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Tiger Ed
10th August 2004, 13:39
Hi can someone clear upi the Tea ceremony for me.

What I know, designed as a formal meeting, Katana must be left outside and highly ritualised.

Can some tell me the details and explain fully as my instructors are away or I would ask them and the though just poped into my head. Are there different systems, as my reading indicates this?

Gene Williams
10th August 2004, 14:39
Originally posted by Tiger Ed
Hi can someone clear upi the Tea ceremony for me.

What I know, designed as a formal meeting, Katana must be left outside and highly ritualised.

Can some tell me the details and explain fully as my instructors are away or I would ask them and the though just poped into my head. Are there different systems, as my reading indicates this?

So, the Pope is putting thoughts into your head, eh?

Tiger Ed
10th August 2004, 17:18
No?

Do you mean the Catholic Pope?

Krusse
11th August 2004, 03:07
Originally posted by Tiger Ed
Hi can someone clear upi the Tea ceremony for me.

What I know, designed as a formal meeting, Katana must be left outside and highly ritualised.

Can some tell me the details and explain fully as my instructors are away or I would ask them and the though just poped into my head. Are there different systems, as my reading indicates this?

Sword and Silk (or Silk and Sword?) .. Nice movie with the tea ceremony as main theme.
Actually after watching those tea ceremonies for 2 hours, I decided to go back to the good old european coffee ceremony! No tea for me.
"Your cup turning waza is most impressive, Goh sama" .. urk.

EldritchKnight
11th August 2004, 05:55
I'm no expert, but I did get a few month's training with a tea master, so here goes.

There are different systems and styles of tea ceremony, with the main differences usually being variations in the utensils used and the coupling of various types of tea with different sweets. In a more informal, simple setting, a tea ceremony might simply include cleaning the utensils, serving the sweets, making the tea, serving the tea, and then clean up. In more formalized settings, stronger variations pop up, such as having a communal cup, having multiple cups, and having a full meal served alongside the tea.

It would be too difficult to explain everything in full, but as Krusse suggested, every motion is highly choreographed and ritualized, from the turning the cup in order to avoid drinking from the front (which is considered pure), to the method in which one mixes the tea with the brush.

Your best bet would be to search the rest of this forum or perhaps get a more experienced view, but I hope this helps.

Tiger Ed
11th August 2004, 12:22
Thanks, and any replies are valued and appreciated.

jchetty
11th August 2004, 14:45
Hi All,

It sounds like ridiculous, pointless pastime to me. A ritualized tea making/serving activity? Why?

I guess those who practice it have a reason to. I'd like to hear what it is though.

Bye,
Jairaj Chetty

Ben Bartlett
11th August 2004, 20:46
Originally posted by jchetty
Hi All,

It sounds like ridiculous, pointless pastime to me. A ritualized tea making/serving activity? Why?

I guess those who practice it have a reason to. I'd like to hear what it is though.

Bye,
Jairaj Chetty
Well, why do anything? While I don't study tea ceremony (I did get to try it once under a teacher in Japan... man oh man, is it hard!), there is something satisfying about working to perfect something with such minute details. Plus, there's a certain aesthetic quality to the whole thing. I can definitely see the appeal.

jchetty
11th August 2004, 22:41
I guess there must be something to it or people wouldn't be doing it.

For me working to perfect something has an appeal, but that something is not going to be making tea.

That's just me.

bye,
Jairaj Chetty

kenkyusha
12th August 2004, 21:02
Here are some links to sites that may help:

cha no yu (http://www.kato3.org/chanoyu/contents.html)
Michi online Chado links (http://www.michionline.org/resources/Michi_Links/Other_Arts/Chado/).

JChetty,

While I only did this for a short time (not entirely willingly as a child), there are a couple of things that make this practice as popular as it is:
there is an unmistakable aesthetic appeal to the entire process,
it requires continual awareness and physical grace (of the type that one would think benefits practitioners of 'martial' arts; imagine doing any sustained activity for 2+ hours and not letting your mind wander, but being genuinely awake and present... not easy as you can imagine),
by implication, because a (once) common household chore can be elevated to a psycho/physical/spiritual practice, ANY simple thing could take-on a beauty all its own if approached in the correct manner.

Those are my impressions, YMMV.

Be well,
Jigme

Tiger Ed
13th August 2004, 13:00
Thanks I do appreciate the efforts people have made to reply. I do find the beauty of the ceremony intriguing.

Thanks again.