Beautiful Flower Gardens
Flowers can be found in all seasons in Chiang Mai province; some of these flowers produce fragrance throughout the day at the Tao Garden. Mature shade trees in our walking areas provide fresh air and that’s why we have more coolness than in Chiang Mai city. In our beautiful gardens you will find many types of birds, butterflies and dragonflies. The beautiful scenery also offers an opportunity for guests’ perfect enjoyment of nature’s gifts. At Tao Garden, the beautiful gardens also offer a healing adventure for guests of this reputed resort center.
Tao Garden’s Bonsais and Porcelain Vases
Tao Garden recently acquired 215 bonsais and many porcelain vases from China. They have been carefully placed all over the garden to help store Chi. The vases come from Jingdezhen, China's renowned "Capital of Porcelains". The bonsais, some of which are over 200 years old, are of the following four species:
Fujian Tea Carmona microphylla
Chinese Elm Ulmus parvifolia
Chinese Banyan Ficus microcarpa
Apple Malus
Vases
Vases can be filled with energy/chi. This chi can be accessed by the practitioner when needed. The beautiful vase has its material aspects and its non-material aspect. We have what we can see and touch and we have the empty space within. The empty space inside the form is as necessary as the clay to give definition to the vase. No clay, no vase; no empty space no vase. Material (clay glaze and color) + immaterial (empty space) = Vase What to do with that empty space? It is said that nature abhors a vacuum, that if there is an empty space it will not remain empty for long. Here’s an example of the Taoist vision of Vase by Mantak Chia. In front of his Tao Garden home there are seven vases set out. Each is roughly 1.4 meters high. Of course their colors and depictions of lotus and fish are lovely. However, here’s the thinking behind their placement: Master Chia has them set out according to the seven stars of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major). He does the Taoist Big Dipper meditation from the stars down to his skull and brain and then into the vases. In this manner the vase’s empty space becomes full of universal energy as it is drawn from the Pole Star (North Star), stirred up in the Big Dipper and attracted by Master Chia and guided by him into the vases. Like money in a bank account universal energy may be accessed and deposits made as needed. And that’s why there are so many beautiful vases at the Tao Garden.
Bonsai and Penjing
The bonsai thrives in very little soil and makes excellent use of nutrients, sunlight and water. They remind us of rooting and centering no matter where we may be on the earth. Bonsai or the Chinese penjing (“tray scenery”) abound at the Tao Garden. They are a strong reminder of rooting and of reaching up openly to the universe. What do we see when we look at a penjing (Chinese Taoist traditional tray scenery tree)? The hardy, wild and graceful form reminds us of Qi Qung postures and movements. It appears to be dancing lightly on the earth planted in a scant few liters of soil. It’s trunk is majestic in its firmness and solidity. It is a living reminder of “not too much, not too little – just enough.” We see it uses just enough soil and water plus the nutrients and fertilizers given by the caretaker. The caretaker: This reminds us of the cave or the darkroom where Taoist adepts retreat to so as to deepen the meditations and explore the inner universe. There need be someone with a deep understanding of the darkroom experience. Master Chia and his staff fulfill these roles as guides and providers. Caretakers are necessary and in fact without the caretaker there would be no penjing and no cave/darkroom experience. Wildness is balanced with knowledgeable care. Each and every penjing asks to be looked at and to be admired. We use this natural inclination to contemplate natural beauty to remind us of tree’s growing wood qualities. Kindness and forgiveness. We see the rootedness in what appears as “not enough” soil; instead the amount and quality of soil is “not too little,” but just right. The lifting up of the branches and leaves to the sun, the moon and stars, and to the flow of universal energy encourages our lifting up our hearts, minds and intentions.
