Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, a prince of the Sakya kingdom on the borders of what are now India and Nepal and a contemporary of Confucius. Intent on finding relief for human suffering, he received a moment of enlightenment while meditating under a Bo tree. The Buddha taught that desires are the source of pain and that by overcoming desires, pain can be eliminated. To this end, he advocated meditation and pursuing the Eightfold Path, similar to the Ten Commandments of Judaism and Christianity. The objective was to reach Nirvana, the condition of serenity of spirit, where all cravings, strife and pain have been overcome, giving way to a merging of the spirit with eternal harmony.

1. The Zen Garden
Zen gardens definitely hold the place of the world's most beautiful gardens, with the layout of the
average Zen garden being both purposeful and exotic. Also known as Karesansui, these Zen gardens
were originally conceived in ancient China, though they were adopted by and are most commonly
associated with the Japanese.
The purpose of the Zen garden is very simple, but it is very spiritual as well. The purpose of the Zen
garden is to represent different aspects of a person's life and mind through plants, trees, ponds, animals,
rocks, sand, and soil. The Zen garden is created according to the desire of each person, and each Zen
garden is unique.
Many Zen gardens contain no life at all, while others simply contain one type of animal or plant life.
Some Zen gardens are exclusively designed as habitations for birds, while others are designed to attract
animals. Every Zen garden has a couple of things in common:
•Garden Buddha statues are featured in the place of honor in the middle of a pool of lotus flowers
•The paths of the garden are designed as a representation of the paths to enlightenment
•There are seats and a number of places to sit and be still in quiet meditation
Many Zen gardens are filled with sand, and that sand is moved with a rake into a number of patterns
and designs. The rocks strewn purposefully among the sand is designed to be seen as mountains or
islands, and the sand is moved in such a way as to appear to be water moving through the landscape of
the sand.
Many Zen gardens are filled with green plant life that is abundant and verdant, with the garden Buddha
statues in the center of the garden. The plant life that grows in the garden is used as a representation of
the teachings and instructions of Buddha growing in the minds of the owners of the Zen gardens. The
larger the variety of plant life that grows in the garden, the wider the range of understanding the person
is trying to comprehend.
The paths of the garden, as mentioned above, meander throughout the entire garden, and these paths are
designed for two purposes:
1.They are representative of the path that the Buddhist must walk to achieve true enlightenment, which
is represented by garden Buddha statues in the center of the garden
2.They are also used as a path for those who are practicing meditation while walking can take
advantage of to stroll through beauty and focus their mind on contemplation
The best thing about creating your own Zen garden is the fact that you need very little to create it. The
only requirements for Zen gardens are garden Buddha statues, which are easily acquired. The rest of
the garden is to be designed exactly how you want it, and each aspect of the garden will reflect the state
of your karma.

2. Read More About Buddha Statues.