Impermanent Zen Garden · 无常禅园 

Impermanent Zen Garden contrasts the Buddhist idea of impermanence with the principle of mindfulness meditation. Zen practitioners believe that through mindful observation one can gain wisdom. Therefore, Zen gardens were built around the world to provide serene environments for meditators to focus their minds.

However, in this Impermanent Zen Garden, almost every aspect of the environment is constantly changing. Once the meditator focuses their mind on any object in the meditation room or in the garden, they will notice the moving mountains on the doors, the floating clouds on the walls, the smoke being blown on the ceiling, the water permeating through the tatami, the water stains coming and going on the garden walls, the touring glosses on the rocks, the traveling ripples on the sand, and the blinking stars in the night-sky. Not any two moments are identical, so that it seems impossible to fully observe any moment.

Therefore, the dilemma is thrown to the audience, and the decision is up to them to make. Are you going to concede that the world is ultimately agnostic, or are you determined to embrace each and every present moment in this impermanent world?

Impermanent Zen Garden is a dynamic environment made with Unity. The ever-changing contents are generated in real time using custom shader programs.