FROM THE GARDEN OF ZEN: November 2020

November 26, 2020

Autumn leaves: Engaku-ji

The change in the sun's diurnal orbit on the celestial sphere causes the transitions of seasons. In winter, because of the lower altitude of the sun, hours of sunlight decrease substantially and ambient temperatures descend sharply.

In the autumnal garden dressed with various flaming colors, living things have sensed the subtle signs of the coming winter and quietly begun to prepare for the cold and harsh season.

Soon deciduous trees shed all of their colored leaves in haste to defend themselves against the severe coldness and insufficient sunshine of midwinter. Before long, they will enter into quiet winter sleep and dream of the warm spring sunlight.

Autumn leaves: Engaku-ji

In the transparent sunlight of late autumn, the colored leaves of trees are brightly shining like a fleeting illusion showing the flames of life. The greenish-blue copper roof of the Butsuden (Buddhist sanctum), where the Birushana Buddha is enshrined, is accentuating these brilliant colors of leaves.

Sensing the arrival of winter by a sharp decrease in temperature and sunlight, deciduous trees cut off the supply of water to their leaves to shed them completely in preparation for bitter winter.

The chemical reaction caused by the dryness and aging of the leaves produces various blazing colors of the leaves which remind me of the radiant glow of the sun setting in the sea.

Autumn leaves: Engaku-ji

The discolored and faded leaves of the Sakura tree are quietly waiting for the moment of fluttering in a wintry blast.

Soon, on the chilly ground, these leaves will begin to be decomposed by microorganisms in the soil and change into precious nutriment for the lively rebirth and blooming in next spring.

The hidden wisdom of nature, which has been inherited from the far distant past, manifests itself stealthily in the unceasing passage of the seasons.