Saturday: Ryoan-ji, the humble prince of rock gardens

From the Golden Pavilion to the subtle natural hues of Ryoan-ji and its lovely rock garden, probably the most famous one in the world.  This place also had plenty of people - Yuho says unlike his temple (which also has a very famous natural garden), this one is on the half-day bus tour line.  So the buses keep coming, and people churn in and out.  But we came in the late afternoon a little before closing time and it wasn't too bad, only about 20 people sitting and looking at the garden from the wooden platform next to it.  Wes tells me in high season there can be more than a hundred bustling and jostling in and out in front of this contemplative garden.

Ryoan-ji has the largest body of water I've yet seen at a temple - a large lake with a variety of plants and trees growing along the shoreline (cherries for spring, maples for fall) and waterfowl and other creatures, including these turtles sunning themselves.  The effect of all this lightly cultivated natural beauty is calming from the moment you enter.

We pass some squares by the shore that Yuho is pretty sure are for growing lotus's.  They're famous for their flowers here (and maybe their flower arranging too).  

I don't know much about Zen rock gardens, but this one really is lovely.  It's not at all large, and has a simple, humble beauty.  The afternoon light helps with the mood of the place.  People are pretty quiet and pretty still - it's a nice atmosphere.  Yuho says something special about this place is the wall - how theweathering on the stucco or whatever the material is, makes a kind of impressionist painting as a backdrop.  i love the hue of the roof too.  

When we're visiting Akiyoshi Osho he says he's having a really hard time finding the right gravel for the garden.  The gravel sinks down and works it's way into the landscape, so you need to replenish it.  they used to get the gravel from nearby Mt. Heian, but they can't get it there anymore, so they're shipping it in from China, but that gravel too white for Akiyoshi's taste.  It should be speckled like the sand/gravel you see here at Ryoan-ji.  Akiyoshi's working with the problem by planting more moss around the edges of the garden and letting it encroach on the sand - that way he'll need less sand over time.  

Upon leaving the garden we saw this model of the garden - for the blind to feel and understand.  

Yuho tells me this is a famous stone - well known because it's a kind of pun.  The square in the middle is the square in kanji that means "mouth" by itself, but is paired with other characters to make other words.  The four characters around the square here all go with the symbol for mouth, and in the way that they are placed.  That is, the character on the left goes with the square character for mouth to the right of it to form the word for.... well I've forgotten the word.  The character on top, when paired the the square below it makes another word, and so on.  And these for characters combine to make a nice phrase, which of course I forget.  I'll ask Yuho Monday night and then edit this post!

As we're walking around the grounds Yuho points out a temple that he says was Morinaga Roshi's when he knew him.  It was all closed up, but I could just see the kaihan through a crack in the door.  Sweet.  Reminds me that back at Nanzen-ji at 4:30 I heard the kaihan being played.  I stopped in my tracks of course and listened to it all the way through.  I was so happy for that moment.  

We leave Ryoan-ji as the shadows are lengthening.