Chinese Gardens and Fountains Are Clues to the Mind

Chinese Gardens and Fountains Are Clues to the Mind

garden centreountains are more than collections of beautiful plants, trees and water. The principles of classical Chinese gardening can be useful and insightful to garden lovers living anywhere in the world. Chinese design objectives can inspire American home gardeners to try something new such as a garden fountain and encourage the expression of culture and philosophy through gardening.

Suzhou, about 50 miles west of Shanghai, is known as "the city of gardens." For generations, rich officials, merchants, landowners, scholars, garden designers and garden crafters settled in Suzhou to enhance its fame. The principles of classical Chinese gardens were well represented in their gardens. The gardens hold clues to the ancient Chinese mind through the winding paths, the use of symbolism and the selection of plants. In the traditional Chinese view of nature, humans were equals with everything in the natural world. Chinese gardens were originally designed to symbolize a living entity: rocks formed the skeleton, water and fountains functioned as the blood, while plants provided the clothing. To portray the influence of human beings in nature, architectural constructions (bridges, pavilions, halls, courtyards, gateways, windows, doors and pavings) were integrated into a garden's design. The way they were integrated into the garden expressed the relationships they have in nature.

Just as a garden's main elements are symbolic of the parts of a living whole, symbols that make up the culture's beliefs are scattered throughout Chinese gardens and integrated in their design. Dragons, symbols of strength, change and goodness, frequently adorn Chinese fountain walls and roofs of garden structures.

Seasonal changes in weather and plants as well as the physical requirements of the garden site are considered. Taking Advantage - The Chinese garden designer attempts to use the garden's surroundings, whether near or distant, to the best advantage. Many of the private gardens in China were small in size -- no larger than the typical garden sites of single family homes in the United States. It is the challenge, then, of the garden designer to create the illusion of spaciousness by incorporating far-off sights and sounds into the garden's ambiance.

Refinement - To define what is refined in the garden design is a judgment rooted in culture. Changeability - This objective is prominent in traditional Chinese gardens because it expresses the natural law of constant change.
A garden's plants provide a link among all its elements, symbolizing harmony in nature. Plants are the garden's dynamic, living component.

In accordance with the Chinese view of gardens as representations of nature, the trees, shrubs and flowers of a garden are chosen to reflect the unique features of the garden's region. Most traditional Chinese gardeners select native plants, or plants with special meaning in Chinese culture. Bamboo, for example, is common in Chinese gardens because of the many lessons it teaches. The purpose of plants in Chinese gardens is to reflect the inherent order of nature. Today, home gardeners can apply their plant growing talents in the spirit of these old Chinese gardens by expressing their own culture and philosophy toward nature in their garden designs and by applying Ji Cheng's design objectives. The result will be a garden that unites aesthetics, plant cultivation, philosophy and culture.

As it is, we seek outside for this heaven, this Garden of Eden.  We go to the furthest reaches of the world in search for this garden, but we fail over and over again to finding such a paradise called the Garden of Eden.

Why?

A world inside and a world outside.

The world within is a world of creating!

The world without is a world of created!

The world within IS the Garden of Eden!

The world without IS the world of the Fallen!

The world was created perfect, called the garden of Eden.

Then as the outer world was created, the garden of Eden was surrounded by, in the world outside became, hence it was subject to the world outside's influence, the environmental factors like wind, insects, birds, water etc.

The wind blew, the seeds of weeds was blown into the garden of Eden.  Soon the garden no longer looks like the perfection it was, it was hidden in weeds, the garden still exist, only hidden from view!

The journey continues, the weeds were 'pulled' out, soon, the garden because of the rest, begin to grow again, the weeds fill the garden again, the gardener is left un-aware of the weed growing because the gardener has taken holiday, only to find when the gardener returns, the garden of eden was once again gone.

Because the gardener knows where it is now, the gardener sets to work on clearing and revealing the garden once more, pulling out the weeds, this time more effective, shorter time required to clear the weeds to disclose the garden of Eden... The gardener is confused and wonder, wonder the gardener did.  The garden wonders away from the garden of Eden in search of a solution of the growing weed, the gardener wants to remove the weeds once and for all without having to repeat, routinely remove the weeds and allow the garden of Eden to remain the garden of Eden, absence of weeds.

One would soon return to the garden of Eden when the gardener awakes, the weeds were miraculously cleared and gone, it is again at the garden of Eden, again with the passage of time, the weed began to grow away and the situation repeats itself, only that every time the gardener awakes, he also forgets about the past, the tending to the garden was forgotten, the garden of Eden process is repeated over and over again...

The gardener now lives in the garden of Eden, free from the weeds of the external world.  The interesting thing was this, the gardener realizes, when the garden of Eden is maintained, the world outside changes also, it begins to mimic the garden of Eden and soon, the world external, our reality becomes the world within, the garden of Eden.

The gardener realizes that, in order to change the world outside, it must first begin from the world within, from the garden of Eden, by slowly removing all the weeds from the world within, at its cause, then and only then will have the time to appreciate all its work to live in the beautiful garden of Eden from which it began its journey called life!

Maintaining a garden takes time and effort.

It is your garden of Eden, if you treasure your garden, maintain it.

It is your garden, you are the gardener, tend to it, maintain it, slowly but surely, thy work be done, thy garden of Eden be revealed with your insistence of seeing and living in your garden of Eden.  Now you know, begin to tend to your garden of Eden today!

By the way, the Garden of Eden in 'external world' terminology, it is called 'mind'.

Happy clearing the weeds from your Garden of Eden.

Buddhas in Gardens

Statues and images of the Buddha have been placed in the grounds of temples and gardens since ancient times and gardening has strong associations with Buddhism:

The Soil of the garden represents the fertile ground of Buddha's Mind. A Sangha (Pali for Buddhist community) is the same as community of plants in the garden. Dhamma (teachings of the Buddha) is the expression of wisdom that is in the Temple - Garden.

If a garden can be regarded as a mind then:

North is the preferred direction when placing Buddha statues in the garden.

Buddhist gardens

The making of Buddhist gardens in Japan was inspired by Pure Land Buddhism movement which originally came from China. It has as its centre piece the Mandala showing the Buddha with a temple and a garden - it has inspired the making of gardens with equivalent symbolism.

Zen Buddhism believes that by making a fine garden can contribute to enlightenment and contentment. So gardening can be a deemed a religious activity.

Ten of the World's Most Beautiful Buddhist Gardens

1. Totekiko Temple Gardens, Kyoto Japan

Totekiko is one of the five gardens at the Ryogen,Temple Kyoto, Japan. It is a small enclosed garden, composed of attractive simple boulders placed on raked sand. The temple also includes three other gardens, Isshi-dan, Koda-tei, and Ryogin-tei - which is a moss covered garden which is claimed to be the oldest in Daitoku-ji.

2. Imperial War Museum Peace Garden, London UK

The garden aims to encourage world peace and promote non violence. Its Tibetan name translates as "The Garden of Contemplation". The garden's layout is based on the eight spoke Buddhist Wheel representing the Noble Eightfold Path. This garden consciously represents the elements of Earth, Fire, Air and Water and the space is often visited by Tibetan Buddhist teachers when visiting London.

3. The Mahabodhi Temple Gardens, India

Almost all activity at the Temple takes place in the large garden surrounding this huge stone spire. Throughout the Mahabodhi Temple garden you see people worshipping. All around the Mahabodhi Temple you see people practicing Walking Meditation - walking slowly along the paths which lead round the Temple garden always doing so in a clockwise direction.

This garden is filled with the sounds from thousands of brown mynah birds. 4. Ryoan-ji Temple Gardens - The Temple of the Peaceful Dragon, Kyoto Japan

The temple is one of the Historic Monuments of Kyoto and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site featuring a dry landscape rock garden. The dry landscape rock garden was built in the late 13th Century. It was originally the garden of a residential palace later becoming the garden of a Mahayana Buddhist monastery. In 1997 it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Tara Healing Garden preserves and propagates medicinal herbs native to Tibet. The grounds feature a Garden of World Peace, an organic kitchen garden, with greenhouses a vinery, peach-house and a traditional herb garden (TaraHealingGarden) which preserves and propagates medicinal herbs native to Tibet. The garden is surrounded by woodland and arable land grazed by a herd of Yak.

8. Secret Buddha Garden, Ko Samui, Thailand

This has also resulted in another name for the area - "Uncle Nimm's Garden". 9. The Peace Pagoda and Peace Temple Gardens, Milton Keynes, UK

To left of the pagoda is a small Japanese garden of rocks, moss and bushes and a water lily pond full of carp and to the right of the Temple is a little moss garden. Behind the Temple is a typical Zen garden of rocks and gravel. Finally at the rear of the Zen garden is a stupa.

10. Wenshu Monastery Gardens, Chengdu, China

This Buddhist Temple is set within splendid landscaped gardens containing examples of religious Chinese architecture as well as a superb vegetarian restaurant.

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