It has its echo in Eden which in the western cosmology was a garden of purity before sin entered into the world. Since sin never entered the NIWA, it is still the pure and beautiful place it always has been. The principles of Zen philosophy help us to bring to a personal experience of the Japanese Garden understandings leading to a deepened comprehension of its meanings. In other words, the more we can bring to the experience, the greater will be the return to the observer. A Japanese Garden is a representation of the universe and its elements- fire in the form of a stone or iron lantern, earth in the form of stone, and water, air, plant, and animal life in their true forms.
Gardens essentially divide between the dry landscape and the pond garden types.
Even in a dry garden there is always some water, notably in dripping basins or suggested by waterfall chains from the down spouts. The garden path, or roji, is not merely a functional entry into the garden. Its stones are placed with careful irregularity and lead indirectly rather than directly to often hidden or obscure places. Bends in the path, or larger stones, are stopping points for vistas or views, representing meditative pauses in the personal experience of contacting the universe via the garden experience. Stones generally form the basic supporting framework of a Japanese garden,and they should look as though they had always lived in the spot in which one sees them.