Sacred Landscapes and the Evolution of Meditation Gardens in the Buddhist Tradition
While preparing this talk, I realized it was as much about Inspiration as it was about Origins. Inspiration for designing gardens. Fifteen years ago, I had the opportunity to design buildings and gardens for Milarepa Buddhist Meditation Center in eastern Vermont, 270 acres of mountain woodlands and meadows overlooking the beautiful meandering Connecticut River Valley. A Tibetan Buddhist spiritual center in the west that had its roots in the east. This was my Master of Landscape Architecture thesis at Cornell.
An audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama was arranged so that the center could present the designs to him. During my presentation I talked about the environmental setting and feng-shui and earth energies, symbolic references, how the design of the buildings and gardens reflected Buddhist practice and philosophy, and the respect for historical precedents. But when His Holiness asked me: "What is the basis for this design?" it struck a chord much more deeply than when my thesis committee asked me that question; and it has occupied me ever since.
What sacred landscapes inspired the gardens that were used to clear the mind and open the heart...gardens that could express the spiritual teachings in the landscape? What was the spiritual foundation that gave insight to designers of Shingon Buddhist gardens, Pure-Land gardens, Soto-Zen and Rinzai-Zen gardens of Japan?
This talk will be a journey, through the vehicle of Buddhist practice - 1st) To the origins in India of the sacred Buddhist landscapes attributed to Buddha Shakyamuni, considered the principle teacher of Buddhism. 2nd) To the sacred landscapes around Mt. Kailas and Lake Manasarovar in Western Tibet where I discovered some intriguing links with the classical temple gardens of Kyoto. 3rd) To Japan, to see how the meditation gardens evolved as artistic expressions of their practices and views.
Two basic themes will underlie and be running through this talk: 1st) the inspiration of the Buddha's teachings and the importance that the Buddha gave to the landscape as the foundation for the gardens; 2nd) the importance of the Buddha-nature within as the container holding the ability to design gardens for meditation and cultivate the awakening mind. The key is meditation. Especially when entering a sacred landscape, it is good to create some space between the experiences had outside and those inside this room.... To clear the mind and open the heart.
The origins of the sacred Buddhist landscapes were the holy places, the buildings and gardens where Buddha Shakyamuni lived and taught 2600 years ago. These landscapes were not merely backgrounds; the Buddha intentionally sited and designed them as integral components of his discourses, with qualities in which he could most effectively present a whole wide range of teachings. Because of that, they provide clues to the artistic expressions produced by the fully awakened mind of a Buddha. The First Avalokita-Sutra of the Mahavastu, a 3rd century Indian Buddhist text says:
From the moment that bodhisattvas become completely endowed with steadfast activities of body, speech and mind, they go to that spot of earth where they sit to overcome all hindrances.
When Siddhartha Gautama, the prince who was to become Buddha Shakyamuni, came across the region of Uruvela he was struck by its beauty and peaceful setting...the pure clear waters of the Nairanjana River flowing gently between beautiful banks, verdant woods, and its seclusion and distance from turmoil. Seeing all this, Siddhartha's mind became exceedingly calm - certainly a place to attain enlightenment. What the Buddha was to see and do here were the first scriptural guidelines for the siting and design of Buddhist monasteries, temples and gardens.
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