Questions, questions

When I first began to study tea, I had a million questions and I asked them all the time of my sensei. Often she would not answer my questions and I thought that it was because her English was not so good. But that didn’t stop me from asking questions or asking them repeatedly. I was there to learn and I thought that asking questions was the best way for me to do that. It showed sensei that I was active, engaged and participating. Quite often, sensei would answer my questions with responses like, “You already know the answer,” or “Because it has been decided,” or “If I give you the answer, you will not remember.” None of which were appropriate answers as far as I was concerned.

It wasn’t until I went to Japan to study that I realized that what I was doing was very disruptive and quite disrespectful of my sensei. Although there are no inappropriate questions, there were definitely inappropriate times to ask them.

I take that back. There are inappropriate questions – those questions that are asked to show off what you know and questions that are meant to embarrass the teacher. Questions asked sincerely are appropriate, and only the student can regulate these questions.

As for inappropriate times to ask questions, it is bad form to ask questions when the teacher is actively teaching another student and there by taking attention away from another student’s learning. It is inappropiate to ask questions that will sidetrack the teacher from what is being currently being presented. It is better to wait until the teacher asks if there are any questions. If the questions only engage one student in a back and forth that leaves out the rest of the class it is better to take it off line and ask the teacher outside of class.

Just because you ask a question, doesn’t mean that you will receive an answer that you like. The learning style of question and answer is only one form of learning. As I learned from my sensei, “Because it has been decided,” is a perfectly good answer. This teaches us that there are things we accept now without understanding it may lead to a deeper understanding later. A hard concept for our culture, I know.

The response of “If I give you the answer, you will not remember,” teaches us that not everything is given to us. We must work hard to come by knowledge. By trying to work out an answer or researching it, trains you to think for yourself and seek out the answer by yourself.

If there are any questions, I’ll try to answer them in the comments.

Ask questions -- Rikyu hyakushu

はじをすて人に物とひ習うべし是ぞ上手の基なりける
haji o sute hito ni mono tohi narau beshi kore zo jozu no motoi nari keru

Sometimes person may feel embarrassed to ask questions. That embarrassment should be set aside and questions asked.
or
One must discard all embarrassment when training in tea for this is the foundation of mastery.
or
One should abandon feelings of embarrassment and ask people questions; this is the keystone to become adept.

This poem can be interpreted in many ways, but to my thinking, I would like to put the emphasis on not being embarrassed rather than asking the questions.  In the previous poem, learning by looking and studying is emphasized, so before you ask questions, take time to look, study and reflect on what it is that you have a question about.

The matter of asking questions comes up quite often with my students.  In a lot of learning situations here, asking questions, having discussions and debates show the teacher that you are engaged and participating.  But as I wrote in this post, there are appropriate times and appropriate questions. And don't forget, the poem doesn't say ask your teacher, there are other students in class, and your sempai (senior students) who may have asked the question previously who may be willing to help you out.

As for feeling embarrassed, some people have no problem with this, others may feel embarrassed because they are beginners, or more junior than everyone else. This is the time to discard your embarrassment.  We were all beginners at one time. You are here on the path and everyone has his own journey in his own time.  Ask your sensei if you may ask a question, or if it is an appropriate time to ask a question.  Don't be embarrassed.

Intimate Silence

In the previous post, The host revealed, and by questions at tea demonstrations, I have been asked again and again about how much talking is allowed at a tea ceremony. While talking is not forbidden, there are appropriate subjects and times that guests and host can communicate.

In America, we are not usually comfortable with silence and talk to fill it or cover the perceived awkwardness. It seems more friendly and attentive to comment and chat about what is going on in the tea room.

If there is conversation in the tea room, most of it will take place between the shokyaku or main guest, and the host. It is the responsibility of the shokyaku to speak for the guests and to anticipate the questions the guests may have and to time the conversations so that the harmony and flow of the ceremony is enhanced and not disrupted. Other guests may address the shokyaku to ask the host questions and the shokyaku will find an appropriate time to ask the host.

It is in fact, more respectful at a tea ceremony to be silent and pay careful attention as the host goes through the procedures for making tea. Conversation, questions and chat during this time takes attention away from what the host is doing. For the host, his full attention should be on serving the guests. And for the guests, their full attention should be on receiving what the host has prepared and appreciation for everything the host has done in preparation/

Communications are subtle and nuanced in the silence and unspoken feelings can be intensified by a mere glance or gesture. In many ways, this careful attention on both sides creates an intimacy that cannot be achieved through conversation and talking.

Spring Break in Kyoto

My husband and I had the delightful opportunity to fly to Kyoto for a week at the end of March. We were fortunate enough to have scheduled a trip when the sakura blossoms were just beginning to come out. It was so enchanting to walk through the busy streets or along the river and view the beautiful blooms.

I also counted myself lucky to be in Kyoto during the annual Rikyu-ki event. Margie sensei had emailed the Urasenke school to inform them of my coming visit to Kyoto and they had graciously extended me an invitation. I can’t say that I wasn’t nervous. This would be my first formal event in Kyoto and I was terrified that I wouldn’t know what to do, where to go or how to conduct myself.

Several days before Rikyu-ki, I had prearranged time for aisatsu for Oiemoto and his family. This way Kevin was able to see the Chado Research Center and look at the famous dogu on display there. We were served tea and I was able to feel welcome, to sit and be calm. Bruce sensei took the time to meet with us and I was able to ask the questions I needed to feel more prepared.

Taking the Time to Notice Things About Others

I had my first realization that day in regards to how tea people (or anyone who has the Tea Spirit) take information and respond to it. The tea bowl I drank from that afternoon had daffodils on it, which I had mentioned in my introductory letter. It was like a message to me that they noticed what I had written and it was like a gentle hand reaching out and comforting me: telling me that there could be no mistakes made; that I was accepted and a part of this wonderful family in my own way. It was such a small thing and yet meant so much to me. So much! What a small step that someone took to provide a bright beacon of friendship and welcome to someone they hardly knew.

The Day of Rikyu-ki

The big day arrived and I spent an hour dressing in my kimono, making sure that I was presentable. Just 24 hours ago I had been suffering from food poisoning and I was still feeling weak and reeling. I took a cab to the research center and joined the group of Midorikai students waiting. I was honored to sit with two former Midorikai students who assisted me in knowing what to do (or not to do, as the case may be). We became friends and they helped me immensely not only to feel more comfortable but to field questions for my insatiable curiosity of Everything-Chado.

During the event I felt comfortable being with my sempai and participating as guest. I couldn’t understand much of the Japanese and I had to save many of my sweets because of my tummy (thank goodness for kimono sleeves!), but I was just so happy to be there.

You Matter

This event made me realize that it was the small gestures that make tea worth sharing with others. In Western society, it would be like recommending a book that you thought someone might enjoy. Everything has meaning. I also realized that it’s not about JUST your guests but also about you, as their host. Sure, your guests matter when you plan a chaji, but you (as host) also matter to the event. Before in any other tea situation, I would often try to blend in to the wall as teishu and “let the guests enjoy themselves.” I would make it only about the tea. We are here to drink tea, nothing else. But that wasn’t the spirit that was enlivened in me after this event. The assistants made tea interesting and fun. They gave life to the scrolls and utensils. They told stories that made us laugh. I encourage us to not be bogged down by tea politics and the weight of our daily lives but rise above it to take our tea practice as a time to be with friends and like-minded people: To share life and peace through a single bowl of tea. To live in the moment and be grateful that we are here now and it will never be the same ever again.

Even after studying it for five years, I’ve only just grazed the surface. The supreme highlight of the event for me was being able to meet Hounsai Daisosho and having him shake my hand. A greater gift couldn’t have been given to anyone!

Tea ceremony and American Culture

Hello tea friends. I apologize for not posting much this month. I promise that I will do better and I have so many plans this year to enhance my study of the way of tea.

What follows is an discussion I had with a person some years ago regarding teaching tea ceremony in America.   It is an interesting exchange and made me think hard about my journey with tea. The topic is just as relevant now as when I corresponded with this person 10 years ago. I apologize to the person with whom I engaged on this subject, as I didn't keep his name or email.  There are no right or wrong answers, and I hope you to will think about your tea practice and the questions the discussion raises.

Your letter encourages me to think deeply about the nature of tea. I do realize that we all come to tea for varied reasons. But since I am particularly interested in chado in America, I would to see more dialog about key issues such as those you raise.

If I ever said that tea must be separated from anything I misspoke. (that was from a pen of the tea friend whom I quoted). You eloquently explain why that cannot be the case. I believe that tea must be Universal… isn’t that what the entire mission of our Oiemoto has been? Isn’t that why he began his effort to begin tea foundations all across the globe? In the aftermath of World War II he saw that national boundaries must be broken down and that universal humanity must be emphasized. This has been his great strength. I do not believe he did this in order to merely spread Japanese culture to others.

(margie answers in italic) In my opinion, I believe that the mission of Oiemoto was to promote mutual understanding through Chado. Peacefulness through a bowl of Tea, is how Oiemoto (now Genshitsu Daisosho) expressed it. He did not say Tea must be universal, nor did he say that national boundaries must be broken down. I think too many people put the emphasis on the means rather than the goal. Let me clarify that my own definition of mutual understanding does not necessarily mean mutual agreement but a recognition of our similarities and respect for our differences. If we can attain mutual understanding through golf, for example, then I endorse the study of the Way of Golf, too. Like golf, Tea has its own rules of etiquette so that you can play on any course in the world without offending people. Some follow the rules and some do not. Some are more welcome than others.

That is why I ask whether tea can take root in other cultures as long as tea is seen as only “Japanese tea ceremony”? I just don’t believe it can. But do not think I am some kind of radical bent on throwing everything out and starting anew. We must carefully examine, though, what can be safely dispensed with in order to stay true to tea spirit.

I agree we must be thoughtful and not hasty to throw out what many perceive to be stupid Japanese rules that have nothing to do with me or my culture. But how do we know what is relevant unless we do learn them? How can you separate the way of Tea from Japanese culture? Is, for example, bowing strictly a Japanese custom that can be dispensed with because we do not bow to each other in America? Is there some other universal way to show respect for each other? The way of Tea is a living tradition. Tradition is passed down from teacher to student, and once the basics have been learned and the foundation of the way of Tea is understood, according to my teacher, Bonnie-sensei, “what you’re trying to do as a teacher is release the student to the point that they begin to inform their ceremony with their inner self, whatever it is they have to give.”

You mention Zen. Zen is at a very interesting point in its history and has undergone many changes in its transmittal here over the past decades. Each monastery has had to ask itself key questions, one that probe the very heart of Zen. What cultural baggage has Zen picked up that is no longer suitable here? Is Zen dependent on chanting in Japanese, for instance? Can zazen be done in a chair instead of lotus posture? Many have decided that cultural items are just superficial. I sure you realize that “Zen” was first in India, but was still inherently “Indian” when it was next in Korea? Was it still inherently Chinese when it was transmitted to Japan? Is it still inherently Japanese now that it is transmitted to America?

It is my understanding that tea ceremony really did grow in Japan and was not transmitted as a study from somewhere else. I think we must be careful in making judgments as to what cultural items are superficial. Unless we know deeply what the masters were trying to teach through the Way of Tea, we may be dispensing with an essential part of the teaching by dismissing it as not suitable to American culture. Even after 18 years of study of the Way of Tea , I am not sure where essential teaching becomes cultural baggage.

I am not a true student of Zen. I only know about it as it relates to Tea. I have done zazen form my first tea lesson. But my Tea study is not separate from my Zen study. I believe that you can attain a more spiritual life through living a more conscious life. Because many Zen masters and Tea masters have said that Tea and Zen are one, everything in my life is Tea and as I understand it, everything is Zen. Is this Japanese? I don’t really know. I only know that this is how I conduct and measure my life. I don’t study sutras, but I strive to be aware, aware of living fully in just this moment, now.

I am sure that most of us who came to tea did so because we deeply respected and were interested in Japanese culture. I know that was the case with me. But I am sad to say that I have yet to meet even one Japanese sensei teaching here who truly understands my culture, the American culture, and honors what we are as a people. It is assumed that becoming a tea person means becoming like the Japanese, and putting on what is referred to as “kimono mind”. Unfortunately this has been my experience. I’m really glad that it has not been yours and I pray that it is not the experience of others who come to tea.

I must count myself fortunate that I have never encountered this type of thinking in all of my acquaintance with Tea people. All of the Japanese sensei that I have met in Tea have been eager to find a way that American culture and Japanese culture can learn from each other. I never have the expectation that any person raised in a different culture will truly understand my culture. I only hope that the other person can be open and look for ways to bridge on both sides of the cultural gap. By agreeing to teach the Way of Tea to non-Japanese students, these Japanese teachers are willing to transmit such wisdom as they can, the best that they can. I am willing to meet them more than half-way because I believe that what they have to teach me has immense value. I try first to understand rather than be understood. By opening my mind to other ideas, methods and teachings, together we can transcend national cultures come to mutual understanding.

As someone who has spent his life devoted to the art of teaching, I can’t help but notice that tea is taught using Japanese methods. I think these methods (for example, emphasis on unquestioning obedience, and on knocking down others in order to make them egoless) are best suited to the Japanese mindset. And reinforce traditional Japanese values which our culture does not especially value. Is this style suitable for Americans? I just ask,

Many methods of teaching Tea do emphasize values that are not typically taught or emphasized in America. I mean such values as humility, consideration of others, appreciation, service, cooperation, putting others first, preparation, and giving others credit. I believe we can learn and benefit from these values.

I recall my son’s experience in military bootcamp seemed very similar to what you describe as Japanese teaching methods. But by removing the barriers of individuality, we can put aside our own agendas and become part of something greater than ourselves. Americans believe in the individual going it alone, but by joining forces with others and having a higher goal than our own ambitions, we can create something much, much larger and more powerful.

Because teaching methods (or ways of transmitting wisdom) are different, there is a journey that is often more profound in discovering for ourselves the true path. Often times I get into discussions with tea students over what level they have attained in the licenses to measure their progress and demanding the teacher move them along to the next level because they are ready for it. I think this is a very American way of looking at Tea. By concentrating on attaining “mastery” through memorization of temae procedures, these students ultimately will move on to something else, always searching for the next skill to master, yet never attaining the joy, satisfaction and peace that come from a more profound spiritual understanding of what we are learning and why we are here.

We are a culture of individuals, not one where the group mind is honored above all else. We are a culture that values speaking our mind and having honest dialogue. We are a democracy where all can have an opinion and we don’t all have to agree. I have spent 20 years of my life teaching American literature and American studies focusing on those things that make us unique; on values we hold dear and that have been the foundation of our culture. Are we supposed to throw these values out in favor of Japanese ones? I think this is a key question and I ask it seriously.

And I would ask seriously, is there nothing we can learn from the cultural values of Japan? Maybe even not just Japan, but from all other cultures? Is the American way the best way and all other cultures must adjust to us? I do not think other cultures are antithetical to our unique American culture. We must find a way to blend the best of other cultural values and American values and make our world a better place in which to live.

There are many more ways of learning than through discussion and intellectualization. By talking about things so much, we often miss the lessons of awareness, intuition, body learning, and non-verbal communication.

We have nothing like the Way of Tea in American culture that promotes mutual understanding. We are at the forefront of learning the Way of Tea and promoting mutual understanding to all people. As pioneers and students of these courageous Japanese teachers who are willing to share with us, I think we have an obligation to study the Japanese methods, to know thoroughly the essence of the teaching and to transmit to the next generation as best we can and as clearly as we can, the wisdom of the Way of Tea.

I still believe that tea was started by those rooted in the willingness to question institutions but who absolutely believed in the uniqueness of each individual. They taught others to believe in themselves and in their own creative spirit. The stories relating to Rikyu all underline his daring. Many Americans I talk to are drawn to tea because they relate to this independent spirit. But when they enter tea, they discover it is not what they believed. Perhaps when tea was incorporated in traditional Japanese culture it lost something. This happens to all things once they become institutionalized.

This is like saying that people are drawn to music by hearing Yoyo Ma play the cello, but when they enter music lessons for the first time it is not what they believed it to be. Even Yoyo Ma began someplace doing scales and learning fingering and bow techniques. Not much transcendent experience doing such things. However, if you participate in a chaji given by someone with considerable tea experience, that is another matter.

For people who enter Tea because they are drawn by the independent spirit of Rikyu, only to find it was not what they believed, I say good for them. It is so much richer and harbors wisdom and so many more treasures then they imagined when they first started the journey. If they can put aside preconceived notions about tea, the rewards will be a hundred fold more.

I think that for tea to take root here, Americans must be able to find themselves reflected in it. And just as tea in Japan is part Japanese and part universal, for tea to grow here it must be part Japanese, part American and mostly universal. But I hope that tea can eventually transcend cultural boundaries. Then it will truly be unieversal.

In my opinion, for Tea to continue to have meaning for others, everyone who follows the way of tea must examine why they are studying Tea. In any endeavor, there will be people who will try to use the institution to show superiority over others, to gain power over others, and to control how it should be for others. Tea will survive and grow to the extant that we practice the ideals we have been taught and by the example we can show the world as true chajin. Whether this results in growth in Tea for America and Americans is not as interesting to me as sharing my love for the way of tea and living my life according to the ideals of the Way of tea.

Thank you so much for this discussion that has forced me to think about my motivations and values and teaching the Way of Tea.

Do you have opinions, discussion about tea in America?  Japanese vs. American teaching methods, values or motivations?  Please let me hear about them in the comments.

It’s not about perfection

Students often think that having the perfect temae is the goal of tea study. Though we strive for perfection in temae, that really is not what tea study is about. I wrote previously about hataraki, making adjustments and moving forward. Making mistakes are other opportunities for learning and growing.

Sensei often said that in class, you can to nothing right, but in chaji you can do nothing wrong. She would correct every little thing in class. And I would rather make my mistakes in class and be corrected, than to be in a formal tea gathering and make my mistakes.

Just about the time I thought I could get through a tea procedure without making any mistakes, sensei would mention things for me to pay attention to or ask questions while I was making tea, such as what is your left hand doing? Or explain to me the significance of of the guest role. And she would tell me to keep going to make tea while thinking, talking and answering her questions. Quite often, I would have a brain freeze and not be able to talk, nor could I continue making tea, nor could I remember where I was in the procedure or what came next. (I am quite easily distracted and have a hard time even walking and talking at the same time).

What sensei was doing was training me to be more aware of everything, to hold more than one thing in my head, and to trust my body. She was also training me to hold onto my concentration on what I was doing, to move forward when there were distractions and to be able to converse with guests without stopping the procedure and getting my work done. The trick in chanoyu is to make everything look natural, easy and uncomplicated, even though there is a lot going on.

Sensei also said, “If you are going to make a mistake, make it beautifully.”

Gratitude for my sempai

In Japanese, sempai is the word for senior students. Kohai is the word for junior students. For many people who have not grown up with the sempai-kohai system it can be difficult to understand and for the system to work, it must have the cooperation of both the kohai and the sempai.

The sempai as a senior student has many responsibilities: to act as an example of the teaching of the sensei, to be the source for etiquette questions, to teach the kohai the behavior and procedures in the preparation room, and any other teaching out of sight of the sensei. If the kohai misbehave or make mistakes, it is the sempai who takes responsibility and is the one that gets in trouble.

The responsibilities of the kohai are to respect the sempai, to be humble and defer to the sempai, to ask the questions before attempting anything he hasn’t done before and accept the teachings.

A hard concept for me was to accept someone younger than I as my sempai. As we enter the way of tea, everyone who has been before you is your sempai, no matter how young and how inexperienced. I had 15 years of experience studying with my sensei when I went to study in Kyoto. Though I did have sempai that were wise and more experienced, some of my sempai were 18 or 19, had studied for less than a year and they had been in the program for six months before I came. They were still my sempai and though I might have known how to conduct myself at home, they still had more experience in the protocol and how to conduct themselves in Japan than I did and had a lot to teach me.

The lesson I learned from this is that everyone has something to teach me, even those younger and less experienced. To all of my sempai in the way of tea, thank you. Thank you very much for showing me the way.

The winners

Thank you for everyone who participated in my little contest. I was very happy to see that you took my questions seriously, and provided such thoughtful answers to my questions.

And now....

The winners are:

Nick who won Michael Soei Birch's120 page manuscript, "An Anthology of the Seasonal Feeling in Chanoyu.

And Zlati (temae) who won the CD of Japanese for the tea room.

Congratulations to both of you. Please email me with your shipping address. marjorie_yap@yahoo.com.


I'd like to refer you all to Phillytea blog. It has an excellent post on Tasting Tea. Enjoy.

Facing myself

Every time, I step into the tea room, I have an opportunity to face myself. I love the way of tea and I want to do so well at it. The procedures for making and serving tea challenge my wandering mind to pay attention. It seems that every time I make tea, I often make some mistake and I have to figure out how I can recover from that mistake and go on. I try to keep in mind the principles of harmony, respect, purity and tranquility and manifest them with my guests, while at the same time, ensuring that my guests feel comfortable and know what is going on. What if I don’t get along with someone else who is in the tea room? What if I notice that someone is not doing something strictly correct? How do I keep myself from showing off how much I know and correcting others? How much do I conform to what everyone else is doing for the sake of harmony? Nobody can make these decisions for me. Only I can choose how to respond to how I am feeling and what is going on in the tea room.

I recently started with a new class of tea students. Often as we go through the introductory class, there are the same questions that others have asked before, but always there are new questions and challenges that are unique to these particular students because everyone brings themselves into the tea room. When you bring yourself to the tea room, inevitably you have to face yourself. As Buck Rogers said, “No matter where you go, there you are.”

Temae

Temae is what we call the procedure for making tea. Literally, temae, is translated as “the point in front.” In other words, do what is front of you – whatever is next in the procedure.

There are many, many ways to make tea – many temae. All of the procedures are quite specific in where to put things and the order in which to do it, how to walk in, where to sit, when and where to turn. The procedures can get quite complicated, with the more advanced procedures taking up to two hours. These procedures must be memorized. No notes are allowed in the tearoom. With all of the temae to be memorized, it can be confusing, but starting at the beginning we build a foundation of body memory. Each successive temae learned builds on the previous one with a few new specific points. Our bodies remember these procedures the more often we do it.

It is said that after doing something 30 times is when our bodies can remember. It is when we overthink what we are doing that we can become confused. I see this in my intermediate students, where the body will naturally begin a movement, the head begins to think, “oh no not that way” and there is a hesitation and then the student will freeze, not knowing whether to trust the mind or the body.

At first, in the tea room, every movement seems awkward, and we have to think very hard about what comes next in the order of making tea. But as the body learns how to move in the tea room, as it learns and memorizes the procedures, we can begin to trust our body and move to a higher level of temae. This higher level is where the mind can concentrate on the guests and what else is going on in the tea room. Sensei would test us by asking us questions while we were making tea. To be able to talk and continue to make tea, we have to trust our bodies to continue with temae while our brain was answering her questions at the same time without getting confused.

25 Things Chado, the way of tea has taught me

I apologize for not posting more this month. Time got away from me and I will be posting again more often.

Here are 25 things I have learned in my journey along the path:
1. Pay attention
2. Acknowledge others
3. Care for your guests
4. Be a considerate guest
5. Respect other people’s time
6. Respect other people’s space
7. Rediscover silence
8. Listen
9. Be inclusive
10. Speak kindly
11. Don’t gossip
12. Restrain yourself
13. Think the best
14. Accept and give praise
15. Respect even the subtle “no”
16. Respect others’ opinions
17. Mind your body
18. Be agreeable
19. Don’t shift responsibility and blame.
20. Apologize earnestly
21. Ask questions at appropriate times
22. Think twice before asking for favors
23. Don’t complain
24. Accept and give constructive criticism
25. Live in harmony with nature

The shape and form of tea practice

One of the topics of Dr. Sen’s talk was about kata and katachi. These terms are very closely related, and yet there is a difference. I touched on this difference in the post
http://sweetpersimmon1.blogspot.com/2007/08/form-kata.html

...Patterns or rules are involved not only in chanoyu but in all endeavors.
Especially in sports and other games, if rules are not followed, there can be
no pleasure in the competition. Similarly within the training of temae (the
various procedures by which tea is made) one first thoroughly masters the
basic steps and gestures that comprise the pattern of each temae. When
one's own personality begins to come to life through the pattern, at that
point the pattern becomes inherently intermingled with the nature of that
person's expression of the Way of Tea.

I think of this process as the sublimation of pattern into form. Suffusing
the pattern (kata) with one's own spirit (chi) creates form (katachi).
From long ago, Japanese people have considered spirit (chi) an extraordinarily
important thing. For example, combining the characters for mountain and
spirit yields the word orochi or giant serpentine deity; the characters for
rice field and spirit give tachi or agricultural deity; the characters for
water and spirit, michi or aquatic deity. In truth, spirit surpasses all human
understanding or imagination.

Questions such as whether a person's movements in temae are beautiful or
whether a person is able to proceed through a difficult temae without
mistakes, while important, indicate a temae in which pattern has been
achieved. I urge you to go beyond that, to pour your own fresh individuality
into the temae and guide it towards achieving spirited form. ~ excerpted
from a translation, Pattern and Form, in the April issue of Tanko Magazine,
Heisei 8 (Kyoto: Tankosha, 1996).

Kata refers to shape of practice, that mode of 'still thinking'; an awareness of
technique and self; Kata the form is visible in your practice.

Katachi the form is invisible, coming from within. Perhaps it is like flow, being one with
your practice. There is a deep focus; you have become empty, with mind of mu. In katachi
understanding there is no separation, being one with tea.

As we do tea again and again, we move from shapes ( kata ) to form, (katachi); to the
form within ourselves - empty mind and clear heart, the mind of mu.

~ Thank you to Lynn Moser for her notes on Dr. Sen’s lecture.

Disaster in the tea room

One of my tea students is a high schooler, and she is just great because I get a fresh perspective from her.  There are less filters and inhibitions, so her questions are always what everyone else is thinking, but dare not ask for fear of looking stupid.

She came up with one I had to deal with a couple of months ago that I would like to share with you.

Question:  What happens when there is a disaster in the tea room?

I was thinking and thinking of the last disaster I had in the tea room, and how I handled it.  There was the Seattle earthquake in 2001.  It was a 6.8 magnitude and did considerable damage to buildings and rocked for what seemed like a long time.  But I was at work when it happened, and since we couldn't get cars out of our underground garage, several of my co-workers walked with me to my house, and I made tea for them to calm everyone down.

With all of the other natural and manmade disasters in the world; hurricanes, typhoons, flooding, earthquakes, oil spills, nuclear; it seemed like a reasonable question to me. However, I decided to probe a little for what was on her mind.

Question: What do you mean by disaster?

Question: Well what happens, for example, when someone spills tea on the tatami mats?

Answer: Well then, they would clean it up!

Japanese words as prizes

I have finally decided what I will be offering for prizes for the contest in honor of the 250th blog post at SweetPersimmon. Thank you all to the regular readers, all of my sensei and sempai, students of Chado and those who have only a passing interest. You have made this blog experience rewarding.


Prize number 1 will be a CD of Japanese for the tea room. It features an explanation in English the basics of Japanese pronunciation and very basic Japanese grammar. It also has the dialog for usucha, usucha haiken, koicha, and koicha haiken. The dialog includes the English translation and then the Japanese slowly twice, then again at normal speed. The final part is the dialog for aisatsu before and after study.

Prize number 2 will be a copy of Michael Soei Birch's120 page manuscript, "An Anthology of the Seasonal Feeling in Chanoyu. This is a workbook, compiled by Michael Birch and written in English and romanji. It is filled with all kinds of information and it is a good source for seasonal gomei, or poetic names. The manuscript is divided into the four seasons -- Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter with information about each. It is further divided into each month that includes information about the month, perhaps haiku, appropriate scrolls, seasonal words and suggested gomei. It is illustrated throughout with Michael's calligraphy so you can see the kanji for each word, scroll, phrase or haiku.
Here are a few sample pages:The contest eligibility and the rules
Okay, to be eligible for the prizes (there will be two winners, one prize each) there are a few things you have to do. First, if you have a blog, please link it to this blog. I will also link to your blog in return. Second, you need to post a comment to this post. Not just any comment, but you need to answer two questions.

First question: How did you learn about chado and why are you studying? If you are not studying, what do you find interesting about the SweetPersimmmon blog?

Second question: How much of the traditional Japanese teaching methods do you think need to be incorporated in learning Chado outside of Japan? For those not studying, what do you think the best way would be to learn something like the Japanese tea ceremony?

I do ship internationally so everyone can participate. Please leave me a way to contact you to inform you if you have won.

The contest remains open until midnight PDT August 31st 2009. That's 10 days folks, to get your answers together and compose your answers. Winners will be chosen randomly. All decisions final. Prizes will ship by September 2. Good luck!

Okeiko guidelines

As we change to the furo season it is always good to be reminded of okeiko guidelines.  Yes, I do remember going over these when I first started tea class, but  here they are again:

For every class:

• Remove shoes and put on white socks. Put your shoes away neatly in the shoe cupboard or line them up under the shoe bench.
• Store your bags and other things in the place provided.
• Use tsukubai or wash hands first. Bring your own handkerchief to wipe your hands.
• Always bring your fukusabasami with fukusa, fan, and kaishi.
• When entering the tea room, enter on your knees unless carrying something.
• Always look at the scroll and the flower arrangement when entering the tea room for the first time.
• Sit quietly until the sensei enters the room.
• All classes start and end with aisatsu

During class time:

• Always clean up after yourself. Wash your bowl, chakin, whisk, and put away. Help with clean up after class and to do the mizuya work, unless the mizuya cho dismisses you.
• The mizuya cho is in charge of the mizuya. You will follow instructions without argument. If there is a dispute, call a meeting with the cho after class.
• Watch senior students and learn from them; from temae to tea room behavior to clean up chores. If you don’t know how to do something, ASK.
• Never pass any tea utensils hand to hand. Put it down in front of the other person and let them pick it up.
• Don’t take notes in the tea room. Wait until after you leave the room to write anything down. Train your mind to remember.
• Wait until an appropriate time to ask questions. Distracting the teacher takes away from fellow students teaching and you would want the sensei’s attention on you for your lesson.
• No teaching commentary from the side. There is only one teacher in the room. Respect the sensei to teach what is necessary.
• Sitting seiza can be painful. Ask for a cushion, or stool. Changing position is helpful, but don’t make a production of it. Don’t get up and walk if your feet are numb.
• Try not to call too much attention to yourself in the tea room. The sensei notices everything.
• Working together is necessary for tea to work. Cooperation is valued.
• Read, research, look things up on your own. There is the library and books and the internet. You are in charge of your learning and it is not up to the teacher to make sure you progress.
• Everyone is your teacher. You can learn something from everybody.

Training in chado is hard and we must study and train diligently.  It is also a good reminder for me.

Just dye your heart with Chanoyu

During the Friends in Tea conference, there were two formally scheduled chakai, the opening chakai the first day and the closing chakai on the last day. In between, there was what they called open chakai. The tatami mat room upstairs at the guest house at Dai Bosatsu was divided in half and people could sign up to make tea, drink tea or help in the mizuya.

Many participants brought tea utensils to be used at these open chakai, and with the sweet making workshops going on, we always had plenty of sweets. Wild flowers were growing in abundance and thanks to Jan, the mizuya cho, tea and everything was available to put on chakai.

You could also put together impromptu chakai outside, in the meeting room, on the terrace or on the dock over the lake. More than a few people brought chabako, and there was always an early morning chakai in the woodshed.

I would say that there were about 10 scheduled chakai a day in the tatami room and at least 2-3 more chakai that you could attend in other places. And still, I couldn't get enough of making and drinking tea.

"Don't look with your eyes or cock your ears to listen, just dye your heart with Chanoyu . Look with your eyes and listen with your ears, smell incense and grasp their meaning with questions." ~ from Rikyu's 100 poems.

*Photo courtesy of Morgan Beard

Appropriate Dress

I have some new students and they were asking last week what is appropriate to wear to okeiko? What is appropriate to wear to a chakai?

The short response is kimono is always appropriate to wear in the tea room.  I almost always wear kimono, whether I am teaching, or receiving a bowl of tea in the tea room.  If you have kimono and know how to dress, please wear kimono.

What if you do not have kimono?  For women, a blouse and skirt or dresses are appropriate (not too short either, you will be sitting on the tatami). Slacks if you don't or won't wear a skirt. Long sleeves, please.  For men, loose fitting slacks and button down shirt are appropriate for okeiko. No shorts, jeans, short sleeves, tank tops or sleeveless shirts.

Consider chakai, semi formal events.  Kimono is always appropriate.  Men in sportcoats and tie, women in long dress, skirt and blouse or jacket.  Business attire is also appropriate. This is not the place to wear fleece jackets, jeans or even khakis. Definitely not track suits, sweat pants or even stretch pants or tights.   Women please tie your hair up so it doesn't fall in your face or on the back of your neck. Take off your hats when you come inside.

The thing is, tea is not an informal event. Our lifestyles have become so casual nowadays, it is hard to know what is appropriate.  Even the women's lacrosse team wore flip-flops to a Whitehouse reception.  If you are wearing something that you normally wear around the house, or to run to the store, take it up a notch for okeiko and two notches for chakai. It is good training to recognize what is appropriate to the occasion and dress accordingly. 

If you are dressing in kimono, that is another post.

Questions, comments?  I'll answer them in the comments.

Why study chanoyu?

The reasons are as varied as there are people. There are some who study because they love to dress in kimono; some because they are interested in Japanese gardens, others want to learn kaiseki (Japanese gourmet cooking), some come to tea through Zen or martial arts, still others like the social aspect of gathering with like minded people or the serenity of the tea room. Whatever the reason to study chanoyu, something happens if the student is serious and studies for more than a year.

After about a year of studying chanoyu I began to see how deep it was. My body had begun to get the hang of moving around in a tea room without my feeling like a cow in a flower bed. My ear had gotten used to all the strange Japanese names of things (though I still didn’t understand much when my sensei was scolding me). I could even get through a tea procedure at class without feeling like a complete idiot. I wasn’t as tense about making mistakes or feeling frustrated because my sensei responded to my questions with cryptic answers or ignored them altogether. And even though my feet would go numb from sitting seiza, I was able to not mind it so much.

Little by little, I was beginning to just be in the tea room and observe and absorb whatever was going on between host and guest. Not only that, I was able to contribute something to the experiece. The give and take by both host and guest created something unique and special. You cannot be in small room for hours with people, eat together, drink tea together and suffer together on your knees without feeling some kind of bond.

My focus at class began to change as well. At first I was concentrating so hard on my own progress. I wanted to memorize and master the tea procedures. I was concerned about the pain in my legs. I wanted to gain more knowledge to impress my sensei. But as I became more comfortable, it was less about me and more about us – my fellow students, my sensei and what we created together. At first we just cleaned up our own tea bowl and tea things after our lesson, then we just saw what needed to be done and did it without thought to whose job it was.

Also around this time, I started to come early to class to help prepare things for the lesson. My sensei began to teach me how to arrange the flowers and occasionally let me choose the scroll for the lesson. I started to wipe all the tatami before and after class without being asked.

We all had different reasons to begin to study, but we all were contributing and creating an enhanced common experience, something bigger than just our own individual concerns. Because we had different interests, we became a cooperative team. One student was devoted to making tea sweets and brought her experiments to class to share. One student had a lovely flower garden and brought flowers to arrange. Another student was good at reading calligraphy and would help translate the scroll. I was good at cleaning and so I did.

Kids and the way of tea

I recently presented chanoyu to a group of third graders, that is 8 and 9 year olds at their classroom in Portland.  I had them pretend that they were Japanese students and they all stood up and said "Ohaiyo gozimasu, sensei" to their teacher, and they were very attentive and nearly silent during the 30 minute presentation.  We talked about wa, kei, sei and jaku: harmony, respect, purity, and tranquilty.  These kids got it:  Being nice to each other and getting along; please and thank you, wash your hands before you eat, and quiet time. 

They all waited with their sweet in front of them until I invited them to go ahead and eat your sweet.  And I passed a teabowl around the class and they were so careful in handling it, looking at the "face" of the bowl.  And what I loved was the questions, about Japan, Japanese students, my kimono, what the red cloth meant.  I really enjoyed myself.

The students got to taste mugi cha, since there isn't caffeine, but they got to see their teacher be a guest and drink the matcha, while they were silent "ghosts" just watching and observing. 

The best part of all, I received a packet of thank you notes, see a sample of them below:

What to bring to a tea gathering

I have a class graduating from the 10 week introductory class and we are holding our final chakai (tea gathering) in a few days at Kashintei, the Japanese Garden tea house. Most people cannot believe that it takes ten weeks to learn to make tea. My students get to invite family and friends to show off what they have been studying and these guests will have a Japanese sweet and a bowl of powdered green tea (matcha) prepared and served by the students.

Most of the students want to dress in formal kimono for this special occasion so one must come dressed in kimono or bring everything needed to change into kimono for the chakai. The experienced guest will also make sure to bring their fukusa basami (tea utensil pouch) with fukusa (silk cloth), kaishi (sweets papers), sweets pick, fan, handkerchief and a packet of pocket tissues. Experienced guests always bring extras, in case someone else forgets or doesn’t have these things. Sometimes, a very conscientious guest will bring something for the host and kitchen crew as well – a light snack, a box of sweets or something small to show appreciation. And an even more conscientious guest will leave a discreet envelope with some money in it to help defray the costs of the tea gathering.

Most important of all, the guest must bring a good tea attitude to a tea gathering. While the host does his best to prepare everything for the guest, it is an experienced created by both the host and the guest. The guest role is every bit as important to a tea gathering as the host. The host’s role is to serve the guests. The guests’ role is to receive and to appreciate everything that the host has done to prepare for the gathering. A good way to show this is to ask questions or comment to the host about everything that the guest sees or experiences. How refreshing the garden looks, how beautiful the flowers are arranged. The guest can ask about the meaning of the scroll hung in the alcove, and about any of the utensils used to make tea or serve sweets. In fact, it is not unusual to ask about the names of the sweets and the tea – they often have poetic names.

After the tea gathering, it is polite not to linger too long. The host has many more duties to clean up and close the tea house before they can rest. And a well written thank you note is an essential part of being a guest.

So the next time you receive an invitation to a tea gathering you will know what to bring.