Rikyu says: Lay the charcoal so it boils the water.
When I first went to Japan to study the way of tea, I didn’t know how to build a charcoal fire. My sensei really did not teach us how to do it. We would have a charcoal fire for events such as Robiraki or Hatsugama, …
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The resistance is our internal inertia that keeps us from achieving our goals, dreams and all the good things we strive for. The resistance is what stops us from doing the things we need to do that we know are good for us. It is what makes us hit the snooze button when we …
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When I do tea presentations at different venues, I need to set up the tatami, shoji and tea room as well as set up the mizuya. It takes about an hour to pack every thing up and load the car, an hour to heat water, clean and set up at the venue, an hour to …
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Beginning Chado study is hard. Nobody is inherently beautiful and graceful and perfect out of the gate. Even Japanese people who begin to study make mistakes. It is like learning a foreign language. You are not going to be fluent after a few lessons, and even after years and years of study, you never feel …
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During koicha temae, the teishu asks the shokyaku “Ofukukagen wa ikaga desu ka?” How is the tea. Of course out of politeness, it is always “Kekko desu, or Taihen kekko desu” It is good and sufficient. But we need honest feedback in order to improve how we make koicha. One of my students told me …
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