Issan Dorsey

Issan Dorsey (March 7, 1933 — September 6, 1990), born Tommy Dorsey Jr., was a Sōtō Zen monk and teacher, Dharma heir of Zentatsu Richard Baker and onetime abbot of Hartford Street Zen Center (HSZC) located in the Castro district of San Francisco, California.

During the Korean War, Dorsey and a male lover were expelled from the Navy, leaving him to spend several years in and out of employment.

"[1] In the 1960s, he returned to San Francisco, where he continued to shoot speed and engaged in dealing drugs on lower Haight Street.

Soon, he gave up using drugs and started sitting zazen at the San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC) under the guidance of Shunryu Suzuki.

[3] In 1980 (while Dorsey was director of SFZC) he became a member of The Gay Buddhist Club, which eventually became known as the Hartford Street Zen Center (HSZC).

Eventually, Dorsey was made a Sōtō priest by his teacher—Zentatsu Richard Baker—installed as abbot of HSZC in 1989 and given the Dharma name Issan (meaning "One-Mountain").