Zen And The Art Of Gardening

I love writing about the history of zen gardens and how they've changed and evolved over the years.

All photos of the Morikami museum and its gardens shown with their gracious permission. This is a detail of the portico of the museum, which has a small garden influenced by Zen garden aesthetics.

Sid Kemp

An Ancient Story

There is an ancient Zen story where a student asks, "How do I enter the Way of Zen?" The teacher replies, "Can you hear the flow of the distant stream?" The student sits very quietly, indeed, can hear the stream down in the valley on the other side of the hill. "Yes," he says quietly.

"Enter from there," the teacher instructs.

"And if I had not been able to hear the stream?" the student asks. And the teacher answers, "Then I would have told you to enter from there."

A Daily Meditation and Peculiar Beauty

We can do Zen meditation whether or not we hear the distant valley stream. We can do Zen meditation anywhere—I used to do my daily meditation on a subway in New York City during morning rush hour. The mind is non-local, and we can concentrate and clear it wherever we are.

But when we relax and open our minds in the midst of quiet, unobtrusive beauty, our senses open wide. The mind is sharp and clear, and at the same time, the body is relaxed and sensitive. This awakens a great deal of healing power, and also artistic and emotional sensitivity. A deep, healing, spiritual and physical integration is possible.

The meaning of Zen gardens lies in their peculiar beauty, a beauty that calls and allows us to be aware of things in a much more open and sensitive way than we normally can.

"But when we relax and open our minds in the midst of quiet, unobtrusive beauty, our senses open wide. The mind is sharp and clear, and at the same time, the body is relaxed and sensitive."

Zen Mind in Many Places

The original instructions for Zen meditation, or dhyana, to use the Sanskrit pronunciation of the same word, involved going into a secluded forest and sitting under a tree. Later, small hermitage huts for individuals and larger meditation halls for groups sitting together were developed as quiet places that allow this deep concentration.

Zen, however, is not just for the meditation hall or hut. There, we do zazen, or sitting zen. In the meditation hall, we also do kinhin, or slow walking meditation. We can also walk outdoors in nature. The effect of sitting zen in nature is very different from the effect of sitting zen in a room, even if it is a simple hermitage or an elegant meditation hall. Nature has a rhythm all its own. And when we become aware of that rhythm with the quiet, open mind of Zen, we open to a vastness or harmony that comes nowhere else.

But we can't all go off to visit ancient temples or build rustic hermitages in the mountains. That is why zen gardens developed—to give us the feeling and presence of nature in a relatively small outdoor space.

This close-up of the raked gravel gives a feeling of the space of the Zen garden.

Zen Grows in Medieval Japan

The dhyan meditation school of North India spread to China, and got called chan, and then to Vietnam, where it was called tien, and Korea, where it was called was soen. When dhyana reached Japan, the pronunciation shifted again, and so it was called Zen. Because the Western world learned of the tradition from Japan, we call it Zen. But Zen, concentrated mind, the mind of Awakening, is the same everywhere.

In medieval Japan, the Samurai warrior class took up the practice of Zen. And for about 300 years, from the 1300s until 1630, there was civil war. The Samurai had to be ready to defend his life with a sword, any moment, day or night. And so Zen mind was combined with sword fighting and self-defense.

In 1630, peace was imposed for 230 years by the Tokugawa. But assassination was still frequent, and the Samurai still had to live in constant danger. And so they had to develop ways of keeping Zen mind without always using their swords. Thus the Zen arts were born. Zen flower arranging, or ikebana; paper-folding, or origami; archery; and the tea ceremony are the most well known. There were many others.

For a man who must always be on guard, even when sitting in a meditation hall, it must be very relaxing to sit in a garden with a wide clear view, feel the breeze, and look at nothing except the patterns of sunlight on mossy stone. Thus the Zen garden was born.

This early waterless, or dry Japanese garden already has the patterned, raked stones of the Zen garden. But the ornament is carved stone, not natural rock, and there is still a tree in the garden.

Sid Kemp

Elements of the Zen Garden

Before the Zen garden existed in its mature form, the Japanese dry garden, with stones, ornaments, and objects that were reminiscent of distant landscapes and towers, already existed. This combined with the Zen veneration of nature to create the mature form of the Zen garden, a quiet field of medium-sized gravel, raked into a fresh pattern each day, with large stones reminiscent of mountain landscapes.

This haiku reflects my experience sitting in Zen gardens:

Silent stones
on a cloudy afternoon.
I feel my breathing.

Seeing the Flow of Nature

How the pine needles play with the clouds!

Zen Garden, Zen Mind

After time in the Zen garden, I am very aware of natural flow and harmony. As my heart opens to the flow of nature, I become a more sensitive artist, poet, and photographer.

Can you see the rhythms of nature in these photos?

isaac on September 22, 2019:

thanks

Sid Kemp (author) from Boca Raton, Florida (near Miami and Palm Beach) on July 05, 2012:

Actually, Zen gardens are dry, with just gravel and rocks. There are many types of Japanese gardens, including ones with lakes and waterfalls. I'll need to write more about the many types of Japanese gardens. Many thanks for your thoughts & feelings.

Kristi Sharp from Born in Missouri. Raised in Minnesota. on July 04, 2012:

Sid, this is very informative and as always, well written. The Zen garden sounds tranquil and wondrous especially with the waterfall and the lake. Water has always had a calming effect on me. I'm excited to read more from you about Zen gardens. -K

Sid Kemp (author) from Boca Raton, Florida (near Miami and Palm Beach) on June 29, 2012:

Simone! No Ugh! More is on the way!!!

Simone Haruko Smith from San Francisco on June 28, 2012:

I have been to many Zen gardens- both in Japan and the states- but had not known much about the philosophy or history behind them. This is great!! I'm fascinated by the manner in which the practice of Zen evolved from simple sitting and walking forms to advanced arts like ikebana.

Ugh- now I really want to learn more! Thanks for the fantastic introduction, SidKemp.

Sid Kemp (author) from Boca Raton, Florida (near Miami and Palm Beach) on June 28, 2012:

To step in . . . for a moment . . . or for a lifetime.

Thanks, Nancy

Nancy Feth on June 28, 2012:

Interesting article...an invitation to step into a Zen way of life.

Sid Kemp (author) from Boca Raton, Florida (near Miami and Palm Beach) on June 27, 2012:

Thanks, brsmom!

I'll be writing more about Zen gardens - next month, I think. I'm growing towards making one myself.

Diane Ziomek from Alberta, Canada on June 26, 2012:

I have never been in an actual Zen garden, but it is a feature i would like to add to my own garden one day. Voted up and interesting!

Sid Kemp (author) from Boca Raton, Florida (near Miami and Palm Beach) on June 25, 2012:

Thanks, Kris! It's hard to describe how the mind is changed by meditating in the gardens. But I know that the photos I take after spending time there are much deeper and richer than my other pictures.

KrisL from S. Florida on June 25, 2012:

I love the combination of text and photographs . . . they work together to help the reader understand the meditative mood that zen gardens foster in us.

Sid Kemp (author) from Boca Raton, Florida (near Miami and Palm Beach) on June 25, 2012:

Thanks Natasha! Maybe we can meet there for walking meditation? In any case, keep an eye out for more hubs on Zen gardens.

Natasha from Hawaii on June 25, 2012:

I LOVE The Morikami. It is literally one of my favorite places in the world.

Thanks for this hub, the pictures, and the explanations. Voted up, interesting, and beautiful.