Buddhism at CUUF...

About The Meditation Garden (click for details)

(As recalled by John Crew and recorded for Ruth Gardner's chronological history of Cascade Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on October 14, 2006.)

The Meditation Garden began during my first term as President of the CUUF Board of Trustees. On a survey we conducted several members of the Fellowship mentioned the desire to have such a garden . Having done landscaping and rock work around my home, and with an academic background in sculpture, I took it upon myself to develop a design. I had three guiding principles: Keep it simple and meditative; place it in a relatively quiet and little-used area; spend almost nothing. I think these goals were achieved, although about $500 has been spent on equipment, irrigation pipe, benches and plantings.

The garden is 20 ft. wide and 116 ft. long and is bordered on the north by a windrow of Poplar trees. Its main features are a long winding "dry" riverbed of cobblestones and a water feature made of local stone, including basalt.

The cobblestones were donated by Gallery 76 (on the WVC campus) where they had been part of the gallery floor for 28 years. With the help of a rented "dump trailer", four volunteers from Gallery 76, four from CUUF, and four work-release inmates from the Chelan County jail, 6 cubic yards of rock were shoveled, loaded and relocated to the asphalt bus pad behind our building. Lee Barnhill, Dan Sconce and I helped with this, but my memory fails to focus on our fourth companion. The rock was accompanied by 28 years of dust and grime, and would need to be screened and washed in the spring.

In the spring Dan Sconce and I laid out the outline of the streambed with garden hose so the hard task of removing sod could begin. Many people helped with this but special thanks goes to Lois Cole and her friend Bill (from Alaska) who did about three quarters by themselves. LeRoy Farmer, Dan Sconce, Suzanne Harper, Pat Brooke, Todd & Sharon Petit, myself and several others washed and wheel-barrowed rock for many days. The aforementioned are practicing members of the CUUF Zen Buddhist Meditation Group who have taken on the task of maintaining the garden. The Zen Buddhist influence on the design is significant and includes a "Boat rock" in the far end of the streambed.

All of the rock has been gathered from the Wenatchee area. The basalt was brought from Charlie Mason's property in Rock Island and the remainder from the area just north of Rocky Reach Dam. Charlie gathered most of the basalt and Brian Ohme helped me with the rest. I take responsibility for the arrangement and placing of the rocks with advice from others, particularly Todd. The water comes from the irrigation canal and is only available in the summer. Ken Toevs installed most of the underground plumbing including valves, with Todd and I digging ditches. I finished the remainder of the water system and Brian and I cemented the pond. Bonnie Orr donated a Maple tree and Suzanne and I donated a Sourwood. Louise Buchanan donated funds for one of our benches and LeRoy Farmer completed the complementary walkway to the north parking area. To this point that pretty well wraps things up. However, this will always be an ongoing project. Thanks to all who have helped and those who are to come.