Reverend Shikyo Jiryu, Janel Houton

I have studied with Doshin Roshi since 2019. Gaining a more Integral perspective of healing, has deepened and broadened my understanding of several healing lineage traditions and Chakra systems, including traditional Tibetan Medicine. It has helped me clarify and purify my intention of bringing these ancient methodologies into the 21st century, in a way that benefits all beings.

I was first exposed to Buddhism in a course I took at NYU in the late 1980s, “Topics in Far Eastern Art.” One of the topics was the “Floating World” (Ukiyo-e) of Japanese Woodblock Prints. The floating world was a Japanese metaphor for impermanence, reflected in the art of famed courtesans during the Edo (Tokyo) Era. The Japanese greatly celebrate youthful beauty, while at the same time lamenting its rapid and inevitable passing. For them, all of beauty—and life—is ever tinged with both longing, and sadness. I was fascinated by this perspective that approaches the transience of life with depth and poignancy.

Two years later in January of 1991 I went to Japan with a friend. We had very little money, so I spent time reading in a tiny terrible room with almost no heat. One of the books was An Introduction to Zen Buddhism, by DT Suzuki. I recognized that I was learning something important, which I wasn’t yet ready for, and would return to later.

The first time I sat in stillness was during a visit to a remote Buddhist Temple in southern Kyushu Japan. It was a memorial service. No one had explained to me that we were expected to sit on the hard wooden floor in the excruciating seiza position for what seemed an eternity, while a monk chanted prayers for the deceased. My very first sit I completely lost all feeling in my feet, and thus began the slow (Zen) process, of dying before you die.

I was drawn back to Buddhism around 2003. I did not know any practicing Buddhists, yet I recognized a deep need to surrender to what was increasingly evident to be my path. A few years later, I took refuge at the Karma Kagyu Monastery in Woodstock NY. I continued my practice with a Nepali Guru, until I was overwhelmed with being a mother of a young child, and needing to work. Once my daughter was older, I was given an opportunity (a gift) to work with Doshin Roshi, in January 2019. This changed my life, and I returned to devoted practice.

Over the years my path has deepened and become ever clearer: studying Art History and Historic Research, ten years living in Japan, learning Therapeutic Massage, continuous study and training in both healing and Buddhism, and ten years of working in non-profits, healthcare and religious organizations. In 2022 I began to study with Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, head of the Tibetan Medicine Buddha lineage, and Dr. Caroline Van Damme, a Belgian Psychiatrist, in the Sowa Rigpa Institute for Tibetan Medicine. I completed a Counseling training Program with them in 2024. I was ordained a Minister in Integral Zen in the fall of 2023 and have been doing healing work, developing and teaching courses and healing retreats with Doshin Roshi ever since.

In September 2025 Doshin and I coauthored and published our first book, Paths and Practices for Balance and Wholeness: Healing and Awakening, TimelessTeachings from Wisdom Traditions. It is the first in a series of four planned books, our next book is scheduled for release in September 2026.