Zen Gardens (2)

Zen gardens come in all shapes and sizes. Here we have a miniature version which can be kept in the office or in the lounge....

        

 In fact the lady who is the scheme manager of our retirement complex has one in her office. She hails from the Philippines. My 3 year old granddaughter, while in her office saying hello, gave the intricate swirls a helping hand according to her own fancy. Ying and yang became a little confused and so far have not recovered.

I have always had a love of Japanese Woodprints and here two loves are combined - a zen garden woodprint.
 

In the past I have thought that the intricate patterns found in many zen gardens is inconsistent with what is often associated with zen, i.e spontaneity. After the reading of zen master Dogen, no. There is the "right word" for each and every moment - but just for that moment.

 (In terms of Christianity, I would just say that the whole idea of the universal being found in the particular has much to say in terms of the Incarnation, of a Person of one particular time and place "coming for all")

I went to the garden of Love,

And saw what  never had seen;

A Chapel was built in the midst,

Where I used to Play on the green

And the gates of this Chapel were shut

And "Thou shalt not," writ over the door;

So I turned to the Garden of Love

That so many sweet flowers bore.

And I saw it was filled with graves,

And tombstones where flowers should be;

And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,

And binding with briars my joys and desires.

Nice to end with that little poem by William Blake. 

And a final zen garden.........

The path winds forward yet the "journey itself is home". Smell the flowers as you go.

"Love has no why" (Meister Eckhart, the 13th century Christian mystic)