The microcosm of the tea room
Sensei says: How you are in the tea room is how you are in the world. Haji o sute hito ni mono toi naraubeshi kore zojozu no motoi narikeru A person must discard all embarrassment... More »
Sensei says: How you are in the tea room is how you are in the world. Haji o sute hito ni mono toi naraubeshi kore zojozu no motoi narikeru A person must discard all embarrassment... More »
When Christy-sensei was here for koshukai (intensive workshop) she mentioned that Chado is not about the numbers. Which led me to think about numbers in my study of tea. When we find our place and... More »
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... More »
Sono michi ni iran to omou kokoro koso waga mi nagara no shisho nari keri “The very heart which decides to enter the Way is the best teacher.” Rikyu left us with 100 poems to... More »
One of the great lessons that I learned during my 25 years of tea studies is the importance of self-discipline. I think it is one of those grown up values that don’t seem to be... More »
For those who study martial arts or are involved in sports, tea practice looks like it is sedentary, not a physical activity. After all, it is done sitting on tatami and it is quiet and... More »
Sensei said, "complete this moment before moving on to the next," What did she mean when she said that? How long is a moment, and how do you know when it is complete? I often... More »
Students often think that having the perfect temae is the goal of tea study. Though we strive for perfection in temae, that really is not what tea study is about. I wrote previously about hataraki,... More »
When I first began to learn about Chado, I thought I could become a tea master in ten lessons. But I found out in those first ten lessons just how much there was to the... More »
Tea is movement. It gets us out of our heads, into our bodies, so we can touch our souls. We live a lot in our heads, often times without connection to our bodies, nature or... More »