FROM THE GARDEN OF ZEN

June 18, 2024

Yae-zakura flowers: Sanjusangen-do Temple (Kyoto)

Sanjusangen-do Temple (hall) is renowned for the 1001 gilded images of Senju Kannon (thousand-armed bodhisattva of divine mercy) enshrined within it.

Kannon in Mahayana Buddhism is the young saint who remains in the human world as a Nirvana Buddha in order to compassionately save people and all living things from all kinds of suffering in this world.

The thousand-armed bodhisattva has the thousand arms for relieving a thousand kinds of pains and agonies in this world.

This temple is located in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto and is the prestigious Buddhist temple of the Tendai sect.

It was founded in 1164 by shogun Taira-no-Kiyomori for the cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa. It is officially known as Rengeo-in Temple (lotus-king temple) and belongs to the Myoho-in (lotus-sutra temple) complex.

Pond garden: Sanjusangen-do Temple (Kyoto)

Ariake zakura flowers: Sanjusangen-do Temple (Kyoto)

Ariake zakura flowers: Sanzen-in Temple (Kyoto)

Chokusimon-gate: Ninnaji Temple (Kyoto)

I visited Ninna-ji Temple to enjoy the Omuro-zakura cherry blossoms for the first time in a while year.

This abnormally warm winter has significantly accelerated the blooming of the Sakura trees. Although they are ordinarily in full bloom during this period, unfortunately a majority of the pale pink blossoms have fallen and gone just before I arrived.

The Omuro cherry blossoms in their sudden waning stage made me keenly aware of the uncertainty and transience of this floating world.

This elaborate gate is the imperial envoy gate to the south garden of the Shiro-shoin (white reception building) of the Shinden (emperor palace) complex.

This gate indicates the Shikyaku-mon (four-legged gate) style with a gabled gable roof on the side with a cypress bark roof. The walls and doorways are covered with admirable wood carvings of the auspicious designs of water chestnuts, phoenixes, arabesques, and other motifs.

This temple is the prestigious "Monzeki" temple whose head priests were members of the Imperial family through the ages as the head temple of the Omuro school of the Shingon Sect of Buddhism. It was founded by Emperor Uda in the end of 9th century, and was reconstructed in the 17th century.

Chokusimon-gate: Ninnaji Temple (Kyoto)

Fallen petals: Ninnaji Temple (Kyoto)

North garden: Ninnaji Temple (Kyoto)

The Ninna-ji Imperial Palace Garden is the garden originally created in the mid-Edo period and renovated by "Ueji" Ogawa Jihei VII (1860-1933) during the reconstruction of the Shoin and Shinden (the emperor's former residence and the head temple of the Shingon sect of Buddhism).

Ueji (his common name) is the most renowned landscape architect representing the modern era of Japan, who created many notable Japanese gardens during the Meiji and Taisho periods.

The Ninna-ji Palace Garden consists of two gardens, that is " Minami-niwa" (the south garden) and "Kita-niwa" (the north garden). There is also a courtyard with beautiful moss and autumn leaves. The pond has a waterfall stone structure, and water cascades down with calm sound.

The landscape of these gardens is gracefully composed of the large pond with a stone bridge in the center facing the Shinden, the old tea houses on the slope behind it, the area of white sand, the beautiful Chokushi-mon gate, and the five-story pagoda outside the garden.

North garden gate: Ninnaji Temple (Kyoto)

North garden: Ninnaji Temple (Kyoto)

Omuro-zakura flowers: Ninnaji Temple (Kyoto)

Omuro-ariake zakura flowers: Ninnaji Temple (Kyoto)

March 24, 2024

Ume (japanese apricot) flowers: Tokei-ji

The white flowers of Ume, which had bloomed nobly against the remaining severity of late winter, have begun to grow old and lose their brightness and fragrance gradually as spring deepens. Before long they will fade away quietly in capricious mild winds.

Flowers swiftly appear and disappear one after another as the seasons change. I am always amazed at how readily they go away without leaving any trace and attachment.

This gentle decisiveness of flowers repeatedly reminds me about the story of nature in which our birth, death and rebirth keep cycling constantly without end in silence.

Otome-tsubaki (Camellia japonica f. otome) flower: Kaizo-ji

In the peaceful garden in front of the small temple gate, under the hazy sky of mid-spring, I found a multi-petaled flower of Otome-tsubaki (maiden camellia) blooming in a silent manner as if to be hiding shyly in its branches and leaves.

The brightly-colored flower of Tsubaki has been admired by Japanese people since ancient times, because it blooms flamingly while enduring cold temperature and present us a blazing color in a pale winter garden.

It is also highly praised in the tradition of tea ceremony as the queen of winter flowers. It is the precious brilliant flower which is most frequently arranged in a dim tea room during the desolate season of winter.

Kawazu-zakura (Cerasus lannesiana 'Kawazu-zakura') flowers: Kawakita-kinenkan (Kamakura)

The fresh rosy colour of the Kawazu-zakura flower makes me notice that the residue of winter have completely disappeared and that the height of spring is now approaching here moment by moment doubtlessly.

This joyful season of regrowth is clearly advancing towards its climax, and the vital activities of all living things must be fully awakened from their long winter slumber.

Soon cherry blossoms will enter full bloom all at once all around in the blessed sunlight, proclaiming me the grand sight of this lively season.

Ume (japanese apricot) flowers: Tokei-ji

The trees of Ume live very long, usually between 100 and 200 years, with some having a life span of over 300 years. These pale pink flowers are blooming inconspicuously from the slender branch protruding from the mossy, rugged trunk of this age-old tree.

Soon these spring flowers will complete their own pollination job and will promptly decline and be scattered in the sudden wind.

Every flower blooms only for pollination and has a very short life. After its height of flowering period, it loses its freshness and fades away rapidly.

Flowers that are not pollinated will keep blooming longer than those that have performed their mission, but must also begin to age rapidly when the time comes. The cells that make up the petals are genetically pre-programmed for death according to the dharma of this cosmos.