10 things I learned at Midorikai

I look back on my time at Midorikai and I thought about what I had learned there. Some of the lessons I learned there have nothing to do with tea and yet they have everything to with tea and life.I am still striving to put these into practice every single day.

1. Be open to the experience that life presents to you. Say yes more often than no. Opportunities may not look like what you expected or wished for.
2. Be thankful everyday for the life you have. Gratitude, even for your troubles because they help you grow.
3. Be kind to other people. It doesn't take anything away from you to encourage, listen closely, say something nice or do something for someone.
4. Do your best, all the time. You cannot live life at half-speed, there simply is not enough time.
5. Leave something for people who follow you. If you develop knowledge or expertise, pass it on. It does no good if it dies with you.
6. The people you don't get along with are your teachers. At the minimum, it is good training for you to learn how to handle people and situations you don't like.
7. Excuses are a waste of time.
8. Be generous. You will be amazed at how much comes back to you.
9. Be careful about acquiring things. The more you own the less space you have. What you buy or accumulate says a lot about you.
10. Learn to let go. Of grudges, of mistakes, of behaviors that don't serve you, of people who are no longer good for you.

Return to Kyoto

I recently returned from a visit to Kyoto.  It has been many, many years since I last visited there.  My husband went with me, and together we explored the city.  I wondered how much it had changed, he discovered this charming city for the first time.

We ate very well including this cheap Japanese breakfast

The city has changed so much.  For one thing there are a lot more English signs, and now Korean as well.  The old Kyoto station with its wooden walkways and stairs have been replaced with a super modern and huge station and now the subway goes East and West as well as North and South.

And yet much of the city has remained the same.  There are the small narrow alleyways and courtyards of the Pontocho and Gion and much of the charming architecture of the city still remains.

 

The Teramachi shopping arcade is still there,

the department stores along Shijo and the Nishiki food market. Oike senbei, favorite senbei shop, Tsurugaya, Oimatsu and many of the the sweet shops are still there. As are Ippodo, Tsujirien, and Fukujuen tea stores.

I also had the opportunity to sit in with Midorikai for a few days.  I was lucky that the first day we practiced Shaza, my favorite shichijishiki.  It is an ensemble exercise with 5 people.  The second guest arranges flowers, the third guest lays the charcoal, the first guest does incense, the teishu makes koicha, and the hanto brings in and takes out all the equipment and makes usucha for the teishu. So much fun. The second day, I got to see the temae, gozumi shomo, or second laying of the fire by request.  The teishu cleans out the ro from the first laying of the fire and invites a guest to arrange the charcoal for the second time.  I had never seen this procedure and I was asked to lay the fire.  It was an honor and not so hard because all the previous fire had been cleaned out and made very neat.  And it boiled the water very well!.'



The third day I got to attend the student chakai.  I had forgotten that all morning we cleaned the tea rooms, machiai, garden, tsukubai while the teishu and hanto prepared the mizuya.  Since the sakura petals had recently fallen, we ended picking up individual petals out of the gravel walkway in the path leading up to the tea room. The chakai was lovely, with the uguisu serenading us at the break. How magical it is to attend a chakai in Japan!

The joy of tea

Today I had the lucky opportunity of hosting a chakai for people that I had never met.  However these two people had traveled many thousands of miles from North and East of here to be my guests.   They were graduates of the Midorikai program in Kyoto and attended about 5 years before I had gone myself.

One of  my guests had not done tea for about 20 years and the other one had kept in practice even though there were few tea people to share tea where he lived. 

I started preparations earlier in the week cleaning my house top to bottom.  I cleaned, swept and vacuumed. I dusted, wiped and washed.  This morning in the quiet, I zokined the tatami and put the fresh kettle on.  As it heated, I prepared my utensils:  Unrolled the scroll and hung it carefully.  I sifted the tea and rinsed and dried the teabowl, mizusashi, and kensui. I soaked the new chakin and opened a new chasen. I arranged the utensils just outside the tea room.

Then I went to make the sweets:  White kinton with green interior.  Gomei - yukima no kusa

I cleaned the toilet, put out the tsukubai, picked and arranged the flowers.  Then I filled the natsume, arranged the sweets and went to put on my kimono. As I dressed, I thought how lucky I was to be able to host two experienced tea people who were hungry for the experience!

I went to check the kettle and it was beginning to sing.   My student came to assist, and he once more zokined the tea room,. put on his kimono and went out to wait for the guests.  He greeted them outside and assisted them inside to take off their shoes and hang up their outer garments.

Surprise, one guest wore his kimono!  Up in the tea room, the incense was lit and wafted down to greet the guests. They entered the tea room and we made them comfortable.  What a joy to make tea for these guests who appreciated everything and noticed the smallest details.  The conversation was easy and natural, the tea was made and drank.   They even had two bowls of tea each.

After everyone got feeling back in their feet we sat just outside the tea room and visited, but like very good guests, they didn't stay long because they knew we had things to do.

My student and I had a bowl of tea  and then cleaned up, closed the tea room and said goodbye. It was a very satisfying and fulfilling experience.   This is why we study the way of tea.

Midorikai notes

My very good friend from Seattle has just started his year at Miorikai.  For the first month he is posting nearly everyday. For those of you curious about study in Japan at the heart of the Urasenke school, he is quite articulate. 

Unlike me, Philip has spent time in Japan going to University, he has friends in Japan and speaks Japanese, so his experience is quite different than mine.  I had never been to Japan, I didn't know anyone, and I could only speak three phrases not in the tea dialog or greetings: hajime mashite, Marjorie desu, biru onegaishi masu, and oishi desu.

And I know you will enjoy his photos of the fabulous sweets they get to eat every day.. Check out his blog: Drinking Liminality: Tea across borders
 

Another Midorikai blog

I just found another Midorikai blog.  She seems to post quite frequently and has a lot of photos.  It takes me back to the time I was there in Kyoto.

Please check it out and add comments, it helps get through the tough times at Midorikai.  Link below and at the blog roll lower left:

Fail Better