Buddhism
For all those who know little about gardening, Zen garden is a term used for Japanese rock gardens, moisture-free, made-of-stones, dry kind of gardens – To a certain extent this is correct, but giving due consideration to the other concepts associated with the word Zen, the phrase Zen garden has a profound philosophical impact. It is a special form of artistic gardens so intense, that the great mathematicians and neurologists too have attempted to explain the idea.
Zen. The Mystery
Now that your curiosity is aroused, I will try to explain more about this type of garden and its impacts on visitors. The first question that needs to be answered is, what is Zen? Many associate it with Japanese Buddhism. Well, this again is partly true, and indeed Zen Gardens originated from
Buddhist monasteries and temples around 1300 AD by Zen priests and artists, prominently Muso Soseki. Some people think that Zen is an interpretation of the Buddhist concept of enlightenment, and this may be close to the truth as well. Zen plays an important role in many Japanese concepts and aspects.
Actually Zen means waking up to the present moment. That is, perceiving this moment exactly as it is, rather than through the filter of our ideas, opinions, etc. And this is what is reflected in a Zen garden.
Examples
- Royanji Temple in northwest Kyoto, Japan.
- Nanzenji Zen Garden in Kyoto, Japan.
The Philosophical Impact
A Zen garden is an aesthetic arrangement of stones with little vegetation, water or other elements at a first glance. But on careful observation, we understand that they represent the elaborate equilibrium of contraries and the apprehension of the world as a dialect continuum.
For example, how can one express nothingness ‘mu’, more dramatically than by taking water out of a garden? Zen garden, is thus a metaphorical representation of the concepts of Zen. The exclusion of water is not its denial, it is in fact a more potent assertion as it is done metaphorically.
The significant aspect of a Zen garden is that the rocks form subliminal images of objects like trees, lakes, ponds etc. which can not be perceived while looking consciously at them, but the subconscious mind is able to observe a subtle association between the rocks. While
viewing, the distinction between subject & object, and viewer & viewed is blurred. This results in the garden being a source of strength, courage, fortitude, tranquility, serenity, peace.
Another specialty is that none of of them have been created by one person, epitomizing the aspect of parts forming a whole.
Although these gardens have been engulfed with controversies and criticism, there is no denying their impact on the viewers and the inherent creativity.
The philosophy of these gardens can be summarized in the poetics of Karesansui: ‘ Flower does not Talk but a Rock has the Voice of Water.’
Buddhism is the Western term for the teaching of the Buddha or the religion founded by the Buddha. In the East it is known as the Buddha Sasana. ‘Buddha’ is not aname. It is a title, meaning the Enlightened One or the Awakened One. The Buddha’s personal name was Siddhattha1 and his clan name was Gotama.2 Thus he was sometimes called Siddhattha Gotama. Few people, however, now make use of these names. They simply call him the Buddha or Gotama the Buddha.
The Buddha lived twenty five centuries ago in North India. He was born a prince of the Sakyan kingdom which was located at the foot of the Himalaya. His father, who was the king ruling over the Sakyas, was called Suddhodana. The Queen who was the Prince’s mother was called Maya. As a prince, he grew up in the midst of luxury, led the happy life of a privileged youth and married Princess Yasodhara. His beautiful cousin, who bore him a son, Rahula.
This happened for the first time when he took chariot rides in the streets of his father’s capital, Kapilavastu. Then he saw four sights which altered his whole life. The first three of them – a man feeble with old age, another with a grievous disease, and a corpse – filled him with a longing to find some way to help his fellow men and to discover the true meaning of life. The fourth sight, a monk, gave him a hope of the possibility of learning about Truth and finding a way out of suffering. Then, at the age of 29, Prince Siddhattha left his father’s palace, left his dearly loved wife and newborn son, and led the life of a wandering ascetic, devoting himself to finding some way of overcoming suffering.
At the full moon of May, forty five years before the Buddhist Era, while sitting under the Bodhi tree at Gaya, he found his answer and at tained the Enlightenment. The Great Man, now known as the Buddha, went first from Gaya to Sarnath mear Benares where he gave his first sermon in the Deer Park. From then through the remaining 45 years of his life, he wandered from place to place teaching his discoveries to all who would listen to him and organizing his followers who renounced the world to form the Sangha.
Though it is now more than 2500 years since the passing away of the Buddha, the Dharma he taught remains our Teacher as he himself named it. The Sangha which consists of the followers who study, prac tise and disseminate the Dharma, has received this torch of light from the torchbearer himself and carried it on and on to us throughout lands and centuries. The three of them – the Buddha, the founder; the Dharma, the teaching; and the Sangha, the Order of disciples – form the Triple Gem which all Buddhists value the best of all precious things, and the Threefold Refuge which guides them on the Path of the true good life. Each year on the Visakha Full Moon, throughout the world, millions of men and women gather together to commemorate the birth, enlightenment and passing away of this Great Man.
The Birth reminds them of the fact that a man, by training himself through his own effort and intelligence, can achieve supreme attainments even to be a Buddha; the Enlightenment, that only through the discovery of the Buddha did the timeless Dharma become known to the world; and the Passing Away, that though the Buddha as a person was gone, the light of the timeless Dharma will still be kept shining so long as there is a Sangha, a community of righteous followers, to carry on the torch by treading the path of self enlightenment themselves and helping others towards the same goal.