Wagyo Temple was founded by Ven. Issai Chizen Denton Sensei, who was born in California in 1953, and has been studying Buddhism for nearly 40 years. He is a Dharma successor of Ven. Louis Mitsunen Nordstrom Roshi and a lineage holder in both Soto and Rinzai schools of Zen. In addition to being head priest and resident teacher at Wagyo-ji, he has been executive director and head of liturgy at Zenshin-ji, in Yonkers, NY, and vice-abbot of Kugei-in, in Melbourne, FL. He currently lives in Merrick, NY
