The Ryoan-ji Temple, loosely translated as “Temple of the Peaceful Dragon,” is today one of the protected monuments of Kyoto, the former capital and cultural center of Japan, and according to UNESCO, a part of the world cultural heritage. It belongs to the Rinzai school of Buddhism. Ryoan-ji is one of 1600 Buddhist temples in Kyoto, and what makes it unique is its stone garden, a masterpiece of Japanese culture.
The temple is believed to have been built in the second half of the 15th century when the shogun Hosokawa Katsumoto purchased the property with a temple and established the Zen temple Ryoan-ji in its place. The exact time of the garden’s creation is unknown. It is thought to be the work of the monk and landscape painter Shinsoa Soami (1472-1525) and is believed to have been created in the 16th century. Over the years, the garden has undergone numerous changes, and the monks themselves, guided by the original idea and the teachings of Zen Buddhism, have played a significant role in its design and maintenance.
The garden is built in the shape of a rectangle, covered with gravel, and within it are fifteen unprocessed stones arranged. There are five groups in the garden: one group consists of five stones, two are made up of three stones each, and two are made up of two stones. Greenery is present only in the form of moss. The garden is fenced on three sides by a wall and can only be observed from the temple terrace, from which mountain peaks can be seen in the distance.
The peculiarity of this garden is that it is impossible to encompass the stones with a single glance, and we could say that its defined meaning also eludes us. While some explanations talk about the representation of infinity or the emptiness expressed through simplicity, the secret of this garden cannot be fully conveyed through words, descriptions, and explanations. It exists more as an inner experience that the observer rediscovers each time.
In his book Zen, Vladimir Devide shares a “discovery” of a monk in this temple, Joeia Matsukura (1910 – 1983): We can look at the garden as a group of mountain islands in the vast ocean, or as mountain peaks rising above a sea of clouds. We can see in it a framed image. In the dilapidated old wall, which we consider a national treasure in itself, and we can even forget the frame when we feel the truth of this endless sea. Soam’s eloquence will always speak to those who look at the garden with their inner eyes.
The Rinzai school of Buddhism was known for using koans that encouraged raising awareness above logic and the visible, with the intention of bringing the student closer to a fuller picture of reality. All of this suggests that the garden itself resembles a magnificent koan. It carries within it the characteristic of timelessness, which allows today’s visitors, while staying in it, to distance themselves from the everyday and dive deeper within themselves, which some consider to be the true meaning of this place of peace and exquisite beauty.