The dry landscape garden is the main highlight of Ryōan-ji. They say that Apple founder, Steve Jobs, himself achieved Zen while visiting this garden. Queen Elizabeth of England also paid a visit to this garden while on official business in Japan, and her glowing praise was picked up by mass media overseas. Nowadays it is known throughout the world as Japan's representative "Rock Garden."

This dry landscape garden is comprised of fifteen stones, but there is an even deeper meaning behind this number. The lucky numbers seven, five and three add up to fifteen -- a number which also represents the full moon that comes on the 15th night of every month. For Japan, this number represents completeness. There is also a trick to this garden, where it was built in a way that, no matter what angle you view it from, one stone will always remain hidden by the others. Why was the garden built this way?

The reason is that, ever since ancient times, it's been thought throughout Japan that "perfection is the beginning of destruction," so they say that as a result, the garden was purposefully made to be "imperfect."

There is another place in Ryōan-ji Temple that conveys this message, which is the coin-shaped water basin. Engraved along the four edges of the coin are the kanji "五"(I), "隹"(only), "疋" (sufficiency), and "矢" (knowledge). If you interpret the square opening at the center to be the "口” (mouth) character, the entire phrase can be interpreted to mean "I only know satisfaction."

This saying teaches us that one must always keep a spirit of fulfillment in their heart, without focusing on the things one does not have. The lesson here seems to be that, even if you can only see fourteen stones,you shouldn’t feel disappointed.

As long as humanity remains greedy and desires more and more, it can never truly be satisfied. Ryōan-ji Temple teaches you that you should strive to keep a tranquil spirit by rejecting and casting away such greed.