To Issan Dorsey Roshi, on the occasion of his paranirvana
by Merri-Todd Webster
Originally published: September 6, 2020
One moment of perfect practice, says Dogen
one moment of perfect enlightenment
One moment of perfect prayer
a Rosary recited with pure attention
loving the Blessed Virgin
wanting to be like her
One moment of perfect obedience
sailor on the deck
performer cheering your comrades at sea
One moment of perfect performance
the wig, the makeup, the bra, the heels
singing on the stage
the boy who looks like the girl next door
One moment of perfect openness
available to the next customer
becoming their need like a bodhisattva
One moment of perfect transcendance
the high the low the trip the ecstasy
One moment of perfect sitting
listening to Suzuki Roshi
a glimpse of the truly real
One moment of perfect maitri
founding a hospice to serve the dying
men like you dying in droves
of a disease without cure,
without compassion
One moment of perfect honor
Issan Dorsey Roshi
Dharma heir
abbot of Hartford Street Zen Center
One moment of perfect humanity
One moment of perfect buddhahood
Issan Dorsey, Roshi, was one of the most unconventional and beloved figures in Western Sōtō Zen. His transformation from a drug-addicted traveling drag performer to a Zen monk is recounted in David Schneider’s Street Zen. A Dharma heir of Zentatsu Richard Baker, Issan was known for his humor, compassion, and care for people at society’s margins.
In 1987, he founded Maitri Hospice in San Francisco, primarily serving gay men dying of AIDS. He later became abbot and received the Dharma name Issan, meaning “One Mountain.”
Bernie Glassman carried Issan’s legacy into the Greyston Network. In 1997, Greyston opened the Maitri Center and Issan House, providing health services and housing for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Zen Peacemakers Auschwitz-Birkenau
Bearing Witness Retreat
Auschwitz-Birkenau is not an easy place to approach,
especially when you are being called,
to make whole.
Synchronized Gatherings Across Sites of Nazi Persecution and Genocide
Zen Peacemakers invites our Affiliates, European Peacemakers, and friends to join in a shared act of remembrance across Europe.
This is a shared practice held across distance — a way for people in different places to enter the same field of remembrance, presence, and bearing witness.
Participants may gather at one of the suggested locations, or name another local site during registration: a camp, sub-camp, transit site, memorial location, rail site, or nearby place of historical significance.
Peacemakers Circle
Join The Lotus Institute’s Dr. Peggy Rowe Ward and Emanuel Ward, son of Dr. Larry Ward, for an intimate gathering centered on Morning Night, Larry’s posthumously published collection of poetry.
Wednesday, July 29th
12:00 PM US Eastern
WAY OF COUNCIL
Council is one of our most important core Zen Peacemaker practices. We share Council during our Bearing Witness retreats almost every day. In Council, we come together in a small group in a profound way. We create a shared liminal space that is safe, confidential, and perhaps sacred. We each listen and speak from the heart, encountering and experiencing one another gently and with awareness. We are not solving problems, debating issues, or making plans. We are making a healing space for each of us to hear and be heard, see and be seen.
UPCOMING COUNCILS (click on title to learn more & register)
Wednesday, July 29th - Way of Council
Saturday, August 1st - The Way of Council with Aus-NZ Peacemaker Council
Tuesday, August 11th - The Way of Council with Kineret Ando Yardena
Monday, August 17th - Mental Health Professionals & Caregivers Council
Friday, August 21st - Women Only Council
A PRAYER FOR PEACE
Hello Family!
Our dear Lakota relative, Violet Catches, would like to invite Zen Peacemakers from all around the world to join on the Fourth Friday of the month at 1:00 pm US Eastern Time, to offer prayers for peace. Participants will be encouraged to offer prayers from their faith tradition, culture, and in their language.
In peace & gratitude-
Michel Engu Dobbs
TAKING ACTION
Equality across gender is not just policy—it is lived dignity.
Through the Three Tenets, we practice:
Not-Knowing: Releasing assumptions about gender roles and identities.
Bearing Witness: Listening to the realities of women, non-binary, and LGBTQ+ people.
Taking Action: Supporting advocacy, shelters, and empowerment programs.
Daily Practice: Notice your language, bias, and choices. Practice equality in small daily encounters.
Get Involved: Connect with organizations advancing gender equity and safety.
Learn more here: https://zenpeacemakers.org/taking-action-home/taking-action-gender-equality
✨ Explore the Taking Action initiative — discover how you can serve, connect, and be inspired by the work already unfolding in your communities.
👉 Explore More
❤️ Your gift helps bring the Three Tenets to life.
👉 Donate Here
ZAZEN
Experience a connection with your personal landscape through the transformative power of online meditation sessions with the Zen Peacemakers. Whether you're part of a local sangha or other spiritual community, we invite you to join us in this virtual space where we can gather across geographies and time zones.
Join us for these online meditation sessions and experience the profound benefits of collective mindfulness. The Zen Peacemakers are here to support you on this transformative journey.
Monday - Friday
10:00 - 10:40 am US Eastern
MORE INFO HERE
OFFERING
The Bernie Koans
Edited by: Ken Byalin, Francisco "Paco" Lugovina, Christopher Panos
‘It’s just my opinion, man’, as Bernie would say. We all have our opinions about Roshi Bernie Glassman. To some of us, he is the stern head monk at Zen Center of LA; to others, he is the socially engaged Buddhist who built up the Greyston Bakery and Foundation. To others he is the founder of Zen Peacemakers International and the instigator of bearing witness plunges on the city streets and at Auschwitz and to others he is the clown, the founder of the Order of Disorder. He is all of these and more. As the stories in the book show, he is Bernie, the mensch, who spent his life feeding the hungry ghosts of society and teaching that Zen is to realize the oneness and interconnectedness of life.
-Gerry Shishin Wick, grateful Dharma brother and disciple of Roshi Bernie
Thank you for reading this week's Zen Peacemakers newsletter.
We look forward to connecting at upcoming events, on social media, and via email.
With gratitude,
The Zen Peacemakers Team