Most commented posts
- Heart to heart connection — 8 comments
- April update, a Midorikai interlude — 6 comments
- Making a good bowl of koicha — 6 comments
- It is harder than it looks — 6 comments
- Seeing things as they are — 6 comments
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What is tea ceremony about?
It’s about making and drinking tea, and it’s not about tea at all. It’s about arranging flowers and preparing the tea room, or not. It’s about precision and doing things in order, I think. It’s about interaction of host and guest, maybe. It’s about harmony with the seasons, perhaps. Or letting go of …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/what-is-tea-ceremony-about/
Between the Sun and the Moon
We have just concluded Issoan’s 2024 Intensive at the Oregon Coast. Six students spent 4 days of training, study and discussion. The weather cooperated and for three mornings we got up to do chabako tea on the beach between the waning full moon and glorious sun rise kissing the day.…
After tea …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/between-the-sun-and-the-moon/
Silence and stillness
I just came back from Tea and Zen Tea Camp at Tahoma One Drop Zendo. I have never formally studied Zen, though over the years I have sat zazen for tea. At Midorikai there was a temple at Daitokuji whose abbot let us sit in his Zendo before class, but I was a fair weather …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/silence-and-stillness/
It is not a performance
Some people, especially at demonstrations, get the idea that Chanoyu is a performance. The host has set the stage and enters to perform a ritual with the guests as the audience. In performance the emphasis and attention are all directed at the performer, while the audience is there to be entertained or to view the …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/it-is-not-a-performance/
Studying tea builds resilience
In serious study or training in anything you will have setbacks. What you dot with setbacks determines how resilient you are. When things start out hard and get harder, what motivates you to hang in there and continue to practice?
What is resilience?
Resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/studying-tea-builds-resilience/