Wendy Hixon

Dharma Name: JoRikki

Title: Sensei

Preferred Name: Wendy

Organization: Open Mind Zen

Lineage: Open Mind Zen, White Plum Asanga

BIO: Wendy Jorikki Hixon is a Zen teacher in the Soto-Rinzai lineage of Taizan Maezumi Roshi and the White Plum Asanga. She began practicing meditation in 2000 and has studied with Roshi Al Fusho Rapaport (Open Mind Zen) since 2016, receiving Dharma Transmission from him in September 2026.

Wendy first came to meditation seeking a little peace in the midst of a busy and complicated life. Over the years, her practice has become less about finding a way out of life’s difficulties and more about learning to meet life fully, just as it is. This understanding continues to shape her practice and teaching, with an emphasis on curiosity, compassion, and gently questioning the stories we hold about ourselves, others, and how we believe life “should” be.

Her path to Zen has been shaped by a life spent close to the complexities of the human experience. Before becoming a therapist, Wendy spent years in law enforcement, including serving as a police detective. Her experiences there, along with her work as a mental health counselor and her study of mindfulness, psychology, and neuroscience, naturally inform her teaching without defining it.

At the heart of Wendy’s practice is something much simpler: returning to this moment and learning to be present with the life that is here. She remains deeply grateful to her teacher, her Sangha, and all that continues to teach her along the Way.