As Günter Nitchke has noted, Japanese temple gardens embody an interesting paradox. They are shizen, natural or 'self created,' but they are also a 'square of nature,' a geometrical product of human artifice. Although naturally beautiful, the natural is perfected through the gardener's aesthetic power to frame the world from a human perspective. Herein lies an important spiritual truth: Human beings participate in the unfolding process of the world's becoming, of that ceaseless flow of forms that are ever changing. We, like nature, have the power to make beautiful forms from formlessness; gardens emerge out of the empty but creative source from which all life arises, known as the eternal Dao.

The North Country Japanese garden (Kitaguni teien), constructed by St. Lawrence University faculty and students in 2007, is based on the basic principles of Japanese garden design. It is a community space, located in the inner courtyard of Sykes, a student dormitory, which offers a peaceful refuge from hectic campus life. It is a place for quiet contemplation where the visitor can enjoy a traditional dry landscape garden as well as a strolling garden. Kitaguni no teien, in 2014, was developed into a pilgrimage site with the installation of a student carved Kannon icon within the moss garden.