Japanese tea ceremony

is a study that includes not only tea making but calligraphy, flower arrangement, architecture and garden design.

The study of tea in Japan includes not only tea making but calligraphy, flower arrangement, architecture and garden design. Tea gardens have a roji or “dewy path” made of stepping stones leading up to the tea hut, stone lanterns for mood lighting, stone washbasins for visitors to purify themselves, and fences that enclose and separate the world of tea from the outer mundane world. The journey into a tea arbor along the stone roji path is akin to an initiation rite into the world of tea. Inside the tea garden, the hut and other garden elements emphasize rusticity and seek to merge with their natural surroundings.

is a banal daily event transformed into a moment of communion with the universe.

In Japan, I took part in a tea ceremony. You go into a small room, tea is served, and that's it really, except that everything is done with so much ritual and ceremony that a banal daily event is transformed into a moment of communion with the universe.

is related to nearly all branches of arts and crafts, as well as to various phases of Japanese home life. It is its many-sidedness that makes cha-no-yu one of the most interesting aesthetic pursuits.

“A mendicant lost in dreams of a tea forest.” Illustration by the author. / Having observed the tea-master’s way of training his pupils, and having taken part in more than one entertainment, the readers will have noted that cha-no-yu is related to nearly all branches of arts and crafts, as well as to various phases of Japanese home life. It is its many-sidedness that makes cha-no-yu one of the most interesting aesthetic pursuits.

is like a symphony. Its multiple voices blend in harmonies that may embrace strong dissonances, to be resolved, or left unresolved, in the course of the performance.

Cha-no-yu therefore is like a symphony. Its multiple voices blend in harmonies that may embrace strong dissonances, to be resolved, or left unresolved, in the course of the performance.

is a practice in which the greatest hindrances are ego and attachment to self.

In the Way of Tea, the greatest hindrances are ego and attachment to self. One must never begrudge a master or condescend to a beginner. A tea wayfarer must humbly approach the master, beseeching their guidance, and whenever possible offer such to the inexperienced.

is always in danger of becoming like the gaudy dress of court performers. You should act with simplicity in all things.

Cha-no-yu is always in danger of becoming like the gaudy dress of court performers. You should act with simplicity in all things.

is simply to drink tea, knowing that if you just heat the water, your thirst is certain to be quenched. Nothing else is involved.

Cha-no-yu as we now practice it is not the Chano-yu that has been discussed and proclaimed in the past by the accomplished teamen of China and Japan. Neither is it to partake of tea having grasped its essence through scholarly study. It is simply to drink tea, knowing that if you just heat the water, your thirst is certain to be quenched. Nothing else is involved.

is always aiming towards actualizing respect and harmony among people, polishing and reflecting upon one’s self and body, and, through these practices, bringing the mind to a state of clarity.

All of us who study cha-no-yu, through that practice, aim towards actualizing respect and harmony among people. At the same time, through the same practice, one’s self and body are polished and reflected upon, and one’s mind is brought to a state of clarity. Genuine peace, peace without discrimination, achieved through a bowl of tea—this is what I pray will be accomplished through the Way of Tea.

japanese tea ceremony, n.Definitions

japanese tea ceremony