Zen Garden Photos

[Guest guest]

<Thank you, Mary, I'm always glad to hear that someone has been touched

in some way by the garden. l try to learn about Japanese gardens around the

country, but l don't know about the lsamu Nuguchi Garden. Could you tell me

exactly where it is?

love,

jerry>

 

 

Hi Jerry,

Noguchi is one of my favorite artist/sculptor/architect.

His museum is in Long Island City, right outside of Manhattan.

Here's a web site:

 

http://www.noguchi.org/

 

Love, Mary

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/10/01 2:56:18 AM Pacific Standard Time,

mumblecat writes:

 

<<

I'm sure the bamboo thing has a Japanese term... I mean the water

container with a bamboo rod set into it, leading water into the

container. (Does it tip over when filled with water too ?) The

characteristic sound the bamboo rod makes as it hits the edge of the

water container is wonderful, embodies zen to me. I can understand

why one of the grand old men of zen, was it Sessho? is said to have

realized satori on hearing the clack of a stone hitting a wood

object.

 

 

Hi Amanda:

Funny! lt didn't hit me at first that you were referring to the

tsukubai (yeah, that's what the Japanese gardeners call them) which has water

coming out of a bamboo spout. Actually, what l did was take a large granite

rock and have an area burrowed out of the top for the water to collect in;

then underneath the rock there's a large concrete receptacle to collect water

as it spills out from the top of the granite rock (the receptacle is hidden

by the smaller rocks on top of it). Then there's a small pump in the

receptacle that recirculates the water back up thru the bamboo spout. The

mechanism you refer to that makes the noise is a deer scare -- l don't have a

deer scare on mine, so no such noise, only the sound of water ....

 

A good image editor allows you to select out parts of images that

need to be brightened or darkened by drawing around the parts that

need to be improved with a pen tool embedded in the program. The rest

of the image will be left as it is or can be changed separately.

There is a number of free image editors on the net, but right now I

can't remember the name of any of them and don't know how they

work...

 

It's easier to check and redo a photo on a digital camera of course

(and it's cheaper too?), but with a decent scanner and image editor,

paper copy photos are no less well suited for the web, just have to

mind the resolution and file size.

>>

 

Good to get your comments on digital vs regular cameras. Maybe a digital

camera wouldn't necessarily improve the images after all. l still think my

guy might have used a photo image editor -- l wasn't there when he tried to

lighten some of the photos so l'm not sure. l'll ask him when he's back in

town. l know l'll be trying to improve the images in the future. Thanx for

your comments.

love,

jerry

[Guest guest]

, GCWein1111@a... wrote:

> Glad you liked it, Amanda. The large sand pool you refer to is

usually

> called a raked sand garden, although a form of very fine gravel is

used

> rather than actual sand.

 

Thanks for telling me. I was just about to ask whether you use sand

or fine gravel for the garden. Now I know who to ask if I ever

start building a sand garden and need tip from an expert.

 

I watched a program some time ago from a zen monastery in Japan and

one of the duties of the novice monks was to rake out the sand/gravel

in the sand garden and draw the grooves in it afterwards. That looked

like a lot of work because there was a lot of material to be

distributed, comparable to mowing a large lawn with a mechanical

mower, but the finished result looked amazing. Sand gardens are

wonderful pieces of art.

 

Your reference to a bamboo water sculpture puzzles

> me -- didn't know l had such an animal (you've discovered a new

feature )

 

A new animal in the garden ! How nice ! Heh heh.

 

I'm sure the bamboo thing has a Japanese term... I mean the water

container with a bamboo rod set into it, leading water into the

container. (Does it tip over when filled with water too ?) The

characteristic sound the bamboo rod makes as it hits the edge of the

water container is wonderful, embodies zen to me. I can understand

why one of the grand old men of zen, was it Sessho? is said to have

realized satori on hearing the clack of a stone hitting a wood

object.

> l don't have a photo image editor --

l think

> that the guy who helped me with the website used one to try to

lighten up

> portions of some of the photos, but the problem was if he lightened

up one

> portion it would make other areas too light also. The area where

darkness was

> a problem was the last group of photos l took of the raked sand

garden where

> the background is a dark fence, so l assume those are the photos

you mean.

 

A good image editor allows you to select out parts of images that

need to be brightened or darkened by drawing around the parts that

need to be improved with a pen tool embedded in the program. The rest

of the image will be left as it is or can be changed separately.

There is a number of free image editors on the net, but right now I

can't remember the name of any of them and don't know how they

work...

 

It's easier to check and redo a photo on a digital camera of course

(and it's cheaper too?), but with a decent scanner and image editor,

paper copy photos are no less well suited for the web, just have to

mind the resolution and file size.

 

Anyway, thanks for responding.

 

 

Love,

 

A.

[Guest guest]

> Here, many houses are equipped with a flat roof so there would

> always be room for a Zen garden. My garden is one of total neglect,

> yet most beautiful flowers spontaneously appear and they attract

> colorful butterflies. Tomato plants also appear and when watered,

> the harvest is very tasty (small tomatoes, abt 1").

> But in an orderly organized Zen-garden, it would look much better

 

Both the ordered and the unordered version of your garden sounds

beautiful Jan. It must be wonderful to have your own meadow right

outside the window under that bright light in the Canaries. I can

taste the taste of your tomatoes all the way here.

 

I hear some of the idea behind a Japanese garden is to make the

cultivated and midnfully cut and pruned look uncultivated and natural

and that this is an art in itself. The serene beauty of Japanese

gardens is comparable to that of untouched nature, so I wouldn't

contend that idea at all. Here is winter darkness and fog, but under

the fascinating orange glow from the sodium street lights, which

looks cheap and ordinary, but fabulous still, that is a zen garden

too. Whenever I get a site up, I'll show some pictures of the

light garden.

 

 

Love,

 

Amanda.

[Guest guest]

On 12/10/01 at 11:08 AM mumblecat2000 wrote:

 

º> Here, many houses are equipped with a flat roof so there would

º> always be room for a Zen garden. My garden is one of total neglect,

º> yet most beautiful flowers spontaneously appear and they attract

º> colorful butterflies. Tomato plants also appear and when watered,

º> the harvest is very tasty (small tomatoes, abt 1").

º> But in an orderly organized Zen-garden, it would look much better

º

ºBoth the ordered and the unordered version of your garden sounds

ºbeautiful Jan. It must be wonderful to have your own meadow right

ºoutside the window under that bright light in the Canaries. I can

ºtaste the taste of your tomatoes all the way here.

 

Meadows with grass are rare - the weeds, finding the rare opportunity

to germinate, grow and flower after the rain (no more than a week/year)

burst out in a frenzy of "now or never!" and don't show regard for their

neighbors The tomatoes do taste great though and who can pick them

in December?

º

ºI hear some of the idea behind a Japanese garden is to make the

ºcultivated and midnfully cut and pruned look uncultivated and natural

ºand that this is an art in itself. The serene beauty of Japanese

ºgardens is comparable to that of untouched nature, so I wouldn't

ºcontend that idea at all. Here is winter darkness and fog, but under

ºthe fascinating orange glow from the sodium street lights, which

ºlooks cheap and ordinary, but fabulous still, that is a zen garden

ºtoo. Whenever I get a site up, I'll show some pictures of the

ºlight garden.

º

º

ºLove,

º

ºAmanda.

 

Once in Holland i saw some examples of "wild" gardens - not 1 cultivated

species was growing there, all natural and it looked beautiful. The only

work, keep the balance as plants do have the equivalent of "ego": they

like the game of "territorial conquering" too.

I have to admit, Na lamps can look great - at the physics lab, that source

was used to demonstrate the Zeeman effect. But there is nothing like intense

natural light - having been living in the Canaries for almost 9 years, i don't

need any further proof of the profound influence - it shows very much in

the change in mood, outlook on life - even for animals like dogs.

 

Love,

Jan

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/13/01 7:45:38 AM Pacific Standard Time,

mumblecat writes:

 

<<

Good luck in developing the garden and updating the pages. I'll

definitely check back later to see what you've added. If you're going

to the canaries, I guess that means you'll be selling the garden, but

I guess that's the fate of a traveling gardener/tulku, always ready

to move on to the next challenge.

>>

 

Thank you for the discussion about digital and analog cameras, Amanda.

l'll be looking into this and getting more input as to whether using a

digital camera could improve the images at the website. Future changes at the

site will probably come after it gets warm again, and l'm able to make more

changes and possibly shoot new photos. l never know from one year to the next

what changes will be made -- it's often totally unexpected. l just wish l had

more space.

l'd love to go to the Canaries -- and

lots of other places. l truly believe, though, that if l ever feel up to

taking a real trip again, it will be to Kyoto. lt had such a powerful impact

on me 9 yrs ago, and now that l've learned so much and have gotten so

involved myself during this time, l can only imagine how much it would mean

to me now. lt may never happen, but that would be my dream.

 

But regardless, the garden can never be sold. lt must remain after l'm

gone -- to be maintained as a shrine for all who wish to come to pay homage

to the legacy of jerrysan rinpoche. The position of Administrator of this

sacred site has yet to be chosen from a long list of applicants. Hopefully l

will be granted additional time for completion of *the work* here, as my

ministrations are many.

 

love,

jerrysan rinpoche

[Guest guest]

Hi Jerry !

 

 

Thanks for explaining about the tsukubai and how the water circulates

in the granite stone. It seems like a very sound solution to prevent

the area around the granite to be drenched in excess water from the

spout and wasting water. I hope you'll be adding explanations of how

some elements were made to the zen garden pages later on as well.

 

It's hard to say what's better, digital or analog cameras, these

days, since you can get digital cameras that give pics of a very high

quality, even compared with analog mirror reflex cameras, for a not

too high price. So the choice comes more down to whether you want to

spend money buying batteries and extra memory for a digital camera,

or whether you prefer an analog camera and want to buy a scanner and

have for other jobs etc; practical and financial considerations and

what you want the pics to look like too. A friend of mine has an old

and bad digital camera which fills the pics with electronic graining

and visual noise due to less than perfect hardware, but some of the

pics she shot with it look fabulous because of the added grain and

noise.

 

Good luck in developing the garden and updating the pages. I'll

definitely check back later to see what you've added. If you're going

to the canaries, I guess that means you'll be selling the garden, but

I guess that's the fate of a traveling gardener/tulku, always ready

to move on to the next challenge.

 

 

Love,

 

Amanda.

[Guest guest]

> I have to admit, Na lamps can look great - at the physics lab, that

source

> was used to demonstrate the Zeeman effect. But there is nothing

like intense

> natural light - having been living in the Canaries for almost 9

years, i don't

> need any further proof of the profound influence - it shows very

much in

> the change in mood, outlook on life - even for animals like dogs.

 

Do you meant the light itself has a beneficial effect through

radiation or is it the lack of dark winters (ie stable light

conditions) that causes the influence ?

 

The now or never attitude of the wild flowers sounds like your 8

months with Kundalini reaching for the sahasrara, a nice blooming

indeed, with or without tomatoes as a result.

 

 

Love,

 

Amanda.

[Guest guest]

On 12/13/01 at 3:59 PM mumblecat2000 wrote:

 

º> I have to admit, Na lamps can look great - at the physics lab, that

ºsource

º> was used to demonstrate the Zeeman effect. But there is nothing

ºlike intense

º> natural light - having been living in the Canaries for almost 9

ºyears, i don't

º> need any further proof of the profound influence - it shows very

ºmuch in

º> the change in mood, outlook on life - even for animals like dogs.

º

ºDo you meant the light itself has a beneficial effect through

ºradiation or is it the lack of dark winters (ie stable light

ºconditions) that causes the influence ?

 

The radiation is from the natural radio activity, present everywhere but

stronger here. To give an indication of the light conditions, in November

the intensity is some 300 times stronger than where i lived in Belgium,

during mid June (!), at about 52 deg latitude. That was verified (of course)

and found to be correct...

º

ºThe now or never attitude of the wild flowers sounds like your 8

ºmonths with Kundalini reaching for the sahasrara, a nice blooming

ºindeed, with or without tomatoes as a result.

 

Yes, they take their chance and a lot of risk - without additional water

the tomatoe plants will perish before they bloom. So they get a little

support, and i eavesdrop on them:

 

little flower asks

who enjoys the beauty now

when all rest in peace

who sees lovers in distress

only little flowers.. yes

 

Love,

Jan

 

º

º

ºLove,

º

ºAmanda.