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In The Garden
Friday, January 14, 2000
Graham Parkes photo
The Daisen-in rock garden in Kyoto.
THE garden at Ryoanji, a Buddhist temple in Kyoto, eludes conventional notions of what a garden should be. There are no flowers, trees, meandering paths, water features or even a single blade of grass. Yet it is one of the most photographed and most revered gardens in Japan. Lessons for life set in stone
"What it has are rocks, pretty much just rocks, with whitish gravel and a bit of moss," says Graham Parkes, professor of philosophy at the University of Hawaii and rock garden aficionado who has visited the garden more than 20 times.
Parkes, who recently returned from a trip to Asia to study rock gardens, will give a free public lecture on famous rock gardens of China and Japan. The lecture will begin at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Honolulu Academy of Arts.
Don't come expecting a how-to garden lecture. Parkes will discuss the history and the philosophy of rock gardens, but he won't be giving step-by-step instructions on how to build one. Instead, he will treat the audience to an unusual slide show. With chant-like music written by Japanese composer Somei Satoh to set the mood for the presentation, images of one garden will fade into another with no abrupt changes.
'THE ELOQUENT STILLNESS OF STONE'
What: Lecture by Graham Parkes
"I want the audience to really get a feel for what these rock gardens are like to help them get the essence. The first part will be a lecture, like an art history lecture. The last 20 minutes, there will be no talking at all. Sometimes, talking can only get you so far. I think music and images can drive home the idea and the beauty of rock gardens better."
Parkes understood the beauty of rocks from a young age. While growing up in Glasgow, Scotland, he became fascinated by the rocks that are abundant in the countryside. But he knew nothing of Asian rock gardens. After graduating from Oxford University in England with a degree in philosophy, he pursued graduate studies at Berkeley, Calif., where he saw Asian gardens that included rocks as part of the design. However, these gardens did not impress him as much as the unusual rocks he found along the coasts of California.
"I really love rocks, and there was this coastline full of wonderful rocks. I became totally obsessed with taking pictures of these rocks left by nature," said Parkes, who is also a photography enthusiast.
FINALLY, in 1983, he went to Japan and saw for the first time the Zen-style rock garden at Ryoanji, a true garden of rocks arranged by human hands and not left to nature's whims. "I was bowled over. It was so beautiful. I couldn't believe how beautiful just a bunch of rocks can be."
Of course, the Japanese rock garden isn't only a bunch of rocks. Its simplicity can be deceiving. The practice involves an eye toward minimalist aesthetics and a mind centered on the Buddhist view of the world.
"Japanese rock garden is really a unique product. In Chinese rock gardens, there are often plants, too. But the Japanese have the karesansui, meaning dry landscape, that has basically only rocks. It is very sparse. It seems severe, but it says so much with so little," Parkes said.
While the Ryoanji, literally translated as dragon peace temple, has many other types of gardens, the Zen garden is a premier example of karesansui and the most popular, Parkes said. It is about the size of a tennis court with a cover of gravel that is raked in subtle patterns to suggest the ocean or clouds. The garden has 15 rocks, arranged in five groupings to depict land mass and mountains. A discreet island of green moss surrounds each grouping of rocks.
"I think the whole arrangement wouldn't work without the moss, which changes color with the seasons. It would be too harsh without the moss. It really needs that touch of life, that bit of green, to give it power."
Rock gardens possess a mysterious power, Parkes said, and they are a reflection of the Buddhist belief in the impermanence of worldly existence.
"For almost 18 years I've been visiting the Ryoanji garden. I know I am different every time I go there because, for one thing, I am growing older. But the garden is the same, as if it's frozen in time. It fools you into thinking this is something that is permanent, but it's not. It's teaching you about impermanence by suggesting the opposite."
Gardening Calendar in Do It Electric!
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