Yesterday, Issoan celebrated the opening of the winter hearth. The day was cold, rainy and windy. A great day for a cozy tea gathering. Guests arrived from across town, from Seattle area, and half a world away via zoom for two seki. It was especially exciting for three new students, who had never attended a …
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After the gathering, after guests have left, and the helpers have been served there is the clean-up. All of the dogu is cleaned, the fire has been picked and the kettle returned to dry. If the gathering has taken place at a rented venue, everything needs to be packed up and loaded in the car …
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I have been little discouraged lately. After years of study, teaching, and writing about Chado, I feel like I am making little headway in sharing the way of tea. Teaching cultural concepts that seem to be at odds with modern American life sometimes is an uphill battle. Because American life has become so casual, semi-formal …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/heart-to-heart-connection/
Rikyu says: Lay the charcoal so it boils the water.
When I first went to Japan to study the way of tea, I didn’t know how to build a charcoal fire. My sensei really did not teach us how to do it. We would have a charcoal fire for events such as Robiraki or Hatsugama, …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/building-a-charcoal-fire/
Reading the room is something stand up comics are intimately familiar with. The difference between killing it and dying out there are vastly different. Jokes that get the biggest laugh with one audience may fall flat with another. How to handle a heckler and make them a part of your act is an art form …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/reading-the-room/
