#cha do

[artemille]

some 2016 zijuan sheng from yeeon. very purple, gorgeous. not particularly hong kong for hong kong storage, which i’m good with really. surprisingly clean and bright. has to be really pushed, but the purple beauty flavor comes out at least. i have the purple bud as well on my to-sample pile for later this week.

weird to think 2016 is a 9 year old tea. 💜💜💜

[artemille]

some taiping huokui because lord i need some caffeine.

[artemille]

who’s got some 2012 auspicious bingdao?????

don’t answer that. i don’t have JXJS auspicious puerh money.

[eatarteatart]

I’ve always been interested in tea, rituals and the meditative aspect of food. I’ve been interested in tea ever since I visited a tea house in Korea and was fascinated by the atmosphere and the feeling that time and space were slowing down in a small room, drinking tea. I really like the quiet and slowness of the experience. Ever since then, I’ve tried to visit more tea houses in Korea. I’ve also become interested in the medicinal aspects of food and tea and the way that tea can make you feel or change you. Rituals also intrigue me. I like the idea of taking a simple thing and giving it the physical time and the space to do things. When we give all our focus to something that we ordinarily ignore, I feel that the process can change our perceptions or experience in a new way.

I’ve always wanted to learn more about temple food or rituals around spirituality surrounding food. I feel like I’ve had spiritual experiences consuming new foods or even the foods I’ve had all the time. I am interested in spirituality surrounding food, particularly Buddhism and I want to learn more. I am also interested in Japanese tea ceremonies particularly because Vancouver is known for its large Japanese population/community. The large community brings interesting and unique elements to Vancouver’s identity, unique to Canada. It also affords more opportunities for people to experience rich Japanese culture in Vancouver and its food traditions.

I contacted Keith Snyder of the Urasenke Vancouver branch. There are 3 branches of Cha Do or The Way of Tea. He conducts the tea ceremonies at UBC’s Nitobe Garden. He invited me to visit his class at the Tozenji temple in Coquitlam which is also the location of the Urasenke branch. What do I expect from this experience? I think it will be interesting because I don’t know much about Cha Do. I know it’s connected to spirituality. I want to know more about tea and tea ceremonies and I want to be open to whatever experience I have. I don’t want to expect too much and connect too much of my previous experiences to it. 

I meet Keith Snyder and his class of older Japanese women at the Tozenji Temple. Contrary to my preconception that tea ceremony is always quiet, the ladies are cheerful and chatty with each other. I am told to sit beside him and from that vantage point, I sit for two and a half hours, watching them practice.

According to Keith, tea ceremony is an art practice just like any other art form. It connects to other art forms in Japan, such as Ikebana or the art of flower arrangement. It can be spiritual if desired and connected to Zen.

He considers himself a young teacher. He studied tea ceremony intensely for ten years, 5 days a week, at the Urasenke headquarters in Japan. He said that with all things, there is a thirty year cycle. First, you spend ten years learning the basics. Then, you spend ten years rebelling and shattering your preconceptions. The final ten years are spent returning to the basics with a new perspective.

The objects in a tea ceremony are often made by artisans from Japan. Sometimes, they will work with local artisans and BC-made ceramics will do. In a class, only practice materials are used. However, he said that these objects are often highly expensive and revered.

For tea to be presented properly, the bowl must have the design facing away and the bowl must be turned several times until the design faces the drinker. Then, the tea can be drunk. First, the Japanese sweets must be eaten. The guest must also have the chance to inspect the instruments and tea because often people do not have the chance to do so.

The tea ceremony must be performed by someone who has studied it for a long time. It doesn’t have to be a master or a teacher. You need tatami mats, proper ceramics and tools. You can do it almost anywhere. He said that he performs it outside in the Nitobe garden where they have benches.

Tea ceremony can be adapted to changing contexts and events. The dishes and the scroll on the wall can all have something to indicate an occasion or idea. It can give someone a new experience and bring them new insight. The practice of the ceremony must be studied over a long period in order to become habitual in ritual and actions.

What affected me the most was the dedication, rigor and persistence of the teacher and students. Every detail, from the way the ladle was placed on the cup, the angle of the lid on the kettle, the scattering of the sweets on the plate, the number of turns of the cup and the facing of the design, was precise. So much detail and thought were put into every action. Although the students will not be able to perform tea ceremonies at home due to lack of years of experience, I admired their passion and dedication to do well. In this day and age of fast technology and schedules, I found it amazing that people learn tea ceremony despite this. I also found the teacher’s humility admirable for his belief that he was a young teacher despite studying for ten years. Tea ceremony requires patience, quiet, presence and assurance, something that today’s frantic speeds and transference of communication don’t take into consideration. We have coffee shops where people mindlessly down their drinks or take their drinks in to-go cups because they have no time for the ritual or the process. Tea ceremony as an art practice reminded me of my own art practice and the precision, care, thought and craftsmanship that can go into creating. Perhaps art-making can also be something outside of the frantic world. Perhaps that’s what makes certain art practices special, they are timeless and remind us of our basic selves. They can be selves that exist outside of the whirlwind of schedules, deadlines, smartphones or the internet. They’re selves that exist outside the newest demands of our complex and constantly changing world, reminding us of what is essential. Keith said that tea ceremonies are a mistranslation that we are stuck with. “Way of Tea” is much better because it’s simply drinking tea.

[distelmag]

Der Teeweg als Zufluchtsort und Utopie - Tanabe Hasselt (Gastbeitrag)

Der Teeweg als Zufluchtsort und Utopie – Tanabe Hasselt (Gastbeitrag)

Chado – Ein Leben auf dem Teeweg

“Seid euch selbst die Zuflucht, nehmt die Lehre als Zuflucht und sucht nicht anderswo”, das war das Vermächtnis des Buddha an seine Anhängerinnen und Anhänger. Immer wieder hatte er ihnen erklärt, wie sie über die Atembetrachtung als Übungsobjekt Befreiung vom Ich-Wahn finden und die Fließgesetze des bedingten Entstehens und Vergehens von Formen, Gefühlen und…

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