Whoever created the rock garden of Kyoto's Ryoanji temple was a master in the art of omission. The perfect composition consisting of 15 stones in a rectangle of raked gravel has become the quintessential Zen garden. John Cage was lastingly inspired by the abstract garden. In 1983 the first "Ryoanji" pieces for oboe emerged. Then he compiled more rock gardens for other instruments and as these can be combined, there is basically an unlimited number of performance possibilities. Cage's "circumambulation of the rocks " as traced by the soloist, creates continuously new shapes of tonal motion much like a visitor in the Ryoanji garden does by setting the static image in motion when circling around it. The composer wanted them to be like sound events in nature. His garden is no less fascinating than its inspiration in Kyoto.