南禅寺

    On Saturday, we went to three Zen temples. First, we went to 龍安寺 right when it opened because it gets crowded. Its rock garden is super famous, and it was probably my favorite rock garden that I have seen so far. There were also beautiful dragon murals that I really liked. After that, we went to 銀閣寺 and walked around the temple's grounds in the rain. Then we took the Philosopher's Path to get to 南禅寺 which this blog is about. According to a pamphlet I was given, 南禅寺 is "the head temple of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism." I also learned that, like most buildings in Japan, it was destroyed by fires but eventually rebuilt. The temple is still hundreds of years old. While we walked around the temple's rock garden, we noticed the drainage pipe in the picture below. The rocks were arranged around the drainage pipe as if it was a rock. This seemed like a perfect example of 侘び寂び because instead of trying to hide the pipe and make it perfect, it was incorporated into the temple's art. I also noticed the basin of water pictured below. The water was uneven, and it was almost spilling over one side, but I thought this "imperfection" was beautiful and offered a chance to reflect. These imperfections that I found at 南禅寺 actually seemed quite perfect and purposeful, and I really enjoyed this form of art. I'm very happy that we were able to go to 南禅寺 and won't forget it!


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