Tasmanian Buddhist Monk Thich Thong Phap constructed a zen garden at the Palliative Care Unit, Hobart.
On the ground floor of the J.W.Whittle Palliative Care Unit, behind the row of rooms where patients stay, is a long courtyard where they can sit in the sun.
In a corner of that courtyard is a little zen garden – a balanced array of mossy rocks, little trees, lush grass, smooth pebbles, and falling water.
The bubbling of the fountain erases the traffic noises of the city, allowing you to contemplate the shapes and textures of the garden in peace.
When Director of Palliative Care Michael Ashby showed me the garden, he also introduced me to one of the men who built it.
Thich Thong Phap is a Buddhist Monk and Chaplain. He was at the Whittle Ward to accompany a man through the journey of his death.
He explained how the garden came to be built and what a Zen Monk has to offer to someone in their last moments.
Listen to the ABC Hobart Interview with Buddhist Monk Thich Thong Phap
(More of Looking Death in the Eye.)
SourceABC Hobart
