I 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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/kokoro-the-heart-of-tea/
Last 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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/preparing-for-this-moment/
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. …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/the-ties-that-bind/
I think I had been studying for about 3 years when I thought I would like to acquire my first teabowl. In those days there was not the internet nor eBay to purchase utensils. So we had to ask someone to buy it for us in Japan or find some other way of acquiring utensils. …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/my-first-chawan-ichigo-ichie/
Many of these sayings have appeared in the blog before, and students will recognize many of them from my own teachings. I have gathered them together to best of my recollection. I hope you can add your own “sensei says” in the comments.
The term “sensei” has been translated as “teacher.” Quite literally from the …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/sensei-says-2/
