A Journey to Zen

TEA GARDEN

A JOURNE Y TO ZEN

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TEA GARDEN

A JOURNE Y TO ZEN

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TEA GARDEN

A JOURNE Y TO ZEN

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The Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco Golden Gate Park provides people a place to enjoy and experience the natural beauty, peace and harmony that walk away from the stressful and busy life. It is a peaceful and harmonious garden to wander and it will give you a peaceful journey that can empty your mind and make you calm.

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/ Garden was originally created as a “Japanese the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition, the site originally spanned

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Village” exhibit for

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The Japanese Tea

about one acre and showcased a Japanese style garden. When the fair closed, Japanese landscape architect Makoto Hagiwara and superintendent John McLaren reached a gentleman’s agreement, allowing Mr. Hagiwara expanded the garden to its current size of

lived for many years until 1942.

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approximately 5 acres where he and his family

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The dawn warmed 4

up the cold quiet /

morning and shining on the tea garde n

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gate, but I still felt

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cold and empt y.

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quiet cold welcome

Main Gate, called a romon, tower gate in Japanese, was part of the Japanese Village

Exposition of 1894, what is now the Music Concourse Area of Golden Gate Park. It originally had been built as the gate to George Turner Marsh’s summer home in Mill Valley by a Japanese carpenter.

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which was held in

It was nine in the morning and I was at golden gate park. I parked my car and put on my jacket right away because it was freezing and cold. I walked to the Japanese Tea Garden with tiredness and worry from school projects that I am still finding ways and inspirations to finish them. I kept finding broken glass windows along the road to the tea garden which stress me out and worry me that my car would get hit and broken by someone when I get back... Finally I arrived at the gate and the tea garden was already opened. The dawn was warming up the cold quiet morning and shining on the tea garden’s gate but I still feel cold and empty. It was free entrance but I feel cold and not welcome because the admission booth was not open yet. I hovered around the entrance area and tried to find more information about the tea garden but nothing was there so I head uphill to the gift store.

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exhibit of the California Midwinter International

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The original two stories

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Because of extensive rot, the old 1894 Main Gate entrance and the 1915 Temple Gate located near the Pagoda were completely removed. New gates were constructed on

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those sites.

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Q U I E T

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avoid evil paths

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I passed through the crooked path that leads to the gift store among with ferns and dwarf trees. All paths in the Tea Garden were either graceful curves or a sudden change in angle because the ancient Japanese believed that evil spirits travel in straight lines. But to me, I think the curves and sudden change paths makes me feel more stressful and frustrated than straight path. After i passed through the annoying curved path, I arrived at the gift store.

But unfortunately it wasn’t open, yet I started to hear some splash of water dripping sound, so I hovered around the gift store. Then I found a big water bowl that made out of rock. And when I saw the splash of water drops that fall into the stone bowl, it felt like my mind was starting to wash away.

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/ Just a few feet away on the east of the gift shop, there is a beautifully carved ornamental water basin, tsukubai,

guests to wash their the Tea Room. Water is usually fed through a bamboo pipe called kakehi. This basin,

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hands before entering

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in the shape of a boat.

This basin is used by

probably of considerable age, originally came from a country estate near Tokyo which had been destroyed during the time of World War II. The basin was purchased by the S. & G. Gump Company in the early 1960s and they presented it to the Tea Garden. If you look carved turtle on the inside stern of the boat.

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closely, you will see a

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sound of Ts u k u b a i

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W he n I s a w t he s pl a sh of wat e r dro ps t hat fall i nt o t he s to n e bo wl , it felt like ]

m y m i n d wa s s t a r ti ng to wa sh a wa y.

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be formless like tea

waterfall and pond with stone lanterns and the Mt. Fuji Hedge in the background. In 1960,

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impressive views of the

Everything weren’t open in the garden so I went to the tea house since I saw some people were already there. I walked down there with frustration and disappointment and all I found was only foods and drinks over there. So I decided to take a break and have some tea there while I am still waiting for the garden to start operating. I ordered some tea since I felt cold. After a while, the tea I ordered was here. Then I had my first sip of tea in the desperate cold morning. It started to warm me up and calm my stressful mind down with the beautiful waterfall and pond view.

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House are provided with

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The guests of the Tea

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the San Francisco Garden Club engaged the services of Nagao Sakurai, the same man who designed the Zen Garden, to redesign the entire pond area in front of the teahouse.

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If you are c ol d , t e a 15

w ill war m you; If you /

are too he at ed , it w ill c ool you; If you are

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you; If you are excit ed ,

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d e pressed , it w ill c hee r

it w ill c alm you ... ]

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The re ain’t n o an swe r.

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The re ain’t going to /

be an an swe r.

The re n e ve r ha s bee n

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an an swe r.

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That ’s the an swe r.

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be lost in thought

landscape he designed on the site of the Hagiwaras former home.

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brick terrace and below it the Sunken Garden, a

I am in the middle of a relaxing nature sense with water, plants and Buddha to guide me through a short break from the boring, stressful, and overflowing school life. Follow the paths, sit on a bench and sit with the Buddha statue who is sitting under a tree in concentrated meditation, now I got the feeling of how he attained his great enlightenment and understanding of the causes of human suffering.

I just realized that there ain’t no helper for whatever I am suffering. And there ain’t going to be anyone to help either. Maybe there never has been anyone.

And I think, I will be the only one.

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the Superintendent of Parks, constructed the

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In 1943, Julius L. Girod,

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The building in the background currently houses the Asian Art Museum. The large keyaki tree between the Gift Shop and the Asian Art Museum was planted before Mr. Hagiwara’s time.

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/ In 1949, the S. & G. Gump Company presented to the garden the very old and large bronze Buddha in memA

ory of A. Livingston

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Gump, Alfred Gump and William Gump. It is located at the eastern end of the Long Bridge.

It was cast in bronze on Honshu Island at

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Tajima, Japan in 1790; it weighs 3,000 pounds

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and is ten feet, eight inches high. This particular figure is named Amazarashi-No-Hotoke, meaning the Buddha that sits throughout the sunny and rainy weather without a shelter.

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way to the spire

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Many stone lanterns have been placed throughout the Japanese Tea Garden.

Stone lanterns were introduced to Japan

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in the Sixth Century along with Buddhism.

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Pathways to temples and shrines were lit by oil lamps placed inside the lanterns. The typical stone lantern is made up of six parts: the base stone, irin, the stem, sao, central platform, chudai, for the lamp oil, hibukuro, the light compartment, the

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broad roof, kasa, and at the top, the jewel, kurin.

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Right after a break on a bench and sat by Buddha statues, I got up and start looking around and I saw a long bridge right next to the Buddha statues that leads to a big red temple. The pathway under Long Bridge is lined with cherry trees, rhododendrons and fragrant wisteria. It winds toward the north end of the Tea Garden to vistas along Maple Lane and the Sunken Garden.

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P A G O D A

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share the glory

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After I walked across the long bridge, I arrived at the five stories Pagoda. At the base of the Pagoda is a traditional Japanese rock garden enclosed by a wooden fence. Two Heavenly Bamboo stand like sentinels on either side of the gate. This view also includes the memorial arch on the left and Temple Gate to the right. I was standing in front of the stately pagoda that made me to show the respect for gods and felt a spiritual closeness to Zen. I just stop my worrying and wondering. Look thoroughly into this great pagoda with the beauty nature. And had a seat and felt its spiritual energy and power. All of a sudden I found my worries and problems were really small and nothing at all.

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/ originally in the Japanese exhibit at the Panama-

exposition the Hagiwaras had it brought to the Tea Garden. In Japan and

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Pacific Exposition of 1915.

After the close of the

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The five-stored pagoda was

other countries in the Far East pagodas which are Buddhist shrines were often built over a sacred relic. The spire at the top of a pagoda is called a sorin and its nine rings represent various heavens of the gods

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M A I N

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the wonderful view

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I passed through the Temple Gate at Pagoda then walk toward to Cherry Tree Lane which connected to the good view of the whole Main Pond. The pathway that winds along the edge of the main pond offers spectacular views of the Temple Gate, Pagoda and Torii. The brilliant red of the Temple Gate is reflected in the surface of the Main Pond.

Crowning the hill from left to right are the Temple Gate, Pagoda and Torii. And at the west end of the Main Pond, I found the stone block path forks near by the Cherry Tree Lane. The ponds are full of plump, healthy looking koi in gorgeous colors brilliant yellow and fiery scarlet, as well as the more classic patterns.

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T he po n d s a re f ull of plu m p, he alt h y looki ng koi i n go rgeo u s c olo rs , b r illi a nt yello w a n d f i e r y sc a rl e t , a s well a s t he m o re c l a s si c pat t e r n s .

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It i s ha rd a n d it t ake s s t e ps to ge t to t he t o p, b ut I got dif fe re nt a ngl e a n d st at e of m i n d whe n I ge t t he re .

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everything look different

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I passed the beautiful Main Pond and arrived at the drum bridge. The drum bridge was interesting to me when I first saw it from far away. Once I get closer, it looks steeper than I thought which end up made me climb slowly and carefully in order to get to the top safe. The steep design forcing me to slow down and take in the peaceful vistas when I get to the top. It is hard to get to the top, but I got different angle and state of mind when I got there. My day felt very long sometimes, but changes do happen too.

Each day, a little different. A little bit of drift this way or that. Then, suddenly I noticed everything is different. Well, it’s been changing the whole time, but I hadn’t noticed until just now. And that is how life tends to come at me.

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Bridges which also

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The highly arched Drum

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called Moon Bridges were originally designed to allow pedestrians to cross over canals while barges could easily glide underneath. they actually require a pedestrian to climb up one side and down the other as if on a ladder.

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Some are so steep that

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