, and how wondrous the path is.’
Coming soon …
Tuwhiri’s next book will be one by two US West Coast dharma teachers, Nelly Kaufer and Linda Modaro. A joy to read, the book is titled Reflective meditation: cultivating curiosity and kindness in the Buddha’s company.
As a subscriber to our newsletter, you will be offered the opportunity to pre-purchase the book at a reduced, early bird price through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign.
Linda teaches at Sati Sangha and Nelly teaches at Pine St Sangha, and together they run daily online reflective meditation sessions.
Ngā manaakitanga,
Ramey Margolis ❖ Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand
for The Tuwhiri Project