Zen rock gardens: simple, yet neat looking

[Somebody'sPet]

Guys, I honestly cannot understand why I'm so fascinated with these abstract, odd, and simplistic looking gardens. I've had a fascination with them for two years now. Most people when I first show them pictures of these gardens are thinking, "Whats so special about a garden being made out of nothing more than rocks and sand?". I then go on to tell them it has to do with the placement of the rocks and the way the sand is raked. The famous Ryoan-ji(The Temple of the Peaceful Dragon) is a prime example of a Zen rock garden. Zen gardens also focus more on minialistic and simplistic design over everything else.

http://www.ryoanji.jp/ official site of the temple's garden
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryoan-ji small wikipedia article
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/ealac/V3613/ryoanji/analysis.htm Analysis of the garden

http://www.zengarden.co.za/ miniature zen rock gardens

Ryoan-ji is a famous rock garden, but there are also two other ones, Nanzen-ji and Ryogen-in. I was thinking about ordering a miniature, since I don't have enough room in my backyard to actually make a full scale one.

[Esoteric]

Yeah, some of them are pretty cool. I'm amazed at the perfection they can achieve with the rake patterns. Must take hours....

[Somebody'sPet]

Yeah, some of them are pretty cool. I'm amazed at the perfection they can achieve with the rake patterns. Must take hours....

I read a book once about zen gardens, and in one of the chapters it said that it took roughly five to ten hours to get those perfect little rakes, depending purely on the size of the garden.

Its rumor that if you look at the Ryoan-ji garden at the right angle, you can see 15th rock among the 14 other ones. The 15th one is suppose to be a combination of all the other 14. This is suppose to be done via "spiritual enlightenment"

I also found out that scientists have found a secret image in the garden. It has alot to do with the way the stones are aligned.

Check it out:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/09/26/wzen26.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/09/26/ixworld.html

[mitsuki lover]

From what I understand it is a form of Zen meditation.

[FaerieChica]

I think rock gardens are cute. I like how simple and understated they are. I don't think I'd have the patience to make those rake patterns though. Bonzai trees are so much more awesome than rock gardens though XD

[mitsuki lover]

It takes serious discipline to do either.Consider for example how much hard work
Jet puts into his Bonsai garden on Cowboy Bebop.I think it's the only thing that keeps him from strangling everyone else.

[Puguni]

I suppose it also takes serious discipline to keep in your temper when someone wanders into your garden and leaves nice footprints. XD

Can you imagine the commotion if someone unwittingly walked into those huge zen gardens?

[Somebody'sPet]

I suppose it also takes serious discipline to keep in your temper when someone wanders into your garden and leaves nice footprints. XD

Can you imagine the commotion if someone unwittingly walked into those huge zen gardens?

Oh yeah, I can definitely picture the situation. A guy would wander into a zen garden, not realizing that the rocks and gravel/sand are the garden. A zen Monk looks up a realizes whats going on and yells, "STOP WALKING AROUND THERE NOW!!!!".

[mitsuki lover]

No the Zen Buddhist monk would give the intruder one of those mystical koans to ponder.You know something on the lines of "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"or "If a tree falls in a forest when nobody is there does it still make a sound?"