A+Taste+of+Japan+-+Zen+Gardens

//Zen// is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese character //chan//, which is linked to an Indian word, //dhyana//, which means meditation.

 * [[image:zen_garden8.jpg width="339" height="288"]]

**patterns** are the **rivers** or **waves.**
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**peace** and **calm...**
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perfect patterns.
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 * [[image:zen_garden3.jpg width="299" height="229" align="center"]] || [[image:zen_garden6.jpg width="266" height="231" align="center"]] || [[image:zen_garden5.jpg width="299" height="229"]] ||
 * [[image:mountain kanji.jpg width="196" height="201" align="center"]]

yama - mountain
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kawa - river
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shima - island
|| ====When we began the session, the Allen Centre was SO QUIET. We had to free our minds of everything except thinking about where to place our beautiful rock-mountain.The quiet made us feel very calm and relaxed so that when we raked our water ripples, our movements would be smooth.====
 * [[image:mountain kanji steps.jpg align="center"]] || [[image:river kanji steps.jpg align="center"]] || [[image:island kanji steps.jpg width="233" height="200" align="center"]] ||

of even depth.You can see how to make one **here.**

 * [[image:zr1.JPG width="253" height="199"]] || [[image:zr2.JPG]] || [[image:zr3.JPG]] || [[image:zr4.JPG width="107" height="199"]] ||

After we'd made our rakes, we filled a cardboard box with sand and chose a beautiful rock to represent a mountain or an island...

 * [[image:P1330046.JPG width="303" height="246"]] || [[image:P1330052.JPG width="328" height="243"]] || [[image:P1330049.JPG]] ||
 * [[image:P1330054.JPG]] || [[image:P1330065.JPG]] || [[image:P1330079.JPG]] ||
 * [[image:P1330067.JPG]] || [[image:P1330072.JPG]] || [[image:P1330056.JPG]] ||
 * [[image:P1330077.JPG width="325" height="236"]] || [[image:P1330080.JPG width="321" height="234"]] || [[image:P1330074-001.JPG]] ||