Dream Window

For the introduction to chado class, we viewed a video the other night called, "Dream Window, Reflections on the Japanese Garden . If you haven't had a chance to see this, please do so.  It shows a number of famous gardens with commentary by various artists, a composer, stage designer, ikebana master, poet, zen monk about how the Japanese garden has influenced each of their respective arts. It is beautifully filmed and thought provoking. 

And what discussion of Japanese gardens would be complete without talking about the tea garden and Japanese tea ceremony?   In this video, they show  part of a chakai, and one of the guests was one of my sensei when I studied in Japan, Ebina-sensei.   Sadly, she passed away more than 7 years ago, but I still have many of the notes from her teaching and lectures.  She introduced me to Japanese poetry and literature.  She was always elegant and very caring of us.

In the last lecture, Ebina-sensei said to us:

Fundamentally, who you are when you are doing tea is your true self.  Through this, you may begin to understand what is important.

Everyone needs to ask, what does tea mean to me?  If you find some meaning in tea, by all means continue.  If you find it is not for you, why pursue something that is meaningless?

We all have a different relation with tea.  Our lives change with time and tea will change with your life. Doing tea is a philosophy of life.  This study is a study of culture not just tea.  Tea is part of bigger picture of life.

It all depends on the tightness or narrowness of your heart.  The more open you are the more room in your heart.  Grounded with your heart you will see more things, and it will make you more blind to the bad conditions.  Following your heart is a plus factor to be able to see the positive.  And don't forget to listen, listen, listen...