Mario Castillo has been a Buddhist practitioner in the Theravada tradition for nearly two decades. He is a graduate of the East Bay Meditation Center’s yearlong Commit to Dharma Program and inaugural two-year Spiritual Teacher and Leadership Training. He also completed Braided Wisdom’s yearlong Original Medicine Program, and is currently participating in the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock’s four-year Teacher Training Program. Mario practiced as a monastic in the Thai Forest Tradition with Venerable Ajahn Sukhito in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, before returning to the Bay Area to complete his Ph.D. in sociology. Mario co-founded the Deep Refuge Group Alphabet Brothers of Color, serves on Braided Wisdom’s Board of Directors, and is passionate about creating ceremonial spaces for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities to remember, honor, and celebrate their ancestors.