As I look about,
Neither flowers nor autumn-tinted leaves
Near the grass-thatched hut
That stands alone by the shore.
The autumn dusk.
Fujiwara no Teika (1162-1241)
***
For those who long for
the flowers of spring
Show the young grasses
That push up among the snowy hills.
Fujiwara no Ietaka (1158-1237)
***
There are many ways to put into practice in our own lives the teaching
of the great masters of the past. In Zen, truth is pursued through the
discipline of meditation in order to realize enlightenment, while in Tea we
use training in the actual procedures of making tea to achieve the same
end.
Sen Soshitsu
15th Grand Master
Urasenke Tradition of Tea
***
Tea has the blessings of all the deities, promotes filial piety,
drives away the devil, banishes drowsiness, keeps the five viscera in
harmony, wards off disease, strengthens friendships, disciplines body and
mind, destroys the passions, gives peaceful death.
Myoe Shonin
Buddhist priest
(1173-1232)
***
Wa...is the complete harmony of all elements; its definition includes
sincerity.
Kei...gives a sense of profound reverence toward all things, and is used
by tea men to identify characteristics of humility and respect.
Sei...contains the thought of orderiness in life, cleanliness, and purity.
Jaku...means tranquillity, calm. These four are essential to tea.
Rand Castile, The Way of Tea
***
If the water of our tea is drawn from the depths of mind
Then we have true cha-no-yu.
Sen Rikyu
***
The real Way of Tea has degenerated in the hands of so many who seek
to use it as a toy, a plaything of their prosperity. What we see now
coming is a shallow tea, and if I live long, I alone will enjoy the tea of the
grass hut, and no one will come to share it with me. How sad it is.
Sen Rikyu
***
Tea is in all pure and takes joy in meditation and delight in the dharma.
Murata Shuko
Tea master
(d. 1502)
***
Surely there is nothing easy about practicing seated meditation and
understanding each other's minds or about achieving oneness through a
bowl of tea. The main thing is the human mind seeking peace, whether
in the spirit of seated meditation or sitting to drink tea.
Sen Soshitsu XV
Hounsai Oiemoto
(b. 1923)
***
Tea, like cleaning, is not a skill to memorize but one that is acquired
slowly by the body and the spirit.
Soshitsu Sen XV
Hounsai Oiemoto
(b. 1923)
***
Remember that fine houses and rare food are mere panaceas of this
mundane world, for shelter is enough if it protects from the rain, and
food is sufficient if it satisfies hunger. These are the teaching of the
Buddha and the Way of Tea. With your own hands bring wood and
water, heat the water and make tea. Offer it to the Buddha, to others,
and then partake of it yourself. Arrange flowers and burn incense. These
actions are taken together for the purpose of following the example of
the Buddha.
Sen Rikyu
***
Tea is naught but this: First you heat the water. Then you make the tea.
Then you drink it properly.That is all you need to know.
Sen Rikyu
***
The original purpose of Tea has at its core the acceptance of the
insufficient.
***
To those who aspire to follow the Way of Tea, guard against jealousy.
To place yourself at the center, to envy others, to tempt others--these
are unpardonable. Know your duty, and as you immerse yourself daily in
the Way of Tea, you will be rewarded with happiness. The more you look
up to others, the clearer your own position in relation to them will
become. Whenever something untoward happens, people try to make
themselves look as good as possible. But if we remember the humble
heart of the host in the tearoom, for he knows the spiritual taste of tea,
then this persistent clinging to power for its own sake will be seen for
what it is. Know what you know and know what you don't know, for
only then will the limits of your strength become evident. To attain
spiritual power, seize the chance when it offers itself; devote yourself to
study and practice. In life are many who feign knowledge and lead others
astray. No action can be more reprehensible. The Way is never exclusive.
It is open to all to follow, but those who set out upon the path perforce
need the help of those who have passed that way before.
Sen Soshitsu XIV
Tantansai Sekiso
(1893-1964)
***
I have toured the world with the goal, "peace through sharing a bowl of
tea." Taking a bowl of green tea in your hands and drinking it, you feel
one with nature, and there is peace. This peace can be spread by
offering a bowl of tea to another. I hope you will drink and share this
peace with me.
Sen Soshitsu XV
Hounsai Oiemoto, Tea Life, Tea Mind
***
Tea is a miraculous medicine for the maintenance of health. Tea has an
extraordinary power to prolong life. Anywhere a person cultivates tea,
long life will follow.
Eisai Zenji, Kissa Yojoki
(d. 1211)
***
The spirit of cha-no-yu is to cleanse the six senses from contamination. By
seeing the kakemono in the tokonoma and the flower in the vase, one's
sense of smell is cleansed; by listening to the boiling of water in the iron
kettle and to the dripping of water from the bamboo pipe, one's ears are
cleansed; by tasting tea one's mouth is cleansed; and by handling the tea
utensils one's sense of touch is cleansed...thus...the mind itself is
cleansed of defilements.
Nakano Kazuma, Hagakure
(c. 1710)
***
In the summer, impart a sense of deep coolness, in winter, a feeling of
warmth;
lay the charcoal so that it heats the water, prepare the tea so that it is
pleasing
–these are the secrets.
Sen Rikyu
***
It is the mind that aspires to enter the path that is my own true teacher.
Sen Rikyu
***
See with your eyes, hear with your ears, and smell the incense. While
asking questions, arrive at understanding.
Sen Rikyu
***
The sun, Lord of the East, grinds the fragrant dust of tea. Bejeweled
nectar on the teeth, revives me. A pure wind envelops my body. The
whole world seen in a single cup.
Kokan, Zen priest
(1278-1346)
***
The real essence of tea –
...a tea house beneath the bamboos with water and stones, trees and
shrubs, a place for burning coals, kettle, flowers and the tea utensils;
being able to taste the joy of nature in a single tea house. Such a
heaven on earth, in the spring with white cherry blossoms everywhere,
of nature in the fall – the moon, in summer – its breezes, and winter –
snow, the delicate changes throughout the four seasons.
***
House and dewy ground. Guest and host both joined as one, share a cup
of tea.
In tranquil meditation, no margin divides their hearts. The roji is a way
apart from this bustling world and its many cares. How will that path
sweep away the dust from within our hearts?
***
Let your manner be natural and unobtrusive.
Arrange flowers as befits the room, with an air of lightness.
When you burn incense, light it so that it does not billow
upward as though it were all there was.
The utensils used should be appropriate to the
person’s age, to old and young, respectively.
Upon entering the tearoom, it is important above all else
that both host and guests compose their frame of mind
so as to be completely free of extraneous thought; this attitude should
be harbored within and not displayed outwardly.
Murata Shuku
***
Of the two characters with which the word "roji" is written, the first
means "to reveal or expose." The second means "heart." Thus, together
they mean "the revelation of one’s essential being." We call it "roji,"
because it reveals the innate self as it truly is, apart from all one’s evil
passions....Based on this definition, the significance of the tea room is
that it is a hall of spiritual training where one reveals one’s innermost
essence, and we call it "roji." Thus, "roji" is one name for the tea room
itself.
Jakuan Sotaku, Zen-cha Roku
***
Tea is not play; it is not technique; it is not entertainment.
Murata Shuko
***
Chanoyu should be made with the heart, not with the hand. Make it
without making it, in the stillness of your mind.
Hamamoto Soshun, senior instructor
Urasenke tradition of Chado
***
The way of tea: trace it, and ever deeper it goes; like the fields of
Musashi
where the moon is lucent, its depths draw us on.
Sen Soshitsu, VI
Rikkansai Taiso
(1654-1726)
***
Chanoyu is conveyed through the mind, through eye and ear–
Without a single stroke of the brush
***
If asked the nature of chanoyu say it’s the sound of wind-blown pines
in a painting.
Sen Sotan
Third-Generation Grand Master
(1578-1658)
****
Neither flowers nor autumn-tinted leaves
Near the grass-thatched hut
That stands alone by the shore.
The autumn dusk.
Fujiwara no Teika (1162-1241)
***
For those who long for
the flowers of spring
Show the young grasses
That push up among the snowy hills.
Fujiwara no Ietaka (1158-1237)
***
There are many ways to put into practice in our own lives the teaching
of the great masters of the past. In Zen, truth is pursued through the
discipline of meditation in order to realize enlightenment, while in Tea we
use training in the actual procedures of making tea to achieve the same
end.
Sen Soshitsu
15th Grand Master
Urasenke Tradition of Tea
***
Tea has the blessings of all the deities, promotes filial piety,
drives away the devil, banishes drowsiness, keeps the five viscera in
harmony, wards off disease, strengthens friendships, disciplines body and
mind, destroys the passions, gives peaceful death.
Myoe Shonin
Buddhist priest
(1173-1232)
***
Wa...is the complete harmony of all elements; its definition includes
sincerity.
Kei...gives a sense of profound reverence toward all things, and is used
by tea men to identify characteristics of humility and respect.
Sei...contains the thought of orderiness in life, cleanliness, and purity.
Jaku...means tranquillity, calm. These four are essential to tea.
Rand Castile, The Way of Tea
***
If the water of our tea is drawn from the depths of mind
Then we have true cha-no-yu.
Sen Rikyu
***
The real Way of Tea has degenerated in the hands of so many who seek
to use it as a toy, a plaything of their prosperity. What we see now
coming is a shallow tea, and if I live long, I alone will enjoy the tea of the
grass hut, and no one will come to share it with me. How sad it is.
Sen Rikyu
***
Tea is in all pure and takes joy in meditation and delight in the dharma.
Murata Shuko
Tea master
(d. 1502)
***
Surely there is nothing easy about practicing seated meditation and
understanding each other's minds or about achieving oneness through a
bowl of tea. The main thing is the human mind seeking peace, whether
in the spirit of seated meditation or sitting to drink tea.
Sen Soshitsu XV
Hounsai Oiemoto
(b. 1923)
***
Tea, like cleaning, is not a skill to memorize but one that is acquired
slowly by the body and the spirit.
Soshitsu Sen XV
Hounsai Oiemoto
(b. 1923)
***
Remember that fine houses and rare food are mere panaceas of this
mundane world, for shelter is enough if it protects from the rain, and
food is sufficient if it satisfies hunger. These are the teaching of the
Buddha and the Way of Tea. With your own hands bring wood and
water, heat the water and make tea. Offer it to the Buddha, to others,
and then partake of it yourself. Arrange flowers and burn incense. These
actions are taken together for the purpose of following the example of
the Buddha.
Sen Rikyu
***
Tea is naught but this: First you heat the water. Then you make the tea.
Then you drink it properly.That is all you need to know.
Sen Rikyu
***
The original purpose of Tea has at its core the acceptance of the
insufficient.
***
To those who aspire to follow the Way of Tea, guard against jealousy.
To place yourself at the center, to envy others, to tempt others--these
are unpardonable. Know your duty, and as you immerse yourself daily in
the Way of Tea, you will be rewarded with happiness. The more you look
up to others, the clearer your own position in relation to them will
become. Whenever something untoward happens, people try to make
themselves look as good as possible. But if we remember the humble
heart of the host in the tearoom, for he knows the spiritual taste of tea,
then this persistent clinging to power for its own sake will be seen for
what it is. Know what you know and know what you don't know, for
only then will the limits of your strength become evident. To attain
spiritual power, seize the chance when it offers itself; devote yourself to
study and practice. In life are many who feign knowledge and lead others
astray. No action can be more reprehensible. The Way is never exclusive.
It is open to all to follow, but those who set out upon the path perforce
need the help of those who have passed that way before.
Sen Soshitsu XIV
Tantansai Sekiso
(1893-1964)
***
I have toured the world with the goal, "peace through sharing a bowl of
tea." Taking a bowl of green tea in your hands and drinking it, you feel
one with nature, and there is peace. This peace can be spread by
offering a bowl of tea to another. I hope you will drink and share this
peace with me.
Sen Soshitsu XV
Hounsai Oiemoto, Tea Life, Tea Mind
***
Tea is a miraculous medicine for the maintenance of health. Tea has an
extraordinary power to prolong life. Anywhere a person cultivates tea,
long life will follow.
Eisai Zenji, Kissa Yojoki
(d. 1211)
***
The spirit of cha-no-yu is to cleanse the six senses from contamination. By
seeing the kakemono in the tokonoma and the flower in the vase, one's
sense of smell is cleansed; by listening to the boiling of water in the iron
kettle and to the dripping of water from the bamboo pipe, one's ears are
cleansed; by tasting tea one's mouth is cleansed; and by handling the tea
utensils one's sense of touch is cleansed...thus...the mind itself is
cleansed of defilements.
Nakano Kazuma, Hagakure
(c. 1710)
***
In the summer, impart a sense of deep coolness, in winter, a feeling of
warmth;
lay the charcoal so that it heats the water, prepare the tea so that it is
pleasing
–these are the secrets.
Sen Rikyu
***
It is the mind that aspires to enter the path that is my own true teacher.
Sen Rikyu
***
See with your eyes, hear with your ears, and smell the incense. While
asking questions, arrive at understanding.
Sen Rikyu
***
The sun, Lord of the East, grinds the fragrant dust of tea. Bejeweled
nectar on the teeth, revives me. A pure wind envelops my body. The
whole world seen in a single cup.
Kokan, Zen priest
(1278-1346)
***
The real essence of tea –
...a tea house beneath the bamboos with water and stones, trees and
shrubs, a place for burning coals, kettle, flowers and the tea utensils;
being able to taste the joy of nature in a single tea house. Such a
heaven on earth, in the spring with white cherry blossoms everywhere,
of nature in the fall – the moon, in summer – its breezes, and winter –
snow, the delicate changes throughout the four seasons.
***
House and dewy ground. Guest and host both joined as one, share a cup
of tea.
In tranquil meditation, no margin divides their hearts. The roji is a way
apart from this bustling world and its many cares. How will that path
sweep away the dust from within our hearts?
***
Let your manner be natural and unobtrusive.
Arrange flowers as befits the room, with an air of lightness.
When you burn incense, light it so that it does not billow
upward as though it were all there was.
The utensils used should be appropriate to the
person’s age, to old and young, respectively.
Upon entering the tearoom, it is important above all else
that both host and guests compose their frame of mind
so as to be completely free of extraneous thought; this attitude should
be harbored within and not displayed outwardly.
Murata Shuku
***
Of the two characters with which the word "roji" is written, the first
means "to reveal or expose." The second means "heart." Thus, together
they mean "the revelation of one’s essential being." We call it "roji,"
because it reveals the innate self as it truly is, apart from all one’s evil
passions....Based on this definition, the significance of the tea room is
that it is a hall of spiritual training where one reveals one’s innermost
essence, and we call it "roji." Thus, "roji" is one name for the tea room
itself.
Jakuan Sotaku, Zen-cha Roku
***
Tea is not play; it is not technique; it is not entertainment.
Murata Shuko
***
Chanoyu should be made with the heart, not with the hand. Make it
without making it, in the stillness of your mind.
Hamamoto Soshun, senior instructor
Urasenke tradition of Chado
***
The way of tea: trace it, and ever deeper it goes; like the fields of
Musashi
where the moon is lucent, its depths draw us on.
Sen Soshitsu, VI
Rikkansai Taiso
(1654-1726)
***
Chanoyu is conveyed through the mind, through eye and ear–
Without a single stroke of the brush
***
If asked the nature of chanoyu say it’s the sound of wind-blown pines
in a painting.
Sen Sotan
Third-Generation Grand Master
(1578-1658)
****
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