Meditation Garden Design
Also called Tranquility, Serenity,
Contemplation and Prayer Gardens
A meditation garden can have different meanings for different people. When you
think of a meditation garden, do you
think of a Zen type Japanese garden with raked gravel and an island of stones? Do you envision a secluded, private
retreat surrounded by lush
tropical growth as in a rainforest? Or perhaps you see an area in a
traditional yard that has been
designated for the purpose of meditating or just sitting in contemplation with a bench or chair or comfortable
mat.
Meditation gardens can take many different forms, but their primary purpose is
to provide a vehicle for mental,
emotional and physical benefits. A place that can offerrefuge from a hectic lifestyle, a sanctuary for soul
rejuvenation, a spot conducive for actual meditation practice. Meditation itself can be sitting meditation or
walking meditation.
A meditation "garden" can also be a place to do Yoga or Tai Chi. It
maybe a place where you perform your
ritual ceremonies of prayer and contemplation.
Conversely, meditation gardens associated with churches, temples and
other places of
worship are often called Prayer
Gardens.
.
Thus a meditation garden can take on myriad forms of expression depending on
the desires of the user. The
process of creating or designing the space starts with identification of the purpose of the
space.
Of course, an otherwise simple garden that just happens to have a bench strategically placed near a
waterfall can also serve as your
meditation garden. Especially if you realize that it really
does function as such and has
the right "feeling". The space, as designed, must be conducive for meditation, yet allow the
spontaneity of the mind to ascend to its own levels, irrespective of the aesthetics of the
space.
To create these feelings, consider elements such as privacy, enclosure, canopy, exposure to the
elements, amount of plantings,
sounds, scents, color and proximity to your main house.
As I ponder meditating outdoors, I am reminded of something said
in the Tao Te Ching by Lao
Tzu:
“Look, it cannot be seen - it is beyond
form. Listen, it cannot be heard - it is beyond sound. Grasp, it cannot be held - it is
intangible.”
In other words, ascribing a label to a garden as
that of a "meditation garden" is misleading. I wonder how much more insight I would gain if I
stop thinking that "I am meditating now". My legs are crossed in a sitting position, and
therefore I must concentrate so hard that I block out all extraneous thoughts in order to
experience something I know not.
The purpose of a meditation garden therefore is
not to focus on the label, but to experience the inner calm and peacefulness one
receives from the mindstate of deep relaxation when one can experience the vibration
of a hummingbird flying near your head.
When one sits like a Buddha in a meditating
posture or in their meditation garden in perfect Lotus position, they may hear the sound of
the wind, or see the green of the leaves, but they are not seeing and they are not hearing.
These things did not come into existence as a result of your meditating. You became awakened
to their existence because your thoughts were silenced. Your thoughts say things like, "Does
the wind make a sound when I cannot hear it?
Perception is just a way to make sense of reality
around us. Our state of awareness is transient. It comes and goes like clouds in the
sky.
Therefore, we may loosely use the terms
meditation, contemplation, tranquility, serenity and prayer when "describing" or
labeling these types of gardens.
Labels are like badges. They help us identify what
something is all about. The state of mind of meditation and contemplation however do
accurately describe the intended qualities of the garden, that of a flowing stream,
meandering peacefully among the pebbles of consciousness.
Related Articles:
Creating a Garden Sanctuary
 John Stuart Leslie is creator and founder of My Sacred Garden. A website that
blends the mind, body & spiritual lifestyle of the conscious consumer with the pursuit of
gardens, gardening, design and art. He holds a Master's degree in Landscape Architecture and
has been a landscape designer and contractor since 1982.
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