Introduction to Chado Class

tray-styleIntroduction to Chado, the Japanese Tea Ceremony

Harmony, purity, respect and tranquility. These are the four principles of tea ceremony distilled from Japanese culture. In this ten week class, students will be introduced to Chado, the way of tea. The arts of Japan will be examined through the ritual preparation and drinking of matcha, Japanese ceremonial tea. Students will participate in at least six tea ceremonies, an incense ceremony, and kimono dressing. Japanese architecture, gardening, flower arranging and calligraphy will also be covered.

When: Starting Wednesday, January 6, 2016 from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Where: Classes will take place in a Japanese tea room located 4 blocks south of PCC Rock Creek campus.

Fee: $250, materials will be available for purchase at class.

Places are limited. Please reserve your spot with a $50 deposit via Paypal at right:

Call Margie Yap, 503.645.7058 with questions
Email: margie at issoantea dot com
17761 NW Marylhurst Ct.
Portland, OR 97229

Tea ceremony in Japan is called Chanoyu, literally “hot water for tea.” Sen Rikyu, who established the foundations of the spiritual path of Chado (the way of tea), lived in the 16th century teaching wabi-cha, or tea of quiet taste. In Chado the spiritual aspect is most important. We learn the heart of Chado through the ceremony of drinking tea. The basic principles are expressed in the words harmony, respect, purity and tranquility. Harmony can be created between persons, between objects, between a person and an object – among all matters of the world. This is illustrated in the interactions between a host and a guest and the tea utensils handled. In Chado, we should respect every one and everything without distinction of status or rank. Spiritual purity is essential. We can embody tranquility only when we make harmony, respect, and purity our own. By learning Chado, we seek to obtain an ultimate peace of mind. The present Grand Tea Master teaches the thought of “peacefulness through a bowl of tea.” It is very simple if we are just making tea and drinking tea, but if we trying to understand the heart of Chanoyu, we can find that it is not just making and drinking tea. Through preparing a bowl of tea we learn to look within ourself, respect one another, make peace with others and express gratitude toward all things.

 

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Kokoro, the heart of tea

tsukubaiI recently had a return visit from someone who came to visit Issoan last year.   We served her tea and sweets and treated her as we would any other guest.  This time when she came back, she said that she was struck by how open and welcoming the students were.  In her experience, tea people can be a little reserved if you are not part of the group.  She said that she felt the kokoro, and the sincere welcome from the students as they made and served tea.  She could taste the love that went into the bowl of tea.  Not only that, she was struck by how well everyone worked together to set up and clean up in the mizuya.

So I want to thank our visitor for the wonderful feedback in the observation of our tea group, but also the students who treated this guest as we treat any other guest, be they fellow students or visitors, with love and respect.

When I was in Midorikai, my sempai asked me to make him a bowl of tea in the mizuya.  I did it quickly and with not much thought.  I didn’t warm the bowl, so the rim and the kodai were cold.  I really didn’t take the time to whisk it properly either.  I served it to him and it was not a pleasant experience to drink it.  Later he told me that the next time I make a bowl of tea, to take the same care in making it as if I was doing it in the tea room.  Every bowl of tea is the real tea.  No short cuts.  Put your heart into making tea because guests can taste it in the tea.

And as a guest, we can honor the making of the tea when we lift the bowl for kansha.  In gratitude we receive not only this bowl of tea, but honor the growing of the tea, the processing the tea, the grinding of the tea, the potter who made the bowl, the care and love that went into making the tea just for us.  In fact, kansha for everything that made this bowl of tea, this moment in time, possible.

Now I am beginning to understand what Sensei says:  The form is a vessel for the content. You need a strong vessel to hold what goes inside or it leaks away.

While we may go through the forms of tea, what it holds is the heart.  A strong vessel holds the pure heart, the kokoro, and keeps it alive, fresh and present.

 

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Preparing for this moment

P1020265Last week I was in Hood River, Oregon at the  Columbia Center for the Arts for a presentation on Meditations on the Way of Tea.  It was a beautiful venue in downtown Hood River, within sight of the majestic Columbia River.  As part of the month long activities for La Lluvia/The Rain art exhibition, it was done jointly with Internationally acclaimed haiku poet, Maggie Chula.

It was held in the theater and we had a lighting and sound professional light it up and adjust the sound levels. We set up a temporary tea room and mizuya, and even had  a sound check and lighting check.

After introductions, Maggie set the mood first by reading some of her poetry relating to the rain.  By the time the temae started the audience was in rapt silence.  You could hear the sound of the kettle boiling, the water being ladled into the bowl, the sound of the whisk as the host made tea. The guests were served a sweet and tea.  During the temae, Maggie read haiku to call attention to certain things:

slowly
wiping the tea bowl
no thought
~ from This Moment by Margaret Chula

What I love most about these demonstrations is the Question and Answer period.  It keeps me present and makes me think about what people are interested in and want to know about Chado.  One of the questions that I loved was, how long did it take you to prepare for this presentation today?   The proposal for it began in April. There was a visit to the site in August, and several coordination meetings.  We set up the tea room at noon for a 2:00 start time.

But in reality, I have been preparing for This Moment for 35 years.  All of my training and experience has prepared me to be here now.

Special thanks to Stephanie Wilson, teishu; Randy Burks, hanto; Barbara Walker, mizuya cho; and Janelle Rogers, mizuya.

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How long does it take?

articles“From the age of 6 I had a mania for drawing the shapes of things. When I was 50 I had attained some reputation, but nothing before the age of 70 is worth bothering with. At seventy-three, I began to grasp the structures of birds and beasts, insects and fish, and of the way plants grow. If I go on trying, I will surely understand them still better by the time I am eighty-six, so that by ninety I will enter into the secret of things. At 100, I may well have understanding. At 110, everything–every dot, every dash–will live.” — Hokusai

 

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The ties that bind

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The student teacher relationship is so important in Chado.  Your teacher is like your parent in that they have brought you up in the world of tea.

My sensei, Minako-sensei, was my first teacher.  Even though she passed away 13 years ago, she is still my sensei.  When I talk about Sensei, I mean Minako-sensei.  Even though I have had other sensei in my tea life, she is still the one.

Likewise, I have many sempai, senior students who have helped me and taught me, commiserated with me and scolded me.  And now I have students of my own that I want to teach what I know.

Relationships like these are for a lifetime, and in Sensei’s case, beyond a lifetime.  Why are these ties so strong?  I think it is partly built in to the training in the Way of Tea.  Transmission from teacher to student are in person and personal.  I know that every time I went to class, my sensei spent at least two hours before and after to prepare.   For every hour I spent in the tea room, she spent that and more. I know that Sensei also thought about my strength and weaknesses and taught me things that I needed to learn.

I also know that my sempai, who were on their own journey of tea, took the time to explain many of the unspoken rules, etiquette, obligations and appropriate behavior in the tea world.

This makes me grateful for the many, many people who have helped me on my own journey with Chado.  How do I repay that?  Sensei said that I didn’t need to repay her, but to pass on what I had learned to the next generation of students.  And so that is why I am a teacher of Chado, to repay my debt of gratitude and to pass on what I know.

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