Bonsai Zen is the Japanese art of creating mini trees by shaping them in a vigorous and repetitive manner. The shaping begins with selecting the proper tree and building a small “house” for it. The bonsai is shaped so that it shares some of its branches or nodes with other similar shaped trees so that in the process it develops lines of parallel growth. Once the tree is shaped, it is re-potted, trimmed back, and cared for as normal. This art of bonsai begins in the mind of the artist who believes in the innate compatibility of a plant and a human being.
The term Bonsai zen means a place where one can sit and contemplate life through the art of bonsai. It is not uncommon to see bonsai trees in the garden of most homes and even offices; they are usually created for indoor plants as well as flowering trees like the cherry blossom. Smaller trees, such as the juniper, are often made into bonsai gardens as well. They have the advantage of being easy to care for and their small size requires less maintenance than larger plants and trees.
Bonsai zen represents the journey of life throughout all life and the balance between the living and the spirit. A person must take time to look at his own life from a perspective of the interrelations of the spirit with the physical on a daily basis. In this way, the bonsai tree becomes a work of art, a mirror of life as we know it.