This summer students got to carve a chashaku from bamboo. To make it a little easier, I bent the bamboo before we started, so the students got to do the shaping and final sanding.
There have various instructions on how to do this bending, but the method I used this time was steam. After thinning the bamboo to about 3-4 mm, I held the bamboo over my steam iron for a couple of minutes until I could bend it. There was some cracking on the back, but eventually that got carved away.
We used two different kinds of bamboo, black bamboo and giant timber bamboo. The black bamboo was easier to carve, but more brittle. It split more easily and you had to be very careful when shaping it. The green bamboo was harder to carve, but more forgiving of splits and mistakes.
I think it went very well and the students this time got to take home a usable chashaku. The final assignment from the workshop, is that everyone had to name their chashaku.
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/chashaku-workshop/
“Life is like walking along a long road shouldering a heavy load; there is no need to hurry.
One who treats difficulties as the normal state of affairs will never be discontented.
Patience is the source of eternal peace; treat anger as an enemy.
Harm will befall one who knows only success and has never experienced failure.
Blame yourself rather than others.I
t is better not to reach than to go too far.”
-~Precepts on the secret of success in life drafted by Tokugawa Ieayasu from the collection of Nikk? T?sh?-g?
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/ieayasu-words-of-wisdom/
I have been reviewing the early entries of this blog, some were written more than eight years ago. I am surprised at how they have held up and the entries are as relevant today as they were when they were written years ago.
I have also been looking at the blog statistics. Some of these posts have not gotten a lot of traffic, and I’d like to highlight them for readers who have not read them before. If you have been reading from the start, here they are again, like old friends. Please try to stay cool this summer, enjoy your holidays and enjoy this cooling image of the tsukubai in the summer
Shoshin, the beginner’s heart
How can I cherish this moment?
Appreciation, the forgotten art
No trivial acts
Temae
In search of authenticity
Living with ambiguity and no right answers
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/time-stands-still/
I was recently talking with a friend who was working on a project for work. Her heart was not in it and she was just putting in the minimal effort, which made the project drag out. Every day she would go to work and there would be the project waiting for her. I asked her how much time it would take if she really put her best into it. “Oh probably a day and a half” she said. I thought, why not put your best into it, get it done and then you wouldn’t have to dread going to work for next two to three weeks.
It doesn’t matter what the task is, do your best. I recommend this article written years ago “Focus on the Journey,” by Tom Peters, author of “In Search of Excellence.” Satisfaction can be found even on the most mundane tasks if your mind set is making everyday an adventure in pursuing excellence in everything you do.
It makes this scroll “nichi nichi kore kojitsu” even more profound and uplifting. Every day is a good day. Every day is a good day to do your best, to improve your life, to live an adventure, to pursue excellence.
What is the best way to have a happy fulfilling life? Do your best, everyday.
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/do-your-best/
I look back on my time at Midorikai and I thought about what I had learned there. Some of the lessons I learned there have nothing to do with tea and yet they have everything to with tea and life. I am still striving to put these into practice every single day.
- Be open to the experience that life presents to you. Say yes more often than no. Opportunities may not look like what you expected or wished for.
- Be thankful everyday for the life you have. Gratitude, even for your troubles because they help you grow.
- Be kind to other people. It doesn’t take anything away from you to encourage, listen closely, say something nice or do something for someone.
- Do your best, all the time. You cannot live life at half-speed, there simply is not enough time.
- Leave something for people who follow you. If you develop knowledge or expertise, pass it on. It does no good if it dies with you.
- The people you don’t get along with are your teachers. At the minimum, it is good training for you to learn how to handle people and situations you don’t like.
- Excuses are a waste of time.
- Be generous. You will be amazed at how much comes back to you.
- Be careful about acquiring things. The more you own the less space you have. What you buy or accumulate says a lot about you.
- Learn to let go. Of grudges, of mistakes, of behaviors that don’t serve you, of people who are no longer good for you.
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/10-things-i-learned-at-midorikai/
This summer students got to carve a chashaku from bamboo. To make it a little easier, I bent the bamboo before we started, so the students got to do the shaping and final sanding.
