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Ryōan-ji - Garden stones

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Ryōan-ji - Garden stones

  • July 6, 2007
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Idler from Poolesville, Maryland
Ryōan-ji - Garden stones

One of the most celebrated sights in Kyoto is confined to an area of a mere 30 x 78 feet. It consists of 15 rocks, white gravel, and some bits of moss. I am speaking, of course, of the famous 15th century karesansui (dry landscape garden) at Ryōan-ji, the Temple of the Peaceful Dragon.

Harold Stewart, in his book of seasonal poems and essays, By the Walls of Old Kyoto, devotes 32 densely written pages to a discussion of "The Metaphysics of the Stone Garden of Ryōan-ji," expounding at length upon the different interpretations of the famous garden and its spiritual significance. These include (but are not limited to) the stones representing islands and the raked pebbles waves in the sea, a tigress and her five cubs crossing a stream, boats leaving a harbor and sailing eastward in search of treasure, clouds floating across a summer sky, and my personal favorite, a dragon curled asleep with its "craggy spine upheaving from the deep."

But perhaps the most interesting analysis deals not with what the stones represent, but what the spaces between the stones represent. There is an underlying tension in the design that fascinates, particularly since there are 15 stones, but they are arranged in such a manner that only fourteen can be viewed at once. One stone is always hidden behind the others, regardless of where the viewer sits. It’s said the fifteenth stone will reveal itself only after long contemplation and (ultimately) spiritual enlightenment. In fact, one school of thought maintains that the original designer(s) of the garden constructed it as a kōan, a paradoxical problem given by a Zen master to his disciples.

As for me, I see no reason why the stones cannot represent a dragon (or anything else one might fancy) at the same time that they represent some deeper metaphysical ideal, while at the same time, stones are stones and gravel is gravel.

However, this being a haiku-inspired journal, I will let a poet have the final word:



Garden stones
all day long,
forever.

Takahama Kyoshi (1874-1959)



Now, as to the practicalities of visiting Ryōan-ji, let me caution that this garden receives more than its share of visitors, so if you’re seeking some solitude with the stones, it’s best to arrive before the main wave of tourists or perhaps come after the wave, but at all costs avoid the wave itself.

If the worst happens and you find yourself wedged between the megaphones of competing tour groups, do remember that there is much more to Ryōan-ji than this single (if sublime) garden. The temple grounds are extensive and include several subtemples, a large pond garden, a lovely moss garden adjacent to the rock garden, and an excellent yudofu restaurant at Seiginin (see separate review).

And, should a trip to Japan not be on your immediate horizon, Bowdoin College has developed quite a nice site with virtual tours of Kyoto’s most famous gardens, including this one.

From journal Kyoto in Seventeen Syllables

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