A new year dawns and the students at Issoan gathered for the 2nd annual poetry gathering. Because of social distancing, we met over zoom and composed 36 verses in a modified linked verse format. Each verse is a 5 line poem based on the link theme. The last line of the previous poem becomes the …
Permanent link to this article: http://issoantea.com/issoan-annual-poetry-gathering/
Season’s greetings and Merry Christmas to all my friends and family. I hope your holidays are healthy and safe.
Permanent link to this article: http://issoantea.com/merry-christmas/
Broken things can be mended, to be made stronger and more beautiful. In the darkness, there is a light to guide your way. In winter, the turn of year will eventually bring the spring. What troubles you today, will pass.
Here we are at the turn of the year 2020. For so many …
Permanent link to this article: http://issoantea.com/at-the-turn-of-the-year/
There is a scroll hung in the tea room 独坐大雄峰 Dokuza Daiyūhō, Sitting alone on the great sublime peak. Or sometimes translated as Sitting alone on the great hero peak. Doku (alone,) za (sit), dai (great), yū (sublime), hō (peak).
The Zen story is that Hyakujo Zenji was asked by a monk, “What …
Permanent link to this article: http://issoantea.com/sitting-alone/
About a year ago we opened Issoan, the tea room built for me by my husband. It took him two and a half years, but it was worth the wait. I have been teaching Chado for about 25 years and I was thrilled to have a tea room with a raised floor for …
Permanent link to this article: http://issoantea.com/loneliness-of-the-tea-room/
