garden of philosophy

i know i said i was doing a night run this past weekend, but life got in the way. specifically a co-workers going away dinner trumped a 7k for me, and it was totally worth it. instead of a 7k night run, i managed a 7k afternoon run to the foot of gellert hill and walked up to the garden of philosophy, something i've been wanting to do for months. totally worth it as well.

created by hungarian artist nandor wagner, the garden has 4 statues, one large installation and 3 individual statues behind it. as the maker leading into the garden states "for a better mutual understanding." 5 religious icons in a circle facing their one common focus, god. i've long said that the most important lesson i ever learned in life i learned on my first night of my church youth group in 6th grade: different is different, not wrong. so many religions and faiths, how could they not be in harmony?

l-r: jesus, buda, lao tse, abraham, echnaton

the three status at the back from left to right: gahndi, bodhi dharma, saint francis. as i walked around the garden, catching my breath and taking it all in, i thought about an indigo girls song we'd played on repeat endlessly in our youth group:

i went to the doctor, i went to the mountains,

i looked to the children, i drank from the fountains

there's more than one answer to these questions

pointing me in a crooked line

and the less i seek my source for some definitive

the closer i am to fine

we can't get everything from one place, or maybe i can't. you do you.

3 installations were created, for hungary, japan and the united states. the hungarian garden was installed in 2001, a group of 11 statues was installed in testugakudo park, japan in 2009. i guess the united states is still in storage somewhere as i haven't been able to locate it.

adjacent to the garden of philosophy is a statue that was smaller than i'd expected it to be, based on the angle of other photos i'd seen. the prince buda and princess pest, uniting the cities across the danube.

prince buda and princess pest

luckily the hike down was shaded and an afternoon shower left the leaves to cool the air.

so much green

just a random fountain

i'll definitely be going back this route, it's got a spectacular view.

pest from the garden of philosophy