Thoughts on the Nikka Yuko Centennial Garden, and Buddhism

submitted by Robert Hironaka

Buddhism speaks to the condition that people are in. It speaks to the everyday situations of people. Just as people's situations and conditions change, Buddhism says things in different ways to meet the people's needs. It tells us the same basic things in a language and in terms that we understand. I want to emphasize the word 'understand' because Buddhism is a religion of understanding. The message of understanding has been interpreted by many scholars and common people who have experienced the message in their time and their environment. We each have had a different experience. We have gained insights into different things that helps us to see reality, to see our selves. Maybe you are inclined to music, or art, growing things, the river valley, the prairies, the mountains or making mechanical things work. It is more than just something outside of you, you see yourself in it. You are more than superficially involved, you are part of your interest. This is the way of Japanese gardens.

I feel that the Japanese gardens are closely related to Buddhism. Today, I want to talk about how I relate Nikka Yuko garden to Buddhism, especially to Lethbridge Honpa. How can we make our Nikka Yuko experience more meaningful to our religious experience? How can we make our Honpa experience more meaningful to our experience at Nikka Yuko?

With the proliferation of Japanese gardens in North America in the last century, the question is raised, 'are they really Japanese gardens?' and 'what makes a Japanese garden authentic?' Even in tradition bound Japan, gardens have changed with changing needs, tastes, economic conditions and social values within the Japanese culture (Slawson p15). Cultures are constantly changing, we correct what we think is right. Gardens change to reflect the changing attitudes and culture so that they are meaningful to the users. The fundamental under-pinning of garden design has not changed, but the outward appearances have changed. Similarly, we do not try to change the truth or what the Buddha taught. We may change the way that we use the knowledge of the truth expounded by Shakamuni Buddha and Shinran.

My understanding and appreciation of gardens is not totally Japanese. It is mostly Canadian. While I have visited Japan, I have never lived there. I observed 'Japanese things'. When we talk about a Japanese garden in Lethbridge, we are talking about a Canadian garden in the Japanese style. When we try to understand what Shinran said about what the Buddha taught, we need to understand it in Canadian terms. Shinran stated quite clearly that he did not start a new religion. He traced his authority back to Shakamuni Buddha through the seven patriarchs.

There is a growing discussion on, what is a Japanese Garden? Even in Japan, the question is being raised about the authenticity of a garden that has not changed with the changing culture of Japan. We could ask the same question about Jodo Shin Shu. What is authentic Jodo Shin Shu? In Japan, many people say that my family is Jodo Shin Shu, so I am Jodo Shin Shu, but I know nothing about it. I have a feeling that Jodo Shin Shu does not enter into their lives until there is a need for it temporarily because of a death of family member. Is it any wonder that people refer to Buddhism in Japan as 'Funeral religion'. In Canada today, I think that people look to Jodo Shin Shu to be meaningful and logical. We look to our ministers to give us information that will help us understand and lead us to a life of gratitude. The same gratitude that Shinran experienced and taught.

A Japanese garden design is rooted in nature (Slawson p 43). Learning from nature means learning about oneself and how it responds to a sensory environment. Buddhism is about understanding nature... our own nature. We look outward to understand our environment, but we use this understanding of our environment to look inward to understand our selves.

A central message in Japanese garden design is that it should reflect the qualities of the local environment that nurtures the needs and aspirations of the client. A designer will draw upon the local scenery using the universal principles of human perception (Slawson p16). "The Art We See" comes from three basic areas of human experience - 'scenic effects', 'sensory effects' and 'cultural values' (Slawson p16). The first two are universal, the third is in constant change. I relate the 'scenic effects' or the fixed effects, with the Buddha's Teachings. I relate the 'sensory effects' with the ways that the Buddha's Teachings affect our senses. In Buddhism, particularly Jodo Shin Shu, we have the freedom to examine our external environment that affects us. Our cultural values of music, chanting, meditating, regular weekly services, celebrations to commemorate special current and historical events that contribute to our understanding are in constant change. Jodo Shin Shu has the freedom to adjust to changes in cultural values to make our activities meaningful to us.

If one looks only at the external features of the garden and for its aesthetic pleasures, one is not truly seeing the garden. It is when one sees beyond the physical garden and sees the beauty of nature, that the true value of the garden is appreciated.

We enjoy the church environment and the activities. We look beyond aesthetic pleasures and understand the significance of the things that give us pleasure. We at least begin to understand our self; we begin to understand that we are a part of nature.

David Slawson, a well known landscape designer, discussed authenticity in Japanese gardens (Unno 1998). Slawson, proposes two kinds of authenticity: the low path of authenticity and the high path of authenticity. The "low path" follows a literal, precedent-driven tradition. Creativity is rigidly constrained by external norms that favours the status quo. In contrast, the "high path" maintains the basic ideals of Japanese garden design that responds to the reality of the landscape and the culture of the day. The now famous dry landscape garden and tea gardens of Japan broke with tradition to follow the calling of the high path. But now they are considered authentic. Architects use a deep knowledge and appreciation of the basics of Japanese garden design to create desired effects in harmony with the culture of the day. In my view, Shinran had a deep knowledge of what the Buddha taught, then with his own life experiences followed the high path that resulted in Jodo Shin Shu. He left behind the traditions that did not lead him to his religious freedom.

Taitetsu Unno (1998) suggests that Jodo Shin Shu in America follow the high path that responds to the needs of all people, and relies on the resources in our culture - material, social and intellectual - for its self articulation. I am looking forward to meeting Taitetsu Unno at ABC this year.

At Nikka Yuko, the architect stated several times that the Lethbridge garden is a Canadian garden in the Japanese style. As he was forming a mental image of the garden, he asked us questions that are basic to a Japanese garden. Who will use the garden and what will it be used for? (Davidson p 116). I thought that he was the expert and that he should be telling us. Little did I realize that design concerns the use of the garden (Itoh p 53). When he spoke of a Canadian garden in Japanese style, I thought that he meant that the vegetation should all be Canadian and not imported from Japan. After 35 years, I am beginning to understand what he meant. He had thought much like Slawson's "high path". He designed a garden using the basic ideals of Japanese gardens that generally responds to the reality of the landscape and the culture that nourishes it. I suggest that we follow a similar path in our thinking on Jodo Shin Shu. Design our programs using the ideals of Jodo Shin Shu that responds to the reality of the culture that nourishes it.

The garden is often described as 'wabi' - rustic simplicity, sometimes it is translated 'beauty in simplicity'. Our interpretation of Jodo Shin Shu may be interpreted in a similar way. Our artifacts and program may have the beauty of rustic simplicity. Just as we planned a garden in a completely different physical environment and culture we are building a Jodo Shin Shu sangha in a culture that is different than the one that gave it birth and nurtured it for centuries. A central message in Japanese Gardens design is that it should not copy an existing garden. The garden design should reflect the qualities of the local environment that nurtures the needs and aspirations of the client. Similarly we should not blindly copy existing artifacts and programs. Rather, we should use those artifacts and programs that have meaning in our environment and develop artifacts and programs that reflects the qualities of the local environment that will be meaningful for the sangha that will use it.

At Nikka Yuko, if a bride asks that she be allowed to decorate the garden for a wedding, we decline. We think that you cannot improve on nature (Davidson p 42). Gardens are not decorated in unnatural ways. Japanese garden ornaments were basically or theoretically functional. If some are now ornamental, they are still symbolic of their original purpose. "The insufficient is better than the superfluous"... Tokugawa Ieyasu. The shrine at Honpa is simple. It is not decorated ornately. It was intentionally designed that way.

The idea of a garden that fits the environment is not new. Toshitsuna, renowned garden designer ca 1100, conceived of a garden in terms of its environment (Itoh p20). A church should fit its environment. The building and the activities within the church should suit the people who use it. How well are we doing? All gardens including Japanese gardens are alive in more than just the biological sense of alive. They must be alive to the culture that nurtures it. People must be able to relate to the garden in their daily life. People must be able to relate to the church in their daily lives. It is more than just a Sunday place. A Japanese garden must instill a feeling of peace in the visitor. A church and its activities must instill a feeling of peace in those who attend. Like art, which the garden is, you first sense it aesthetically. As you become more familiar and see greater depth in the art, you feel it in your inner self. You may be attracted to a church because of the activities appeal to your aesthetic interests. But in Jodo Shin Shu, the ultimate appeal is to your inner self.

Nikka Yuko was designed according to the principle- and situation-driven interpretation of the tradition of the Lethbridge culture. It is not a part of Japan that was physically picked up and transplanted to Lethbridge. It is the design and how it is integrated into the local landscape and culture that makes it meaningful. We should examine the principle- and situation driven interpretation of what Shinran taught to design our artifacts and programs.

I like the bell at the Japanese Garden. I like our calling bell. At first I am attracted to its pleasurable sound. Then I listen for the overtones and try to understand what I hear. But I don't understand it, I just enjoy the sound. Is this like listening to what Shinran taught? At first we just enjoy hearing what he said. Then we get caught up in trying to understand what he said. But mostly, we awaken something within us, and we just listen to Namu Amida Butsu, we enjoy it, and we are free.

Davidson, A.K. 1983. The Art of Zen Gardens. J.P. Tarcher Inc., 9110 Sunset Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA. 90069.

Itoh, Eiji. 1973. Space and Illusion in the Japanese Garden. Weatherhill/Tankosha,
New York, Tokyo, and Kyoto.

Slawson, D.A. 1987. Secret Teaching in the art of Japanese Gardens.
Design Principles and aesthetic values. Kodansha International Ltd. Tokyo.

Unno, T. 1998. Shin Buddhism in the west: The question of authenticity.
In Engaged Pure Land Buddhism. K.K. Tanaka and E. Nasu ed. Page 15.

rh