Zen Garden

For centuries, Japanese Zen masters have cultivated gardens of harmoniously arranged rocks and white raked gravel - creating silent havens for peaceful contemplation. By cultivating a miniature Zen garden - reducing for a moment the day s problems to a few waves of sand against the rocks - one may come away feeling as if the rest of life has become simpler.

Japanese miniature rock gardens

Muso Soseki, a Zen priest and poet known as the father of the Zen rock garden, was born on the west coast of Japan in 1275, and died in 1351 in a temple on the outskirts of Kyoto, where he had created one of his last rock gardens. This inner contemplation and calm can lead to a fresh outlook and clear mind. Like a restorative balm, Zen gardening is an antidote to stresses of modern living. A Zen garden can create a feeling of space in your garden, home or office - or impart a sense of order and a spirit of tranquility and calm. The gardens are a means to discover the sources and strengths of our natural humanity which, according to Zen teaching, is poised, calm, sincere and capable of facing all matters in life with calmness and perfect composure.

Zen rock gardens both disarm and empower us.

They are so radically different from all other gardens we know that our usual responses must give way to deeper ones. This little Zen garden encourages you to create or just play. It reflects your inner feelings through the designs and patterns you rake. That is when small things take on a bigger resonance, when we have the chance to glimpse the meaning of the world in a grain of sand, for it has been framed in majestic simplicity. It will bring stillness to your nerves, let your mind float, sweeten your soul, or like a book reach down into some deeper earthiness of your more secret nature. Behind this miniature garden lies centuries of disciplined striving and spiritual development. For the Japanese it is an instrument of meditation and relaxation - in the West it is regarded as a stress reliever.

According to Zen and Feng Shui beliefs, every corner of one s environment is important and deserves respect.
Your Zen garden can be the beginning of a lifelong adventure of seeing things in a new way. This garden may enable you to enter into a tradition that goes as far back as 3000 B.C. and is as near to you in time as your next thought or your next perception. In the inner appreciation of the simplicity of a miniature garden one has the ability to reduce all complexities to a matter of sand and rocks. To appreciate Zen gardens it is important to understand why and how the elements used in them came to be of importance to the Japanese. They believe that not only was it beneficial to live in a harmonious or well balanced environment, it also promotes longevity.

Japanese miniature rock gardens make the stress levels slip away - promoting better health and well-being.

Explore the enchanting world of Japanese gardens... Yoshihiro Kawasaki designs and constructs gardens ranging from small table-top miniature tray gardens to full-size, peaceful havens of tranquility.

Yoshi was part of a team of four that built Zuiko-In Temple Garden in Kyoto

The history of garden-making in Japan goes back to the 6th century, when hill and pond gardens were introduced from China and Korea, where aristocrats gathered to enjoy poetry and games alongside a stream. Japanese monks further developed gardens into a high art over hundreds of years of temple gardening. They emptied their minds of worldly distractions and came to know themselves in their gardens. The world's oldest garden manual, the 'Sakuteiki', was compiled by Tachibanano Toshitsuna in the 11th century. It describes how to dig waterways, choose plants, site pavilions; how to make pond bottoms watertight, and how to keep shoreline rocks from

toppling over. Yoshi considers himself fortunate to hail from Kyoto, Japan, where a variety of classical garden styles developed, shaped over time by the blend of Buddhist, Taoist and Shinto traditions. He arranges rocks, raises hills or plants trees to create an atmosphere of Kyoto gardens in a Western setting. In an ongoing dialogue with the plants and rocks, Yoshi positions them as they would want to be positioned. As a designer, he transforms garden spaces in the West into traditional or contemporary designs that reflect his own personality. Zen Gardens is a Member of the BCLNA and the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association.

The Zen-style Garden

The Rock Garden of Ryoanji This is the ultimate subtlety of art, The marrow in the bones: A rectangle of raked gravel And a few stones.

By the poet Lindley W. Hubbell

The sand and stone zen gardens are meant to be seen and contemplated from a single stationary point - a place to meditate and be meditated upon. These gardens were introduced in Japan by Buddhist monks in the 11th century, using mainly rocks and sand, with vegetation such as slowgrowing evergreen bushes or moss. Without trees or flowers, the beauty of Zen rock gardens is replicated throughout the

western world in private gardens, museum courtyards and offices.

The rocks represent mountain peaks breaking through a sea of clouds, evoking an atmosphere of stability and calm.

Rocks speak a language of eternity in this background. An exbadminton court transformed into a zen garden on the North Shore. The rocks have a combination of flexibility and sturdiness in this composition. This garden is unfinished - to be completed in

2007.

Side pathway links up the front and back garden spaces. Bamboo outdoor "tokonoma" and maple tree alongside.

Clacking bamboo deer chaser "shishiodoshi" placed in front of "mountain" boulder. Surrounding moss and rocks are symbols of eternity

Clacking bamboo deer chaser "shishiodoshi" placed in front of "mountain" boulder. Surrounding moss and rocks are symbols of eternity

Through the giant timber bamboo, the visitor enjoys the entryway garden. The "tsukubai", a modern interpretation of the Japanese ceremonial water basin, is often found in temple gardens

Row of bamboo in planter box creates a screen effect.

THE STROLL GARDEN

Enjoyable all year round, these dynamic compositions fluctuate with the seasons, the growth of foliage, and the passage of years. One of the three major styles of Japanese gardens, they contain all the elements that make up the Japanese garden: streams, ponds and waterfalls; stones and bridges;pathways and a wide variety of plants.

Meditative stroll garden with dry "stream" and Buddha Circle in the distance

Heritage 3 Winner of the District of North Vancouver 2007 Heritage & Landscape Enhancement Award. This award is prestigious as it is only presented every 3 years.

A courtyard garden ("tsuboniwa" in Japanese) is usually enclosed by walls or hedges, and is an extension of your living space. All the natural elements of light, shadow, wind, sound, color and scent are enclosed in this space, creating an oasis of beauty and tranquillity.

Removing the original plantings, this garden was redesigned using sculptural plants, evergreens and shrubs. A new spacious urban courtyard was created by carefully placing the stone lantern, water basin, and "dry stream" with a bridge

Small garden space in Kyoto, Japan overlooked by a tatami room.

"Chaniwa"-style Garden (Kyoto, Japan) viewed from tatamifloored living room

Stylized townhouse patio garden. An oasis from the busy street outside