Japanesewords for the tea room – Haiken

At the appropriate time (when the lid is placed on the cold water jar), the first guest will ask the host to examine and appreciate the utensils used to make tea. He does this by asking:

O natsume, o (to) chashaku no haiken onegai itashi masu. (please let us examine the tea container and teascoop).

The host will acknowledge this by bowing and clearing the other utensils from the mat so he can purify the tea container and tea scoop for the guests. Once he has put them out, he then takes the rest of the utensils from the tea room and leaves the guests to examine the tea container and tea scoop up close.

When everyone has finished looking and appreciating, the utensils are returned to where the host has put them out. The host comes back into the room to answer questions. It is the first guest who initiates the conversation:

Guest: O natsume, o chashaku no haiken arigato gozaimasu (thank you for letting us examine your tea container and tea scoop). O natsume no katachi wa? (what is the shape of the natsume?)

Host: Rikyu gata chuu natsume, de gozimasu (it is Rikyu’s favored shape in the middle size)

Guest: Onuri wa? (tell us about the lacquer)

Host: Oimatsu makie, Sotetsu de gozaimasu (old pine in gold lacquer done by Sotetsu)
Guest: O chashaku no osaku wa? (who made the tea scoop)

Host: Zabosai Oiemoto, de gozaimasu. (Zabosai the grand tea master made it)

Guest: Gomei wa? (what is the poetic name?)

Host: Tombo, de gozaimasu. (dragonfly. This a seasonally appropriate name)

Guest: Odogu no haiken, arigato gozaimashita (thank you for letting me see your utensils).

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.

Every week we go to okeiko to practice the procedures for making tea. Inside the tea room there are rules and etiquette to guide us in the proper behavior for both the guest and the host. It often seems archaic and stiff – too formal for today’s modern life. But what we are learning can be of help to us outside the tea room if we put it into practice in our everyday life.

One of the things we learn is kansha, when we lift the bowl of tea or tray of sweets in silent gratitude. During the day we can take a few seconds and acknowledge what we have in silent gratitude. Nobody has to know what you are doing.

When we say “Otemae chodai itashimasu” we are not just thanking the host for the tea. We are thanking him for the preparation beforehand and making of the tea as well as the person who ground the tea, grew the tea and packaged the tea. In fact, we are thanking everyone that made it possible for the tea we are about to drink.

In doing our work in the mizuya, everyone cleans their own utensils. And further, everyone helps to clean the mizuya and put things away in their proper place. In other words clean up your own mess and then help clean up the group mess.

People get a chance to practice leadership skills when they become the mizuya cho. As the head of the mizuya, you must know what needs to be done and be able to direct people to get it done and take all the responsibility if something is not done or not done right. As a mizuya worker, it is good to practice doing what needs to be done without the mizuya cho directing you. Just get it done with the least fuss. This is learning to work together. The sooner the chores are done the sooner the whole group gets to go home.

The very first words of the Kotoba or Creed are “We are striving to learn the essence of Chado and to put it into practice in our daily lives.”

In the heat of August it is often difficult and challenging for tea people. It only makes sense to do asa cha, early morning tea before the heat of the day makes it unbearable. Who wants to sit near the furo with charcoal fire burning while it is 95 or 100º ? According to the lunar calendar, the first day of autumn is around the 7th or 8th but autum seems like a long way off especially since we had a long cool spring that lasted until the end of June.

Be kind to your guests and invite them to early morning tea. You will have to get up very early, but water the garden and the water droplets look inviting and cool. Outdoor tea in the morning would refreshing, too.

Project cool, cool, cool with light colored kimono that may be a little less formal, serve food that is cool or resembles flowing water, ice or seasonal fruits. Use wide flat teabowls to dissapate the heat of the tea and whisk longer to get a good froth and cool the tea a little.

Pray for a cooling breeze to rustle the leaves and most of all project with your mind cool, calm and collected.

Don't forget the new class How to be a guest at Tea Ceremony starts tomorrow night at Ryokusuido Tea House.

I am sorry for not posting more last month. A lot of tea events going on. We just completed the C.H.A. Creative Handmade Art show and sale. It was so good to see many old friends and meet additional new ones. We had a lot of fun and it was amazing to see all the art created by followers of chado. Hopefully we’ll be able to do it again.

I also attended an asa chakai, or early morning tea. In the summer, holding a tea gathering in the cool of the morning before the day advances with heat is considerate of guests. While challenging for the hosts (they have to get up practically in the middle of the night to prepare), it is very nice for the guests. The asa chakai I attended, not only had sweets and tea, but a meal to break our fast. The cool bright morning was perfect for tea and the guests congenial. The best part was we were done by 8:30 am and had the whole day to use as we wanted.

Thank you all who attended the open house for Ryokusuido tea room last month. We are so lucky to have this facility available to study in. A total of 30 people have had tea there and now in August 7 and 14 we will start the workshop for how to be a guest at a tea ceremony. The second section will be August 21 and 28. Call Margie 503-645-7058 to make reservations, space is limited and classes are almost full.

The beginner’s class also had their final chakai at the Portland Japanese Garden. After ten weeks of class, they were able to invite friends and family to dress in kimono, show off what they had learned, serve their guests tea and enjoy the garden.

For those interested, the new 10 week Introduction to Tea Ceremony class will begin in September. More details coming soon.

One of the humblest tea utensils is the bamboo tea scoop. Historically, tea scoops were made of wood or ivory, but Rikyu began to make tea scoops from bamboo in the wabi cha aesthetic.

The chashaku is merely a strip of bamboo, curved at the end, and yet it holds much significance.  Chashaku are one of the utensils scrutinized by the guests during haiken (the time of appreciating utensils in a tea gathering).  They are given poetic names and help to set the tone of the tea gathering.  Buddhist priests and other famous tea people have carved tea scoops and given them names thus connecting us with them when we study them or have the good fortune to use them in a tea gathering. 

I have been trying to carve my own chashaku, and like everything else in chado, it is much harder than it looks.   I was given some very nice bamboo by a basket weaving artist who grew it in his back yard.  This bamboo was about four inches in diameter and I thought it would be easier to bend into a chashaku shape. 

I wouldn’t say that my carving skills are very good and it took about 18 tries before I had what I thought was an acceptable chashaku. Along the way I learned many subtleties of that humble tea scoop – such as how bamboo tends to split in straight lines, except when it doesn’t.  And how to bend the bamboo with enough curve without cracking it, or how to finish the end in a pleasing manner, or even by golly, to make sure that the scoop will fit on top of the tea container without becoming a helicopter during a tea procedure. 

I have a new appreciation for the chashaku and the next time I have an opportunity to haiken a tea scooop, I will understand much better how that humble piece of bamboo reflects the soul and spirit of the person who lovingly carved it.

C.H.A.
Creative Handmade Art

With the study of Chado (Way of Tea) comes the appreciation of beauty.
C.H.A. is a Show and Sale of Articles of Beauty* by people who study Chado.
*may or may not be for Tea

Richard Brandt ~ Sanje Elliot ~ Linda Nelson ~ Craig Tenney
jan Waldmann ~ Barbara Walker ~ Ernie Walker ~ Margie Yap
&
Possibly a few Guest Artisans

Friday, August 1^st 4 pm ~ 8 pm OPENING GATHERING
Saturday & Sunday Noon ~ 4 pm

DoShin Tei
Jan Waldmann
8855 SW 36^th
Portland, Oregon 97219
503-245-8705

Most of Issoan tea classes are in the evening and students often come right from work or right from fighting traffic to get to the school.  We usually begin our class with about 10-15 minutes of zazen.  Just sitting with the stillness and breathing deeply helps to put some of the dust of the world behind us, center us and get ready for study. 

My students often ask me about what is the correct way to meditate.  I don’t know very much about Zen meditation but to get students started, I have them sit seiza (if in kimono) or half lotus (thank you, Jordan) or cross legged.  Sitting up straight with ears aligned with shoulders, arms comfortably in your lap, left hand on top of right, palm up and thumbs together.  We light the incense, ring the bell and empty our minds.  Try counting breaths 1 to 10 and back to 1 again, or just letting thoughts come and go and settle down inside.

Some days I am more successful than others, but when I reach a place of aware alertness, I can hear the sound of the kettle singing without getting carried away listening to it.  Sometimes my feet fall asleep and I lose all feeling.  Sometimes I just can’t stop thinking about things.  Sometimes I really feel my breathing deep in my lungs.  And sometimes, not very often, I just sit and hear the wind in the pines and nothing else matters.

This post and all classes this week are dedicated to Debra Furrer who was the first tea student in Portland for Issoan Tea School. She passed away May 27th, though I just recently found out. Rest well, and thank you for your support, confidence and adventuresome spirit.

One of my classes just hosted their first chakai in honor of Tanabata, the star festival. The Star festival dates back to the Chin-Tang dynasties in China. The legend is that the lord of heaven’s daughter (the star Vega) who lived on the East bank of the Milky Way (amanogawa or river of heaven), was so intent on weaving that she did not think to ever get married. Her father gave her to the goat heard (the Star Altir) who lived on the West bank. They were so happy that she gave up weaving and angered her father. He separated them on each side of the river and they could only see each other one day of the year on the seventh day of the seventh month. If it rained, however, she would not be able to cross the river, but the magpies would spread their wings and make a bridge for her.

They did a very good job from the invitations to choosing the utensils and the theme was carried throughout. The chashaku name hashi no kasasagi (bridge of magpies), the sweets (two small an mochi in a silver star meimeizara) poetically named “lovers." The flowers were lily and dill weed (two stars) in a woven bamboo basket and the scroll was “ichigo ichie” – one lifetime, one meeting by Taikyo Nakamura. The omojawan was named yozora or evening sky.

The author of “ichigo ichie,” Ii Naosuke was born the 14th son of a daimyo family in Hikone. In 1858 Naosuke became prime minister and about that time began writing a handbook on chanoyu, “The single encounter of a lifetime.” (ichigo ichie). This work gives a detailed account of matters requiring attention in hosting a tea gathering, beginning with the etiquette for invitations and proper dress to preparation of the tea garden, tea room and utensils.

For Naosuke, after the tea gathering was an important time for the host. He writes, “For both host and guests, a surplus of feeling and lingering thoughts have arisen, so that when the parting greetings have finished, the guests exit from the garden path with hushed voices, departing with quiet glances back and the host, of course, sees the guests off until they recede from sight. To hastily shut the door or gate of the garden or other sliding screens would be tasteless in the extreme, nullifying utterly the hospitality of the day; hence, even though the parting guests may no longer be visible, one should not rush to straighten up. One should, with a tranquil heart, return to the tearoom, now entering through the crawling in entrance. Sitting in solitude before the hearth, one should for a time, with the feeling that words yet remain to be spoken, consider how far the guests have gone in their return. One should reflect that this single encounter of a lifetime has now ended this day, never to recur and perhaps partake of a bowl of tea alone. This is the practice that is the ultimate core of the gathering. This moment of stillness; there is only the kettle for partner in conversation and nothing else. It is indeed a realm that one must attain for oneself.” ~ excerpt from Wind in the Pines, by Dennis Hirota.

I have some new products up at the SweetPersimmon.com website.

Heat wraps - These flannel wraps are filled with rice. Just put them in the microwave and wrap them around your body for soothing moist heat. They are 4 inches by 34 inches to wrap around your shoulders, neck, or back. Comes in it's own lined flannel carry bag. Great for Christmas gifts.








Also, just because I like making them -- Handbags and purses. I got a new sewing machine and I love to design and make handbags and purses. Choose from quilted shoulder bags, summer straw bags, purses or tea wallets. New bags going up all the time as I get inspired to design and sew them.








A Year of Haiku -- Haiku for everyday of the year. Spoken word CD now available.

Don't forget we have seiza zazen seats, matcha tea, tea ceremony utensils, oolong tea, tea travel mugs, kyusu teapots, incense, books and cards and gifts. Check it out SweetPersimmon.com.