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
Author's posts
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/
Preserving the fire
Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.” ― Gustav Mahler
As international teachers of a traditional Japanese art, how can we “preserve the fire” of Chado and pass on the traditions, yet still allow for it to have meaning in our own culture? I have been lucky in …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/preserving-the-fire/
Studying a traditional art
What does it mean to study a traditional art? Well, of course there are traditions. That means things are passed down from teacher to student, generation to generation. There is a way to do things based on many people refining and perfecting the craft. Like playing classical music, ballet or other traditional art, learning the …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/studying-a-traditional-art/
Yoshitsugu Nagano Sensei comes to Portland
The Portland Japanese Garden invited Yoshitsugu Nagano sensei of Ueda Soko school from New York City to come and present tea at the Cultural Corner floating tatami space. It is always interesting to watch other school’s temae to compare the different styles of making tea. And I think that is what it is, stylistic differences. …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/yoshitsugu-nagano-sensei-comes-to-portland/