Example Zen Gardens

Zen Gardens

ZEN Gardens are often called Japanese rock gardens or "dry landscape" gardens. They create a miniature, stylized landscape through careful composition and arrangements of rocks, water, moss, trees and bushes, and gravel or sand (which represent ripples in water). Zen gardens are usually relatively small and meant to be seen while seated from a single viewpoint outside the garden, such as the porch of the hojo , the residence of the chief monk of the temple or monastery.

The gardens of the emperors and nobles were designed for recreation and aesthetic pleasure – while the gardens of Buddhist temples were designed for meditation and contemplation. Classical Zen gardens were created at temples of Zen Buddhism in Kyoto, Japan during the 14 th – 16 th centuries. They were intended to imitate the essence of nature and to serve as an aid to meditation about the true meaning of life – to stimulate soothing ideas by simply being surrounded by the presence and beauty of the garden.