ABSTRACT
Zazen is an instrument. Pictures of this can be given verbally, but the best pictures of it are non-verbal such as the triangle and the toy of Daruma. When zazen is pictured verbally, its finest likenesses appear in anecdotes or images like "the calm ocean within". The rock garden at the Zen temple, Ryoan-ji embodies the rigor, the simplicity, the tranquillity, the intensity, and the strength that come with zazen. The rocks jutting up from the calm surface are like the thoughts that rear to distract the quiet of the zen student. They are also related to another Zen story. One day Sen no Rikyu asked a disciple to rake their garden. The garden at Ryoan-ji would be imperfect without the rocks. It has been said that men have no language for the life of the spirit, for the inner as contrasted with the outer life.
