When people think of a 'zen rock garden' this is the one most think of- Ryoanji. Although the title, 'zen rock garden' is controversial. To be more clued in one would better refer to it as a dry rock garden. Not all Buddhist temples are that of the zen sect. And many of these still have dry rock gardens. These rock scapes are to be entered by consciousness only, not bodies. They are for meditation. This one has 15 rocks, only 14 of which can be viewed by any particular angle. The back wall is a national treasure. What one sees as one contemplates is a sign of level of ones' consciousness. I wish I could say I found enlightenment here but I was thinking of mochi (sweet rice balls) in a sea of raked sugar. I was hungry. I do think the girls found enlightenment though. Maybe it'll rub off on me.
maybe the food vision was spurred on by a cake I once made for a friend. It's carrot cake with a cream cheese frosting on a sea of raked sugar. well, well, well...
I had a Japanese friend write 'happy birthday' in kanji on senbei (rice cracker) for authenticity. OK, so it looks nothing like a rock garden, I'll admit. What really happened was that I did not have an oven so was attempting a carrot cake in a rice cooker. It didn't exactly work. So as the sides were drying out and the middle was raw I had to start taking out chunks at a time. It tasted great so I thought there must be a way to salvage this. I found some brown sugar and senbei and thought, rock garden! Points for creativity, maybe - but little for execution. The second layer went in much thinner and came out ok. It was actually one of those great moments as guests were arriving and getting involved in the salvaging of the cake. It was a fun group effort in arrangement, raking & frosting and is probably my favorite cake 'experience' of all time. And since it was more steamed than baked it was incredibly moist. It rocked! - i could not resist that!
