Doreen Sensei received "Tokudo" ordination at Nishi Hongwanji headquarters in Kyoto, Japan, in 1988. Since then she has been studying different ways of passing the essence of Shin Buddhism on to others.

Doreen began her career as a public health nurse. In that field, she specialized in maternal and child health, infant care, and parent education. She has continued her contribution to this field up to the present time, through extensive volunteer work with The Parent-Child Mother Goose Program. The PCMGP reaches out to new parents all across Canada and beyond, to teach them how to sing, play and have fun with their babies and very young children. PCMGP has been shown to promote parent-infant bonding, pre-literacy language skills and school readiness.

Doreen Sensei spent the late Sixties teaching high school in Malaysia, along with her husband and two young children. She spent the early Seventies completing a Masters of Education degree from Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, specializing in family counselling and education for parenthood.

As a student-apprentice or an assistant minister with the Buddhist Churches of Canada, Doreen has served as a temple assistant minister, a Buddhist chaplain for federal prisons, and the Buddhist chaplain at the University of Toronto.

Now that Doreen Sensei has retired, she has opened her cottage-home to be the Toronto Shin Buddhist Dojo. The cottage is on Toronto Island, just a short ferry ride from downtown Toronto. The Dojo is a Buddhist resource centre, with collections of Buddhist art, books, images, curiosities and videos. There is a small contemplation garden in the back, with a pond, Japanese stone lantern, and a Canadian -Japanese version of a balanced and calming atmosphere.

Doreen Sensei sees herself as a seasoned spiritual counsellor. She has studied and practiced widely in the fields of world religion and Buddhism. She came to realize eventually, that good spiritual health is an essential foundation for our interrelated social, emotional and physical well-being and health.

Doreen looks to Buddhism to provide tools, attitudes and the support of Buddhist friends to help us in our quest for Buddhahood. As Mahayana Buddhists, we aspire to progress on the Bodhisattva path. The path of the Bodhisattva involves first becoming healthy and productive individuals ourselves, and then finding ways to pass "The Dharma" on to others. The Bodhisattvas delay their own Enlightenment until they have eventually taught all other beings to attain Enlightenment, before them.

Doreen Sensei is grateful for the support, guidance and inspiration over the years from her two teacher-mentors:

Rev. Hisao Inagaki, Osaka, Japan
Rev. Al Bloom, Honolulu, Hawaii