Meet Janel Jiryu Houton | Apprentice and Coordinator, Integral Zen; Energy Bodyworker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Janel Jiryu Houton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Janel Jiryu, what do you think makes you most happy? Why?
Times when I really am being of service to others, without expectation. Seeing our daughter grow into her own person, and discover the world in simple ways, it’s miraculous. Spiritual practice, teachers, community, family and friends.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’ve had a bit of an unusual path. I thought I was going to go in an academic direction and get a PhD early on but got really turned off in graduate school by academic politics and decided I didn’t have the stomach for that, so after a brief stint working in NYC for a Historic Preservation Consulting Firm, I moved to Japan, and ended up running a business in Japanese Art and Antiques for a decade. Living there really opened up the world and different perspectives to me. I came back to the US when I was 39 and adopted a girl from Guatemala, and started a new life. I met my husband and tried a bunch of new work directions, in non profits, went back to school for clinical massage therapy, threw myself into painting as an artist, I then saw increasing problems in the internal politics of the non-profits I worked in where I would say increasingly polarized politics were creating culture wars which prevented any implementation of effective leadership (and an anti hierarchical bias), and that organizations seeking to “do good” weren’t able to effectively achieve much in the best case scenarios, and in the worst case scenarios, were causing harm. I decided to leave these kind of work environments.

At the same time I became a student of Doshin Roshi of Integral Zen, which comes from a lineage of traditional Zen (Rinzai) but broadened its scope to include Integral Theory (see Ken Wilber, The Religion of Tomorrow). I work for Integral Zen to assist the Abbot / Roshi, and do marketing and retreat planning. I also study within a healing lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, and do energy bodywork with people I am connected to in my sangha.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’ve only been to Arizona once recently though I’m already planning to come back. I visited the Mission San Xavier (near? Tucson and it was incredible. I’m fascinated by the natural environment of Arizona, so I’d take them to all kinds of parks, natural locations, Native American historic sites, also lots of local food. Also I love turquoise so we would go running around looking at gemstones.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to express my deepest gratitude to my teacher Doshin Roshi of Integral Zen for all his deep caring, guidance, extreme patience and incredible support in my healing and evolution. Also my family, husband and daughter for the space and flexibility so I can run off to remote places to meditate on a regular basis (and my parrot Dakota too). So many other teachers along the way who are also often in my mind and heart.

Website: integralzen.org

Instagram: @jhouton

Image Credits
Photo credit Doshin Roshi, Luke Schaefer @lukeschaefervisuals