RR8: Where the Zen Masters of the World Reside

Ryoanji
"The Temple of the Peaceful Dragon"

• This temple is located in Japan, and one can find the most famous dry gardens here
• It was created in 1480 in the foothills of Kyoto
• The temple's gardens have many intrepretations but this place was made for mediation not a meaning.

Dry?
Zen monks invented the concept of  a dry meditation garden, because they thought it to be pratically necessary.  but the concept of the mediation graden having no foligae, waterfalls, or mountains surronding the landscape for mind escape was only created in Japan during the 15th century.

 

• The shoguns began to reduce plot size and the natural scenery of the mediation garden
• So the shoguns would incorporat these aspects of natural beauty in an abstract way which was, detailing the plain garden.

• The detailing of these dry gardens were found in the color of the pebbles or the moss placed in areas to basically represent the natural aspect of water. 

Absolute delight can be experienced here for the users of this peaceful haven. Because this place is unlike any other mediation temple. And without a doubt creates interest to the simple eye. The beauty found at this whole is one that can only be found in the tiny details that encompass the entire achitectural whole.

“The garden is a world within a world.  The Japanese who so skillfully strip the veneer of beauty to find the pure element or the essence of form, delight in the image that is multi-layered.”
– Mark Holborn, The Ocean in the Sand – Japan: From Landscape to Garden.

Erin Matthews
Non-Major