The Daruma of Toji-in.
A contemporary shakuhachi flute player.
View of the garden at Shisendo.
ZEN GARDENS
AND TEMPLES OF
KYOTO
BY JOHN DOUGILL
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN EINARSEN
TUTTLE Publishing
Tokyo | Rutland, Vermont | Singapore
contents
PART ONE
Zen and Japanese Culture
Preface by Reverend Takafumi Kawakami
A National Treasure: Kyoto and the Art of Zen
From China to Kyoto: The Story of Zen Buddhism
Eat, Sit, Sleep: The Daily routine of a Zen Monk
Finding One’s Way: The Design of a Zen Monastery
Visions of Serenity: The Zen garden
Sipping Zen: The Japanese Tea Ceremony
The Sound of Zen: The Shakuhachi Flute as Spiritual Instrument
The Taste of Zen: Kyoto Temple Cuisine
Picturing Zen: Temple Painting and Brushwork
Capturing the Moment: Haiku and Zen Poetry
The Discipline of No-Mind: Zen and the Martial Arts
Map of Kyoto
PART TWO
Kyoto’s Zen Temples (In chronological order)
Kennin-ji
Entoku-in
Kodai-ji
Kosho-ji
Tofuku-ji
Funda-in (Sesshu-ji)
Reiun-in
Komyo-in
Nanzen-ji
Nanzen-in
Tenju-an
Konchi-in
Daitoku-ji
Ryogen-in
Daisen-in
Zuiho-in
Koto-in
Myoshin-ji
Taizo-in
Shunko-in
Tenryu-ji
Toji-in
Saiho-ji (Kokedera)
Genko-an
Shokoku-ji
Kinkaku-ji
Ginkaku-ji
Ryoan-ji
Shuon-an (Ikkyu-ji)
Enko-ji
Shisendo
Manpuku-ji
Kanga-an
Entsu-ji
Konpuku-ji
Acknowledgments and Credits
Author’s Note
Names are written in Japanese fashion (family name before given name), except for contemporary and modern figures who are referred to in the Western style.
Baisao, the legendary Edo-era tea seller, was a poet and Obaku monk who is enshrined at Manpuku-ji. Painting by Ito Jakuchu.
Each year I receive around 5,000 visitors to my temple who want to learn about Zen. They come from many different nationalities and backgrounds, ranging from businessmen to travelers and university students. Many have misconceptions about Zen, but nearly all are interested in developing and practicing ‘mindfulness’ in their lives.
Over the centuries, the Zen world in Kyoto has developed a unique culture in terms of focussing attention. It is evident in such ‘Zen arts’ as the tea ceremony and Chinese ink work. Its influence can be seen also in architecture, garden design, Japanese archery and martial arts. We can, in fact, find this clear, concentrated attention reflected in all aspects of Zen culture.
Luckily, we now have a book to guide us around the gardens and temples, revealing more than is immediately obvious. Between them, long-time residents of the city, John Dougill and John Einarsen, are able to bring the places to life. Author of an acclaimed cultural history of Kyoto, Dougill provides us with background information necessary to an understanding of the institutions. Award-winning John Einarsen’s pictures balance panoramic views with eye-catching details to recreate the serenity and beauty of the Zen atmosphere.
It gives me great pleasure to recommend this book. It will help me communicate the rich experience of Zen to others as well as be a worthy souvenir for anyone visiting the city. And for those who have yet to experience Kyoto and its Zen heritage, the book will surely be a great enticement.
—Reverend Takafumi Kawakami, Shunko-in Temple, Kyoto
Dry landscape gardens use raked gravel to represent water, with rocks representing islands or mountains. Some see this in abstract terms as the movement of the mind interrupted by thought. For onlookers the garden may serve as an aid to meditation, while for monks raking the gravel is an exercise in mindfulness.
A National Treasure:
Kyoto and the Art of Zen
Kyoto is a city blessed in so many ways. It is home to seventeen World Heritage Sites. It is the city of Noh theater, ikebana and the tea ceremony; of gardens, geisha and Genji; of crafts, kimono and weaving; of poets, artists and aesthetes; of tofu, saké and kaiseki delicacies. It is also a city of temples, shrines and museums and of festivals and seasonal delights. And on top of all that, it is a city of Zen—Rinzai Zen, to be precise. It was here that the fusion of Chinese Chan with Japanese culture took place, producing a sect that has become synonymous with satori, or ‘awakening’. Zen and Kyoto go together like love and Paris.
The genius of Japan, it is often said, is in the adoption and adaptation of foreign customs. Zen is a prime example. In the Heian period (794–1186), leading priests of Kyoto went on perilous trips to China to study at the feet of the great masters, the result being the introduction of new types of Buddhist thought. In 1202, a temple was set up in Kyoto