Guest guest Posted June 10, 2000 Report Share Posted June 10, 2000 In a message dated 6/9/00 7:32:06 AM Pacific Daylight Time, hluthar writes: << Hello everyone. Hope you are all well. Jerry, your Zen garden must be looking quite beautiful now. Post some pictures of it, if possible. >> Thank you for the interest, Harsha. The last couple months have been a busy time for me. A close friend is involved with a group of Tibetan monks in Bloomington, lndiana. The Dalai Lama's brother is there along with a sizable contingent of Tibetans. Since Cincinnati isn't far away they've decided to come here and locate a center and a Tibetan restaurant in my neighborhood which is near the university and is a cultural center of sorts. When she brought them over to my house they took one look at the garden and the spacious 2nd and 3rd floors (l live on the 1st floor and rent out the upstairs) and decided they wanted to move up above me and put their center here! l felt this combination of excitement and terror over having my privacy compromised, ha ha. l told them l'd give it serious consideration but was making no promises. ln the meantime, since l was once in the restaurant business, l've also been helping them with that, and all this has weighed heavily on my mind for weeks now. Last week l finally decided l did not want a Tibetan center in my home. The privacy thing just wouldn't go away for me (even tho their unit would be seperate), in addition to other considerations and hassels l'm sure would've plagued me. lt was tempting, because l've been looking to be part of something like this to focus and energize me, give me more of a sense of purpose..... but l had to admit to myself that this probably isn't it. l've long been interested in Tibetan Buddhism, but because of k problems l've never been able to make it my path, which was a decisive factor. And there was something disconcerting about a Tibetan center in the middle of a zen garden! l have to believe it secretly bothered them too, at least a little bit .......... So l've been working away at my garden with a renewed enthusiasm since l made my decision. And as so often happens, a problem has presented an opportunity. One portion of the garden is shielded by a huge hedge -- 40 ft long, 7 ft hi, 6 ft wide. lt's the only original plant left on my property that predated my garden and it's a great screen, but what a bitch to trim. This year l've had to trim it every day -- it's beautiful but it's wearing me out. Between trimming it and my bamboo grove and pruning all my trees, my hands are killing me -- l think it must be k also. Anyway, l've decided the hedge has to go. l hate to do it, but it frees up more room and forces me to redesign the entire space, which is exciting! So l'm out scouring around for new boulders, trees and shrubs again. The only problem is, it's so hard to find great boulders around here, unlike some other areas. lt can take weeks of looking at thousands of them before l see one that l want. ln Japanese (zen) gardening the terms *wabi* and *sabi* are used -- among other things, they refer to a quiet, elegant simplicity. What makes the designing of a Japanese garden so difficult is the effort to recreate nature -- to make it more like nature than even nature itself, and in so doing to reveal the spirit intrinsic in nature. lt occurred to me the other day how creative and fulfilling it can be just to prune a tree, to recognize its essence and remove what is obstructing it from expressing its fullest potential, its soul. My favorite time is late at night. l stumble outside around midnite, half asleep, intending to be out for just a few minutes before turning in, only to be captivated: by the reflection of boulders against raked gravel, the sound of water from the tsukubai trickling down through pebbles, or the silhouette of bamboo bending and singing with the breeze in the moonlight. All else is silence. My energy level immediately picks up and my heart swells in gratitude. l was thinking last night that strangely, out of all my broken dreams, this is the one that came true ... Before l know it, it's after 1 am and l feel exhilarated with a big smile on my face as l force myself to go back inside and climb into bed, with 3 or 4 books about Japanese gardens next to my pillow -- my toys, ha ha. Fortunately, l don't usually read very far -- maybe just look at some pictures -- before falling asleep. Harshaji, you asked for photos. My friend, webmaster Bob Boyd, wants to help me do a website around the garden, and l think it's best to wait till we get that together. l'll try to do it soon, altho l may want to first finish redoing the area l mentioned. Hope that's ok ... and that everyone is having a great summer. love, jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 14, 2000 Report Share Posted June 14, 2000 GCWein1111 [GCWein1111] Saturday, June 10, 2000 7:00 PM Re: Hello everyone/zen garden/Tibetans In a message dated 6/9/00 7:32:06 AM Pacific Daylight Time, hluthar writes: << Hello everyone. Hope you are all well. Jerry, your Zen garden must be looking quite beautiful now. Post some pictures of it, if possible. >> Thank you for the interest, Harsha. The last couple months have been a busy time for me. A close friend is involved with a group of Tibetan monks in Bloomington, lndiana. The Dalai Lama's brother is there along with a sizable contingent of Tibetans. Since Cincinnati isn't far away they've decided to come here and locate a center and a Tibetan restaurant in my neighborhood which is near the university and is a cultural center of sorts. When she brought them over to my house they took one look at the garden and the spacious 2nd and 3rd floors (l live on the 1st floor and rent out the upstairs) and decided they wanted to move up above me and put their center here! l felt this combination of excitement and terror over having my privacy compromised, ha ha. l told them l'd give it serious consideration but was making no promises. ln the meantime, since l was once in the restaurant business, l've also been helping them with that, and all this has weighed heavily on my mind for weeks now. Last week l finally decided l did not want a Tibetan center in my home. The privacy thing just wouldn't go away for me (even tho their unit would be seperate), in addition to other considerations and hassels l'm sure would've plagued me. lt was tempting, because l've been looking to be part of something like this to focus and energize me, give me more of a sense of purpose..... but l had to admit to myself that this probably isn't it. l've long been interested in Tibetan Buddhism, but because of k problems l've never been able to make it my path, which was a decisive factor. And there was something disconcerting about a Tibetan center in the middle of a zen garden! l have to believe it secretly bothered them too, at least a little bit .......... So l've been working away at my garden with a renewed enthusiasm since l made my decision. And as so often happens, a problem has presented an opportunity. One portion of the garden is shielded by a huge hedge -- 40 ft long, 7 ft hi, 6 ft wide. lt's the only original plant left on my property that predated my garden and it's a great screen, but what a bitch to trim. This year l've had to trim it every day -- it's beautiful but it's wearing me out. Between trimming it and my bamboo grove and pruning all my trees, my hands are killing me -- l think it must be k also. Anyway, l've decided the hedge has to go. l hate to do it, but it frees up more room and forces me to redesign the entire space, which is exciting! So l'm out scouring around for new boulders, trees and shrubs again. The only problem is, it's so hard to find great boulders around here, unlike some other areas. lt can take weeks of looking at thousands of them before l see one that l want. ln Japanese (zen) gardening the terms *wabi* and *sabi* are used -- among other things, they refer to a quiet, elegant simplicity. What makes the designing of a Japanese garden so difficult is the effort to recreate nature -- to make it more like nature than even nature itself, and in so doing to reveal the spirit intrinsic in nature. lt occurred to me the other day how creative and fulfilling it can be just to prune a tree, to recognize its essence and remove what is obstructing it from expressing its fullest potential, its soul. My favorite time is late at night. l stumble outside around midnite, half asleep, intending to be out for just a few minutes before turning in, only to be captivated: by the reflection of boulders against raked gravel, the sound of water from the tsukubai trickling down through pebbles, or the silhouette of bamboo bending and singing with the breeze in the moonlight. All else is silence. My energy level immediately picks up and my heart swells in gratitude. l was thinking last night that strangely, out of all my broken dreams, this is the one that came true ... Before l know it, it's after 1 am and l feel exhilarated with a big smile on my face as l force myself to go back inside and climb into bed, with 3 or 4 books about Japanese gardens next to my pillow -- my toys, ha ha. Fortunately, l don't usually read very far -- maybe just look at some pictures -- before falling asleep. Harshaji, you asked for photos. My friend, webmaster Bob Boyd, wants to help me do a website around the garden, and l think it's best to wait till we get that together. l'll try to do it soon, altho l may want to first finish redoing the area l mentioned. Hope that's ok ... and that everyone is having a great summer. love, jerry Hello everyone. Have been busy and will not be able to write or reply to e-mail for several days. Thanks for taking the time to write about all the things connected with your Zen garden Jerry! I immensely enjoyed reading about the challenges and the satisfaction derived from doing what you are doing. I look forward to the website documenting the beauty that you have created in your home and neighborhood. The concept of the a Tibetan Center in the middle of a Zen garden is pretty hilarious. :-). You are a gifted and a humorous writer Jerry (and I am still available as an agent). By the way, I can understand why you would not want a Tibetan center in your home. Or any kind of center for that matter! Some days, you might want to sleep late and with all that chanting going on........well who needs it! Having Dalai Lama's brother as a roommate only looks good on paper, I think. Perhaps solitude is the best center. We are all centered in the center that has no circumference. Love to all Harsha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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