THE FUSE

I just returned from a pilgrimage to Japanese temples and gardens, and I’ve been fascinated by their psychological dimensions. This is a topic that is not often discussed. These Zen temple gardens are not the stuff of your mother’s ornamental garden club. They are living relics that speak to us through darkness and despair—through centuries of war, famine, death, and destruction. They are timeless and yet profoundly address the needs of today. They offer a response that is at once ancient and enduring. One historian called them the “essence of Zen.”