Japanese Zen garden history and design: Pt3 of Buddhist Gardens Videos

For further information and eBooks on Buddha and garden design see: http://www.gardenvisit.com/history_theory/garden_landscape_design_articles/sacred_gardens/buddhist_gardens_vihara Japan has the best surviving examples of Buddhist gardens, many of which were made for temples and Buddhist aristocrats who were influenced by China and Chinese gardens. The best known Japanese gardens are often classified as Zen Gardens, Pure Land Gardens and Stroll Gardens.
The third Jewel of Buddhism is the teaching of the master: the Dharma. He wrote no books, but in the years after his death, the ideas were kept alive by word of mouth. The books came later – lots of them.
The Buddha didn’t want images of himself to be made, so Buddhism came to be represented by symbols. Early symbols included his footprints, the Darmha Wheel and the ‘treratna’, with crests pointing to the three Jewels of Buddhism. Later symbols included statues, made under Greek influence, and Mandalas. Mandalas are Hindu in origin and took on distinct physical forms as Buddhism grew out of Hinduism — much as Protestantism grew out of Catholicism. A mandala can be:
a verse of a hymn, as in the Rig Veda
a plan for a building, as at Sanchi
a ritual for inaugurating a building, as everywhere in Ancient India
a geometrical pattern or a plan for a garden
Mahayana Buddhism, which flourished in Tibet and East Asia, encouraged the use of images. For garden designers, the most interesting are mandala paintings of the Pure Land. They show Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in nirvana, presiding over ideal landscapes. Nirvana is the state of ‘peace beyond desire’ which can be attained only by leading a good life. A Buddhist then wins release (moksha) from the endless cycle of suffering (samsara) which is life on earth.
The Pure Land is represented in paintings and in gardens. They show Temples and Treasure Ponds in beautiful landscapes. In fact, the eastern equivalents of the English word ‘landscape’ translate as ‘mountains and water’: shan shui in Chinese and sansui in Japanese. Mountains had always been important in Daoism and Shinto. Joined with Buddhism, a common approach to poetry, landscape painting, and garden design became possible.
In East Asia there was no caste system. So princes and kings could become monks or abbots — who then made gardens to represent the Buddha’s Pure Land. In Japan, real power often lay with the army. This let emperors become bored. So they retired young, choosing to spend their lives with beautiful women in luxurious gardens — getting ready for Nirvana.
Byodo-in, near Kyoto, is usually classified as a Pure Land Garden but could just as well be called a ‘Mandala Garden’. It belonged to a monastery and symbolized the paradise of the Amida Buddha. Centuries before it was made, a poet had used words to convey the same image:
In the Golden treasure pond where the lotus flowers bloom,
Established with goodness is a wondrous throne
Where reigns the Lord, like the King of Mount Sumeru.
Thus I prostrate myself before Amida Buddha.
Joruri-ji, outside Nara, is another Pure Land garden. It has mountains, a forest, a lotus pond, a Buddha Hall and a Pagoda. From inside the pagoda, a statue of the Healing Buddha gazes at a representation of his Western Paradise — the garden.
Ryoan-ji, outside Kyoto, is an abstract representation of a landscape. The rocks are mountains. The raked gravel is water. Like a painted mandala, the garden is a visual aid for those who wish to meditate. Gardens of this type were named ‘Zen gardens’ in the 1930s not before but the phrase has become very popular. It is used for ‘dry landscape’ gardens, (kare sansui) with rocks and gravel. The Japanese word ‘Zen’ derives from the Chinese word chan and means ‘meditation’ — it does not mean ‘rocks and gravel’. Not every Buddhist garden is a Zen garden for meditation – and Japanese Zen gardens tend not to have a Buddha statue or Buddhist ornaments. They use Zen abstract design principles: Austerity, koko; Simplicity, kanso; Naturalness, shizen; Subtlety, yugen; Imperfection and asymmetry, wabi-sabi; Tranquillity, seijaku.

Katsura Imperial Villa, also outside Kyoto, was designed for Prince Toshihito. It was both a pleasure garden and a place for meditation. The circuitous path served both purposes — and made it one of the first Stroll Gardens, though also with a Zen aspect.