Healing Through the Nembutsu

Can the embrace of Amida Buddha’s compassion bring solace to our minds? Rev. Dr. Carmela Javellana, armed with insights from Shinran Shonin’s work, “Kyogyoshinsho" and background in psychology, invites us to explore how the Nembutsu has the potential to be a powerful medicine, useful in ordinary day-to-day life as well as healing trauma.

By breaking down complicated concepts into an easy to understand metaphor, you'll walk away with a fun new perspective of bodhisattvas, Shinjin, and other power. Prepare to let your understanding and practice of the Nembutsu take flight, and watch as it revolutionizes your mental wellbeing. 

Meet Your Instructor

Rev. Dr. Carmela Javellana, who grew up in the Philippines is an integrative psychiatrist, founder of Sanctuary for Healing and Integration (SHIN), and minister's assistant at the Salt Lake City Buddhist Temple. She connected with Reverend Jerry Hirano, the minister of the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple, through a personal ad. They married, and she became his assistant. Doctor Hirano then studied to become a minister herself through the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, California. She traveled to Kyoto, Japan for Tokudo, or the ordination ceremony, and is a fully-qualified priest in the Jodo Shinshu tradition. Doctor Hirano's interests lie in the need for a strong spiritual dimension inspired by the dharma in her work, for herself, her patients and for the community at large.