Overview
These words describe the unlikely persona of Issan Dorsey, one of the most beloved teachers to emerge in American Zen. From his early days as a gorgeous female impersonator to the LSD experiences that set him on the spiritual path, Issan's life was never conventional. In 1989, after twenty years of Zen practice, he became the Founding Abbot of San Francisco's Hartford Street Zen Center, where he established Maitri Hospice for AIDS patients. Featuring Bernie Glassman's foreword to the second edition, as well as a new foreword by Koshin Paley Ellison, Street Zen paints a vivid portrait of a teacher whose creativity, honesty, joy, and compassion awakened new possibilities for American Buddhism.
Discover Issan Dorsey Net Worth, Salary, Biography, Height, Dating, Wiki. Best bittorrent client for windows 7. Scroll below to learn details information about Issan Dorsey's salary, estimated earning, lifestyle, and Income reports. ContentsBiographyIssan Dorsey Net WorthDoes Issan Dead or Alive?FAQs Biography Issan Dorsey is best known as a Celebrity. Issan Dorsey was born on March 7, 1933 in Santa Barbara, California,. – Issan Dorsey Described as “magnetic, magnanimous, and luminous,” Issan (Tommy) Dorsey, the colorful founder of Maitri, created a caring community for hundreds of people with AIDS, and left behind a legacy of wisdom and compassion that continues to inspire us today. Issan himself died at Maitri of AIDS-related lymphoma in 1990. American bodhisattva. These words describe the unlikely persona of Issan Dorsey, one of the most beloved teachers to emerge in American Zen. From his early days as a gorgeous female impersonator to the LSD experiences that set him on the spiritual path, Issan’s life was never conventional. Drag queen, junkie, alcoholic, commune leader-and, finally, Buddhist teacher: these words describe the unlikely persona of Issan Dorsey, one of the most beloved teachers to emerge from American Zen. Street Zen follows Dorsey from his days as a female impersonator to.
Template:Infobox Buddhist biographyIssan Dorsey (1933—September 61990), born Tommy Dorsey, Jr., was a gaySotoroshi and ex-prostitute/drag queen/drug addict who died of AIDS complications in 1990. Dorsey was the former abbot of Hartford Street Zen Center (HSZC) located in the Castro district of San Francisco, California. He is most remembered for establishing the Maitri Hospice at HSZC for students and friends dying of AIDS during the spread of the epidemic in the 1980s—the first Buddhisthospice of its kind in the United States. Many of his former students and biographers have observed that Dorsey was the embodiment of a bodhisattva.[1] Macbook pro download os x.
Biography
Issan Dorsey Actor
Issan Dorsey was born as Tommy Dorsey, Jr. in Santa Barbara, California in 1933.[2] He was raised as a Catholic and was the youngest child of ten siblings.[1] As a boy he aspired to become an entertainer and studied dance and piano. While in junior college he became dissatisfied with his life, so he left school and joined the U.S. Navy. In the military he was able to fulfill his childhood dream of being an entertainer, putting on shows at his base and on television shows. 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. He finally settled into a job as a waiter for a bar in North Beach, eventually becoming a performer there as a drag queen. Choose macbook. His shows were a success and he traveled in a road show known as The Party of Four. On the road in the 1950s he would sometimes work as a prostitute at shows and afterhours, developing a nasty methamphetamine addiction during this period.[2] On the road during his shows Dorsey was introduced as, 'Tommy Dee, the boy who looks like the girl next door.'[1]
In the 1960s he returned to San Francisco, where he continued to shoot speed and engaged in dealing drugs on lower Haight Street. He founded his own commune and also managed a rock band.[2] During this period he had a spiritual experience under the influence of LSD while observing a photograph of Romona Maharshi. He constructed an altar with Maharshi's photograph, where he would shoot speed and gaze at the picture for several hours. 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).[4] Originally a discussion group for gay Buddhists, the group eventually began sitting zazen in the basement of one member's house at 57 Hartford Street. In 1987 [1] Dorsey had created a hospice (Maitri Hospice) within the Zen center on Hartford Street, serving primarily gay men who were dying of AIDS. Eventually Dorsey was made a Soto priest by his teacher—Zentatsu Richard Baker—installed as abbot of HSZC in 1989 and given the Dharma name Issan (meaning 'One-Mountain').[2] Shortly before death, in particularly poor health, Issan was recognized as a roshi.[5] On September 6, 1990, Issan Dorsey died of complications linked to AIDS.[2]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.01.11.2Whitney
- ↑ 2.02.12.22.3Comstock, 251—252
- ↑Butler, Katy
- ↑Coleman, 165
- ↑Halifax, Joan
References
- Butler, Katy (Spring 1994). Street Zen (book review). Whole Earth Review.
- Coleman, James William (2001). The New Buddhism: The Western Transformation of an Ancient Tradition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195152417.
- Comstock, Gary; Susan E. Henking (1997). Que(e)Rying Religion: A Critical Anthology. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 0826409245.
- Halifax, Joan (2000). Buddhism in America: Volume 1 (Audio). Sounds True. ISBN 1564558169.
- Whitney, Kobai Scott (March 1998). The Lone Mountain Path: The Example of Issan Dorsey. Shambhala Sun. Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
Issan Dorsey Net Worth
Further reading
Issan Dorsey Hot
Schneider, David (2000). Street Zen: The Life and Work of Issan Dorsey. Marlowe & Company. ISBN 1569246378.
Issan Dorsey Lineage