Monday, January 30, 2017

Principles

Harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility are the founding principles of chado, the way of tea. And there is Diashosho’s (the retired 15th Grand tea master) mission of “Peace through a bowl of tea”. Either of these can be an inspiration whether we are involved in tea or not.

I try to keep these concepts in mind while practicing tea: when cleaning the tatami with a damp rag, when rinsing and filling the kama to prepare it to heat the water, or when my leg muscles refuse to obey the command to stand.

Of course, there are a multitude of such moments in the chanoyu, the tea ceremony. They a joy and a frustration, and they are what keep chanoyu fresh even after decades of study. From the first lesson I took, tea began to permeate my life. It caught me by surprise.

Why was I walking this way, why was I wringing the wash rag that way, why did I look before entering a room or handle ceramics in a certain way. Why am I always 15 minutes early, and why do I send multiple email and stamped thank you notes after every event, why…

It is because I have spent thirty years in and around tea, and tea exist in the real world not separate from it. The reason to do tea is to interact with the world not to shy away from it. To do tea is to expose your true nature to your guest. This makes tea a little scary even for people who have studied for years. There is nothing to hide behind.

I did not realize this when I first began to study; just as I did not understand that chanoyu is not about my performance but about the guest’s comfort and tranquility.

The founding principles that I thought were there for me are in truth there for the guest. In my self-centered way, I imagined that if I practiced harmony, respect, purity, then I would find tranquility. I had it backwards. It is my guest that will find tranquility.

And I think that this is why Diashosho has such a loving following. He has travelled the world, baring his soul, to try to help create a peaceful world one bowl at a time. This is also something that took me many years to understand.

So what I am trying to say, in a long-winded way, is to let the essence of tea permeate your life, no matter if you practice or not.

January 2017