Maria Kannon Zen Center 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 Catholic and former Jesuit priest. MKZC is
Katsu (Zen) Katsu (Zen) Katsu (Japanese: 喝; Cantonese: "", Pinyin: "hè", Wade-Giles: "ho") is a shout that is described in Chán and Zen Buddhism encounter-stories, to expose the enlightened state (Japanese: "satori") of the Zen-master, and/or to induce initial enlightenment experience in a student. The shout is also sometimes used in the East Asian martial arts for a variety of purposes; in this context, "katsu" is very similar to the shout "kiai". The word in Chinese means literally "to yell" or "to shout". In Japanese it has also developed the meaning of "to browbeat", "to scold", and "hoarse". In the context of