Nils Heymann

A native of El Salvador, Nils is one of the core teachers of the BIPOC San Francisco Insight Group. He started meditating at the age of 16. He studied major religions at Lancaster University in England and did research on gurus in  India. He practiced in Hindu and Benedictine monasteries until he went to Thailand to ordain in Ajahn Chah’s Forest tradition. He made a commitment to be a monk for seven years and lived in monasteries in England, New Zealand and Italy.

After leaving monastic life, he lived in Minnesota and co-founded Common Ground’s Gay Men’s Community Group. He lives in San Francisco, CA, he regularly teaches at Common Ground Meditation Center in Minneapolis, including as part of the teaching team for the Dharma Leadership Training. He has helped translate talks by Ajahn Chah into Spanish and has given talks in a variety of venues including The East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland.

The first discourse of the Buddha is the framework by which he lives his life. He currently teaches art to a bunch of beautiful urban high schoolers.