The Phenomenology of Japanese Dry Stone Gardens: Aesthetic and Contemplative “Ways of Seeing”

Abstract

The phenomenology of Japanese dry landscape gardens: Aesthetic and Contemplative “Ways of Seeing”“Phenomenology,” says Lisa Guenther, “begins with a description of lived experience and reflects on the structures that make this experience possible and meaningful.” Taking our lead from this simple yet instructive description of the phenomenological approach, this paper will explore the phenomenology of Japanese dry landscape gardens through some key characteristics of Japanese aesthetics and the non-dual philosophical underpinnings of Zen Buddhist thought. In doing this, we will look at how contemplative engagement with these types of gardens generates meaning(s) in the lived experience of viewers. In other words, the aesthetic and contemplative principles that inform dry landscape garden design will provide us with a framework for the objective, given aspects of the experience while phenomenological analysis will grant us a window into the subjective, felt aspects of the experience. Our discussion will focus on what is called the “quintessential” Zen garden; the dry stone garden at Ryōan-ji Zen temple in Kyoto.After an overview of the “art of garden making” in Japan, our discussion will outline the aesthetic and contemplative sensibility that informs the Zen tradition of dry landscape garden design. In particular, the discussion will focus on the non-dual emphasis that underlies Zen thought and practice and explore how experiential reports of viewing Ryōan-ji echo this non-dual sensibility. The discussion will explore this experience as a “two-way” understanding or dialogue that constitutes an aesthetic and contemplative “literacy” resulting in the felt experience of a new or different “way of seeing”.