Zen Gardens

This is just a short note about "Zen" gardens or Japanese "Rock" gardens. I know only a little, so I may have a few things wrong.
When I heard of "Zen" gardens I had this vision of gravel carefully raked in a pattern for no particular reason. I understood that the raking was meditative, that the process was more important than the result. It sounded boring to me, but then I learned just enough to make them interesting. The most important point is that the gravel is a representation of water.

The rock gardens in Kyoto are best compared to landscape gardens. Someone gets a idea and sculpts the land itself to achieve a vision. Rocks and gravel and plants are positioned very carefully with a purpose in mind. I don't always understand the purpose, but I acknowledge the skill in the design.

Ginkaku-ji Temple, Kyoto

In the garden shown above, a single large stone slab slopes down to the gravel in the foreground. The stone represents a waterfall, the gravel the relatively-still water of a pond. When the flowing water encounters the rock on the left, ripples form on the pond.

Ginkaku-ji Temple, Kyoto

The photo above represents waves on the ocean as they approach the volcanic cone of Mt. Fuji.

This garden was designed in the 18th century (though its roots go back to the 15th century.) It has undergone restoration at times, but it is still the same design. In other words, the people who maintain it don't change anything. I don't have the faintest idea of how one goes about maintaining something like this, but I'm pretty sure that it's not just a bunch of loose gravel but closer in consistency to concrete. How else can they maintain the steep edges?

Kogetsudai (Mt. Fuji)

An island in the ocean waves

But sometimes, a rock garden can be designed for abstract reasons, as in this one showing a phoenix and...I don't know what!

Honen-in Temple, Kyoto

While the raised "bed" of stone is permanent, the pattern on the top is changed every few days.

More pictures of gardens (rock, water and moss) and trees with fall foliage can be found here: Gardens and Foliage.