How to Build Your Own Mini-Zen Garden

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By staysik
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Have your own personal Zen garden

Zen gardens and the building and maintenance of the gardens are an art in their own right. They are simple, peaceful places with a bed of gravel or sand in an enclosed space. A few rocks are placed in the sand and the garden is raked in curved lines, forming an echo of the placement of the rocks and how water would appear surrounding them. Zen gardens are a place for contemplation and deep meditation. You can make you own if you don't have a Zen garden in your area, or you would like a Mini-Zen Garden to keep in your house, apartment, or office space.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Take-out sushi container, or a ceramic dish with raised sides -about the size of a notebook page
Fine gravel or sand
A few small rocks
Wooden mini-rake, or even a bamboo fork

Step 1

These Zen Gardens will give you ideas for your Mini-Zen Garden

The container that you use to put your Mini-Zen Garden in can really be any size, depending on where you're going to set it and how much time you want to invest in choosing a garden "bed". A take-out sushi tray is a good size, has raised sides to contain the sand, and usually sushi trays will be decorated nicely, or plain black. For a more permanent, larger or decorative tray- try a small ceramic, glass, or wooden tray that will contain the sand and won't leak.
Step 2

Choose a natural color of sand to closely resemble a full-scale Zen garden

Use sand or small gravel that won't be too dusty- some decorative sand or fish-tank gravel/sand would be perfect, and you don't need much at all for a Mini-Zen Garden (about a cup of sand, depending on the size of the tray you've chosen to use). Place the sand in the tray, filling it about 2/3 of the way full so it covers the bottom of your try, yet doesn't spill over.
Step 3

Zen gardens are peaceful and serene, an ideal place for meditation

Select your rocks- try just a few, and maybe not all the same exact size. Use your wooden rake- you can find a small wooden comb, like a pick, or a wooden fork, or bamboo rake- making designs around the rocks. Study the pictures of the full-scale Zen gardens for ideas, then you will develop your own favorite patterns and style. Now you are finished, and you have a very simple Mini-Zen Garden of your own to meditate upon!

Comments

austinstar said

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on 9/26/2009 Another good thing to do for a zen garden is to incorporate the four elements of earth, wind, fire, and water. Maybe surround your garden with other chi elements like wind chimes too!

gardengranny said

on 4/22/2009 great article- I made one using a black wooden tray with sides. I brought back a bag of white beach sand from Alabama 3 years ago and made my zen garden with it. I love to run my fingers thru it and think of the times at the beach