Ancient Zen garden temples have survived centuries of devastation, but can be seen as gardens of awakening.

The wisdom of Zen monks can support clinicians who deal with the suffering of their patients.

Psychiatrist Mark Epstein writes about how Zen can help us uncover a hidden kindness in life.

I just returned from a pilgrimage to Japanese temples and gardens, and I’ve been fascinated by their psychological dimensions. This is a topic that is not often discussed. These Zen temple gardens are not the stuff of your mother’s ornamental garden club. They are living relics that speak to us through darkness and despair—through centuries of war, famine, death, and destruction. They are timeless and yet profoundly address the needs of today. They offer a response that is at once ancient and enduring. One historian called them the “essence of Zen.”

There was one garden, Ryoan-ji, that spoke to me in its silence and serenity, almost like a wise Zen master sharing their wisdom. Last night, returning home after a 20-hour journey, I couldn’t stop reading about the findings of Artemis 2, which had just splashed down. The findings of this moon journey resonated with the deep wisdom of these garden temples. Let me explain.

Before I left for Japan, I was concerned about a patient who fell into a sudden, major depressive........

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