Zen Principles and The Relationship with The Zen Garden

The style of zen garden was developed 14 -16th century. Though it was created by zen monks in the zen temples, its style was influenced by the political situation and also by the other religions. The original form of zen garden can go back to the ancient time (before 5th century), when people worshipped the gigantic rocks on the mountain as the symbol of divine power or the place where the god decend. This worship of rocks determined the use of rock in the garden. The worship of the rocks in ancient time was closely related to Shintoism, a religion which originates in the origin of the empror family (www.dxnet.net).

In 6th century, the original form of the garden appeared in front of the house of the emperor. At that time, it was just a pond, which had a symbolic meaning (mirror) and also used for the rituals by the emperor. The rituals were basically the mix of Shintoism and Bu

The Zen Garden in Relation to Zen (the practice)

In zen practice, one searches for the vision of their true being. Understanding the being, the true nature of the world is the enlightenment. It is also understanding one's "self", one's own "being." To be able to see the true nature, one has to detach from oneself to see his/her own being. Kare-san-sui style (dry landscape garden) representation of nature was similar to the practice of searching for the true nature, true being of the world. Also, "see what's not there," Dry landscape garden's concept: envisioning the water which doesn't actually exist, was the close reference for the practice.

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Approximate Word count = 1417
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)