Buddhist Ideas & Gardens – Gardens & Gifts
At some Buddhist monasteries and temples the garden looks as if it had been created by many different people without an overall plan.
This may be exactly what has happened and it reflects an important idea in Buddhism.
The Garden is Made up of Gifts
When Buddha created Buddhist monasteries he foresaw a danger that being a monk could become quite a selfish business where monks spend their time seeking happiness for themselves only. So, to guard against this, he made a rule that monks may not do gardening and so could not grow their own food and instead would have to beg for food from local people. This was to make sure that each monastery did enough good that local people would want to give the monks food. If the monastery did not benefit anyone besides the monks, local people would stop feeding them. In Buddhist countries like Thailand this rule is still followed and every morning the monks go out with begging bowls to be given food by local people.
In the same way, the gardens of monasteries were expected to be looked after and beautified by local people if they felt like it – no gardening done by monks themselves. The garden shows whatever gratitude the monks have inspired. You can see this happening at the Buddhapadipa Temple in Wimbledon, south-west London where the large, beautiful grounds are maintained by volunteer helpers who feel goodwill towards the monastery. Individuals just buy trees and plant them or create and plant flowerbeds in shapes of their own choosing. Watering, hedge-trimming and weeding likewise are gifts from individuals. Little garden features can just appear when someone has wanted to create one.
Some monastery or temple gardens have filled up with shrines and garden features given by individuals in this way without any overall order.
Not all Buddhist gardens are like this. But in gardens which do follow a plan, like some Japanese gardens, quite often a group of donors have got together to make the garden a large joint gift.
Continue reading: Buddhist gardens in China and Japan.
Other Sources of Information
www.buddhapadipa.org/pages/temple.html - more about the Buddhapadipa Temple.