Maria-Kannon Zen Center: Conflation of Two Icons as the Emblematic Statement of Religious Perennialism

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2009
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Haverford College. Department of Religion
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eng
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Haverford users only
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Abstract
There have been many historical attempts to conflate two distinct, yet similar icons from two different religious traditions, Buddhism and Christianity: Guan Yin and Virgin Mary. Despite their fundamental differences in doctrinal, cosmological, and theological features, many people have found that there is a deep affinity between Guan Yin and Virgin Mary in terms of their spiritual significance and iconographical features; both of them have been conceived as a distinctively feminine divine figure who assumes a mother-like representation and whose presence as a compassionate and accessible patroness looms large in peoples’ spiritual lives. The figurine of Maria-Kannon, which is a representation of Virgin Mary in guise of Guan Yin, is one example that attests to the perceived affinity between the two. Particularly, this figurine has been reexamined and reinvigorated in a modern context; the image of Maria-Kannon was adopted as a powerful imagery for interfaith dialogue at the Maria Kannon Zen Center (from now on, abbreviated as MKZC), located in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1995 by Ruben Habito, who was a former Jesuit priest and a currently ordained Buddhist practitioner, the MKZC serves as a place to offer Zen meditative practices to the practitioners from different religious traditions.
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