Minako sensei passed away 10 years ago today. It was devastating at the time, and I felt unconnected and motherless. I can hardly believe that 10 years have passed and yet it seems like she has been gone forever. I am a teacher now, and that is what Minako sensei wanted for me. But, oh, do I miss her every time I step into the tea room. I am grateful to her for teaching me and encouraging me and instilling in me a love for the way of tea. I cannot imagaine a life without it. In gratitude we will celebrate Minako sensei with a chakai this weekend. I have been planning it for months, planning for 10 years....
Tea Ceremony for One
In preparation for one meeting in a lifetime,
I swept and dusted the tea room,
unrolled the scroll to hang.
I set the kettle to boil,
scooped tea powder into the container,
rinsed the tea bowl clean.
I filled the cold water jar,
carefully wiped the tea scoop
and arranged a single flower.
When the kettle
began to sing its lament,
I made you a bowl of tea
though you were not there to drink it.
I heard your step
whispering across the tatami,
glimpsed a shadow of your kimono
in the swirls of steam.
I inhaled the fragrance of plum
on a cold winter day
and sat listening to the wind in the pines.
The tea tasted so bitter that day.
I swept and dusted the tea room,
unrolled the scroll to hang.
I set the kettle to boil,
scooped tea powder into the container,
rinsed the tea bowl clean.
I filled the cold water jar,
carefully wiped the tea scoop
and arranged a single flower.
When the kettle
began to sing its lament,
I made you a bowl of tea
though you were not there to drink it.
I heard your step
whispering across the tatami,
glimpsed a shadow of your kimono
in the swirls of steam.
I inhaled the fragrance of plum
on a cold winter day
and sat listening to the wind in the pines.
The tea tasted so bitter that day.
Oh Margie, this is beautiful. So beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMitra,
DeleteThank you for your comment. Minako sensei was so beautiful, especially when she was making tea. Yes and even when she was scolding me.
Margie
I never new Minako sensei and this brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMichelle,
DeleteThank you for your comment. She would be proud of you. And you are her tea granddaughter.
Margie
"In the way of tea, also, people of true realization will come forth in the later ages, and they will surely sense and share the aspiration which you and I have kept. If such a person extends a bowl of tea toward me -- even though a hundred years have passed -- it will moisten my bones. Will not my departed spirit rejoice in accepting it?" --Sen no Rikyu
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this token of your grief with all of us. Please know that your blog has been a deep source of inspiration to me as I have begun on the Way of Tea, and because there is so much of your sensei which you carry with you, all of us benefit from her light when you write here.
Rhett,
DeleteThank you so much for this comment. It brought tears to my eyes. I appreciate the quote from Rikyu and will hold it in my heart at the chakai. Thank you for reading the blog and taking what inspiration you can from it. Sensei would have been pleased that the light is being passed from each one of us to another.
Margie
The words are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI could almost imagine the glimpse of her kimono
and spell the tea. What a lovely tribute.
Marilyn,
DeleteThank you for your comment. As you can see from the photo she was a lovely person.
Margie
I am so glad that her legacy continues through Issoan Tea School.
ReplyDeleteStephanie,
DeleteThank you for your comment. And you are a big part of her legacy. Thank you for all your help and thank you for being such a good student. Minako-snesei would have been proud.
Margie