Enter Through the Form

Explore Japan

Authors Meryl Meisler & Francine LaPorte

Photography & Video Meryl Meisler

Buddhist Temple Architecture and Zen Gardens

Todai-ji Temple, Nara

Zen Temples are constructed in the "Chinese style", which is characterized by a courtyard with main buildings on North/South Axis surrounded by many sub-temples.

Zen Gardens are constructed around abstract themes, i.e. light and dark, masculine and feminine, or symbolic stories, i.e. turtle, crane, ship, island, rocks.

The Zen Gardens are meant for meditation.

Daisen’in Zen Temple and Garden The Rinzai School of Buddhism believes in "sudden enlightenment" via a shout, blow, or noise while engaged in deep meditation that jolts one out of the world of petty concerns into another realm. There are, in addition to the rock gardens, a path through a bamboo forest, which visually and aurally resonates, several stone fountains interspersed throughout, which one chances upon with delight.

Tour o Daisen-in Zen Garden by entering http://academic.bowdoin.edu/zen/intro_template.shtml?daisen

Ryoanji Zen Garden This meditation rock garden consisting of 13 stones, which are never visible all at once from any perspective, reveals the austerity and strength of discipline of the Zen mind through its minimalist beauty (Wabi). It is a restrained aesthetic, which may relate back to the sumptuary laws that forced restrained or even hidden lavishness

Royonaji grounds

Royonaji Zen Temple, Kyoto

Royonaji Meditation Garden

Meditating at the Garden