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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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