Willow Pond Zen Garden

Australia

Independent Function Centres’ Association

The Zen garden to the left hand side to the entrance to Ramon's at Willow Pond is based on a similar garden found at the Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto.

It is a simple rock garden, consisting of nothing but white gravel/sand and 15 rocks.

The garden is constructed in the "dry landscape" style called Karesansui. The rocks of various sizes are arranged on small white pebbles in five groups, each comprising five, two, three, two, and three rocks. The garden contains 15 rocks arranged on the surface of white pebbles in such a manner that visitors can see only 14 of them at once, no matter what angle the garden is viewed from. It is said that only when you attain spiritual enlightenment as a result of deep Zen meditation, can you see the last invisible stone.

The raked lines are circles around the rock groups and yet straight elsewhere - and you will love how the lines stop without a single misplaced pebble when they touch the circular patterns, and then resume unchanged beyond them as if the rocks are islands.

Wabi is a powerful design technique that uses simplicity and understatement to allow the viewer's imagination to "fill in the blanks".

The design generates tension, drawing the viewer to contemplate the mystery of Zen. It can't be photographed in entirety, the dimensions could drive any photographer to distraction, but that is the beauty of it.

All you can do is just put the camera away, sit down and contemplate it. Especially when you realise that no matter where you sit, you will only see 14 of the rocks at any one time.

459 Nicholson Road
Canning Vale WA 6155
Function Centre/Office Phone: 08 9455 1187
Restaurant Phone: 08 9456 1362

Willow Pond Reception Centre is a member of both the
Independent Function Centres’ Association
and the
Restaurant & Catering Industry Association of Western Australia.

This page was last updated on Friday, 13 June 2008