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5/25/09

St. Lawrence University's North Country Japanese Garden To Be Dedicated May 30

CANTON - The North Country Japanese Garden at St. Lawrence University, located in the inner courtyard of Sykes Residence Hall, will be dedicated by President Daniel F. and Ann H. Sullivan in a ceremony on Saturday, May 30, at 1:30 p.m. The ceremony will be led by Zen Master Shinge Roshi.

The garden, which opened in the fall of 2008, serves as a learning laboratory and a place for quiet reflection. It is called Kitagunitei, which means "the North Country garden," and is based on a design made by several students who visited Zen gardens in Kyoto, Japan, in the summer of 2006 as part of a class project and research grant.

The garden has four quadrants, including a traditional dry landscape garden like the type that would be found at a Zen temple; a "strolling garden"; a dry stream; and a moss garden.

It is intended for use as a "living classroom," for the humanities and the sciences. The rocks were selected for their relevance to the geological sciences; the mosses and other plants are of interest to biologists; and the garden itself is used by philosophy, religious studies and other academic departments and programs to learn about East Asian aesthetics.

In addition, the garden has symbolic association with the North Country and the Adirondacks, as many of the plantings and rocks come from local sources.

Shinge Roshi is the director of the Zen Center of Syracuse, and has visited St. Lawrence often to lead meditation and other workshops.

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