The Profundity of a Rock Garden

Mark, Skylar, and I paid tribute to Ryoanji Temple to see the beautiful zen rock garden once again. (The last time we saw it was seven years ago. Mark remembered that Skylar sat quietly as a three year old gazing at the scene). The Ryoanji rock garden was created over five hundred years ago after the violent Onin wars which leveled this city with fire and destruction. Whoever created the rock garden remains a mystery--as does the ultimate "meaning" of the 15 rocks that are arranged in groups of five, twos, and threes across a sea of white pebbles. If you were to take away even one of the rocks, the entire composition would fall apart.

When you first confront the rock garden, it appears so much smaller than you think it will be given the gargantuan nature of its reputation. It is considered one of the great masterpieces of Japanese culture--a kind of rock garden cultural equivalent of Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel. There are 15 rocks in all--but from any place you sit and look, only 14 rocks are visible at any one time. How the designer accomplished this will leave you mentally spinning. They say that when you reach true enlightenment, the 15th hidden rock will reveal itself to you.

When we arrived, there were relatively few people at the temple (very odd for a late summer morning). So we three sat, gazed, and contemplated the meaning of the rocks and the meaning of life. They say that every individual has his or her own interpretation and experience of the garden.

Afterwards, while sharing my experience of the rocks, I told Skylar that I had a distinct impression of rocks floating on the sea. He responded, "that's so predictable." In fact, he added, "that's what all the brochures say" and defied me to come up with something more original about the 15 rocks he claimed he could see--with perfect vision.