Maria Kannon Zen Center listed with the American Zen Teachers Association. Maria Kannon Zen Center Maria Kannon Zen Center (MKZC) is a non-profit practice center in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition of Zen Buddhism, located in Dallas, Texas and founded in 1991 by the guiding teacher Ruben Habito (a Dharma heir of Yamada Koun). MKZC derives its name by combining the names of the Virgin Mary of Christianity and Kannon bodhisattva of Buddhism. It is actually the name of a figurine revered in Japan during Christian persecution there. Many of the MKZC members are individuals who consider themselves Christian, with Habito himself being a practicing
Buddhism in the West general distinction between Buddhism brought to the West by Asian immigrants, which may be Mahayana, Theravada or a traditional East Asian mix ("ethnic Buddhism"), and Buddhism as practiced by converts ("convert Buddhism"), which is often Zen, Pure Land, Vipassana or Tibetan Buddhism. Some Western Buddhists are actually non-denominational and accept teachings from a variety of different sects, which is far less frequent in Asia. Demographically as a convert religion, Western Buddhism appeals more to whites and to the middle and upper-middle classes as well as to the politically left wing and to those who live in urban areas. While retaining