Make a Zen Garden/Rake a Garden

Make a Zen Garden/Rake a Garden

Karesansui, or the “dry-landscape” style Japanese gardens have been in existence for centuries, but it wasn’t until the late sixth century with the advent of Zen Buddhism did “dry style” gardens began to evolve. The earlier gardens were created where one could enter and walk around and much larger in scale. Around the eleventh century, Zen priests adopted the “dry landscape” style and began building gardens to serve a different purpose. They were to be used as an aid to create a deeper understanding of the Zen concepts. Not only was the viewing intended to aid in meditation but the entire creation of the garden was also intended to trigger contemplation. By the late 1200’s, the basic principles had been established and up to the present day, they have been refined and extended. The garden created by the Zen priest are called “kansho-niwa” or contemplation garden and termed by many today as “ Zen gardens “. From http://www.newsfinder.org/site/more/zen_gardens/

The Photo Gallery of Japanese Zen gardens, Kyoto shows various types of rock gardens as well as flowers and other features.

You can create a small desktop Zen garden, which not makes a wonderful gift, but it can have a very calming effect.

 

Find a shallow container, such as a bowl or tray. You can use a picture frame, first removing the glass and then gluing the back to the frame.  Fill it with fine sand- playground sand or the sand used for filling bottles. Craft stores will carry the latter, while your local hardware store can provide playground sand.

Select an odd number of small polished stones for the garden. A tiny rake can be found at hobby and craft shops, should be placed by the side of the garden so you can rake different patterns. You can also make your own rake with dowels. In a pinch, use a small fork.

Relax by raking a virtual Zen garden or watch one being maintained.