Please contact the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life for details. On the top floor of Eliot House sits Wa-shin-an, the traditional Japanese meditation garden and teahouse opened on October 7, 1984 through the initiative and generosity of alumnae and friends of Mount Holyoke College. "Wa-shin-an" translates as "Peace Mind House" and offers a space separate from distractions, a place to cultiva
te attention to being alive. There are further nuances to the name. 和 ("wa") conveys a sense of harmony and is found also in the values of "wa, sei, kei, jaku" in chado - the Japanese tea ceremony - which translate to "harmony, respect, purity, tranquility". 心 ("shin") is the core of a person, their heart-mind. 庵 ("an") has the feeling of a small house hermitage type of retreat. The atmosphere is tasteful and humble. Master architect-builder Teruo Hara and his team constructed the teahouse and the garden's enclosure with traditional Japanese hand tools in the sukiya zukuri style, providing a simple, unadorned design in natural materials. The 16th-century tea master Sen no Rikyu favored this aesthetic approach. Landscape architect Osamu Shimizu designed and planted the garden in the kare sansui style, which symbolically gathers the world into a small, balanced space. The white pebbles may be viewed as the sea, and the larger stones can be understood as mountains and cliffs which bound the sea. The mosses suggest lowland plains. Other plantings suggest inland forests and fields. Beneath a Japanese maple stands a statue of Jizo, a bodhisattva (enlightened being) of compassion known to care for the weak and powerless in society, pilgrims, and children. Wa-shin-an is a special jewel at the heart of Mount Holyoke's campus. It is open according to the academic calendar without reservations needed. Please look at the website for current hours: https://www.mtholyoke.edu/wa-shin-japanese-garden-and-teahouse
Visitors new to the space will be given a tour upon arrival and are invited to stay and enjoy this special place for contemplative practices such as meditation or prayer, sketching, reading poetry, writing, or simply quiet sitting. For further information and to schedule a group visit, please contact caretaker Heath Atchley.
