Tea lesson (2013.09.07)

Today was a very nice tea lesson in our Seoul branch of Urasenke. We were performing Tana-usucha. Before coming to class I was reading a bit about the tea from the books I have. I felt that I was preparing internally for the class (which is always good to do to have a really good class). Flowers were arranged by our tea teacher, Kanako Muramatsu. She brought them all the way from Japan, where they have been cut in the garden of a Japanese tea master. I was very touched. Just few days ago I read in "The Book of Tea" about the flower arrangement in the Tea World, called chabana (flowers of tea). And the attitude of the tea masters discribed in the book impressed me deeply. How much love, care, consideration they put in arranging flowers!!!

When it was my turn to "perform tea" (interesting way to put it ^^), I felt deep happiness that I can do it. It was a real pleasure. I did tana-usucha few times, so procedure was already known. I felt like my body is moving by itself. I didn't need to think a lot what to do next. And that doesn't happen often. Usually I pay a lot of attention to mistakes I make, but this time I just went along, even if I did something wrong. It reminds me of my mother who used to say: "If there is something wrong going on, pretend that it has to be that way!"

Even when I whisked the tea, it became so fluffy (!) and looked really good. It was one of the things I couldn't do well. To make tea fluffy. But I got it right! I think step by step I begin to feel the balance between amount of powdered tea and quantity, temperature of water. 

Saturday morning was nicely cool, and windy. A true refreshment after so hot summer we had here. For this reason I gave the name to chashaku - "Autumn breeze". It felt refreshing ~~~~

To those who aspire to follow the Way of Tea

"To those who aspire to follow The Way of Tea, guard against jealousy. To place yourself at the center, to envy others, to tempt others - these are unpardonalbe. Know your duty, and as you immerse yourself  daily in The Way of Tea, you will be rewarded with happiness. The more you look up to others, the clearer your own position in relation to them will become. Whenever something untoward happiness, people try to make themselves look as good as possible. But if we remember the humble heart of the host in the tearoom, for he knows the spiritual taste of tea, then this persistent clinging to power for its own sake will be seen for what it is. Know what you know and know what you don't know, for only then will the limits of your strength become evident. To attain spiritual power, seize the chance when it offers itself; devote yourself to study and practice. In life are many who feign knowledge and lead others astray. No action can be more reprehensible. The Way is never exclusive. It is open to all to follow, but those who set out upon the path perforce need the help of those who have passed that way before." - Sen Rikyu

~ "Tea life, tea mind"; Soshitsu XV, p.80

Introduction to the Way of Tea

"The simple act of serving tea and receiving it with gratitude is the basis for a way of life called Chado, the Way of Tea. When Serving a bowl of tea in conformity with Tea etiquette, a cultural synthesis of wide scope and high ideals is brought into play with aspects of religion, morality, aesthetics, philosophy, discipline, and social relations. 

The Student of Tea learns to arrange things, to understand timing and interludes, to appreciate social graces, and to apply all of these to daily experience. These things are all brought to bear in the simple process of serving and receiving a bowl of tea, and are done with a single purpose - to realize tranquility of mind in communion with one's fellow men within our world. It is in this that the Way of Tea has meaning for today.

With a bowl of tea, peace can truly spread. The peacefulness from a bowl of tea may be shared and become the foundation of a way of life."

~ "Tea life, Tea mind", Soshitsu Sen XV, p.9 

(picture was taken after the Tea lesson, in Seoul Urasenke branch, 2013. 08.31)