The Sacredness Of The Japanese Tea Ceremony

The Sacredness Of The Japanese
Tea Ceremony

Dim lights, the relaxing glow of a candle,
the soothing clean aroma of incense all lying
inside the safety of the relaxing inner chambers of the Japanese Tea
Garden. The
silver tray of cups, spoons, and spices is
brought out in the solemness of movement,
and in the background sits the ever-present
steaming pot of tea. Delicately, the cups are
taken and placed on thin saucers, sitting on a
low wooden table. The tea strainer removes
excess, and the nourishing liquid is poured
silently into the waiting cup. At the bottom
rests the four or five scattered tea leaves.
According to the ancient sayings of the aged
soothsayers, their circular drawn patterns
can determine fate or future. The smoke
curves in a cloud around the smoking incense
urn. A hush passes over host and guest, as
the tea is poured, spoons passed, prayers
made in honor of the occassion. Tea is served. Outside, the darkness
and the beauty
of the night-time sky await.

One of the most hallowed traditions
surrounding tea has always discovered a
foundation in the Japanese Tea Ceremony.
Long before the English had developed their
own "tea time", the Japanese had been putting this ritual into practice
for generations.
The art of meditation, close attention to the
environment encompassing the participants,
an intricate system of rules serving as guide-
posts for hosts and hostesses, and a strict
forebearance towards being helped to keep
the ceremony intact; eventually placing the
ceremony as a mainstay in societal mores
and customs.

Eventually, the Japanese Tea Ceremony
would become symbolic of the intimate
relationship between the art of preparing tea
and the importance of Zen Buddhism in
Japanese culture. Together, they formed an
expression for the basis of the inner spiritual
mind of the enlightened man. Hot tea carried
a meaning of contemplation. The ceremony
served to further enhance the connection with
the divine. A clear mind, open heart, and
stout contenance soon became inherent through out the process of the
act of serving
the tea. In our modern culture, it is often
easy to assume that this moment of reflection
has always existed. This has not always been
the case; for there was a time when the tea
ceremony was not always present and the
place and time for the inner spiritual self
remained barren. 1588 would prove to be a
crucial year in the development of tea with
the influence of a humble man named Rikyu.
His contribution can never be underestimated,
but his origins can be traced backwards
through the influence of numerous and
unrecognized monks to the year 729 A.D.

The Japanese have always personified the
seriousness of tea, and have taken the
ceremony into the heart of their culture for
centuries. Up until 1588, the rules regarding
tea, the way to handle tea, and the art of
drinking tea had been based on the traditional
teachings of Zen Buddhist monks, an elite
ruling class that was beginning to pull the tea
ceremony into the heart of Japanese culture.
Because of this, the tea ceremony remained
a complex meeting based upon the vague
rules of antiquated folklore. Many of these
rites originated in 729 A.D. during the reign
of Emperor Shomu, who introduced powdered
tea to Japan by sending 100 priests into the
country side. With the construction of some of
the first tea gardens, the upper classe's
acceptance of tea, and the embracement of
tea by the Zen Buddhist monks, tea became
a beverage regarded with a great deal of
respect. By 1191, through the influence of
the monk Eisaj, tea would become even more
connected with the rise and popularity of the
Zen Buddhist religion in Japan. Not only did
Eisaj introduce Zen Buddhism, bringing new
seeds from China into Japan, but he also
wrote the first Japanese book on tea, "Kitcha-
Yojoki". (The Book Of Tea Sanitation.-1-155)
Describing tea as a "divine elixar", Eisaj
helped in creating the perception of tea as an
act tied into the spiritual soul of the mind.

Tea in relation to the spiritual elevation of
internal being would become even closer to
Zen Buddhism; embracing the idea of intuition
in discovering being, and rejecting rational
thought as a path to enlightenment. This
search for meaning became the ideal symbolized by the Japanese Tea
Ceremony.
(2-155) Keizan, from 1268-1325 would
achieve satori at 21, while reading the
Saddharma Pundrika Sutra. The bond between the Zen Buddhist ideal
around the
allegory of the tea ceremony became even
more complete with his statement of enlighten-
ment, when he expressed his awakening to
his master with the phrase:
"A pitch-black ball flies through the
night. I drink tea at tea time, eat rice at
meal time."

To grasp nothingness, and see through this
illusion was to "glimpse the nature of one's
own being." (3-156)

By 1477, a whole array of doctrine
surrounded the tea ceremony. Skuko, a
priest under the military dictator Yoshimasa,
would encrypt the tradition of serving matsu-
cha (powdered tea-4-156) into the ceremony,
and build the first nine by nine tea room. But,
the ceremony remained a cumbersome ritual,
with little advice given to structure.

The next emperor Hideyoshi would offer
culture and society more freedom to grow
and develope. Rikyu after becoming tea
master in 1588, would create the basis of the
modern tea ceremony in existence today.
Setting an environment based more on
philosophy and spiritualism, he stripped down
the complexity of the rules around the doctrine
of his day, and laid down seven basic rules
in the formation of the tea ceremony. The
seven were: "simplicity, purity, harmony,
love of nature, proper frame of mind,
politeness, experience." (5-156)

Rikyu devised the first plans for the tea
room or cha-seki. Later, he would create
the tea house or sukiya, which was divided
into mizu-ya, a room for the tea utensils, the
machi-aj, or waiting room built several feet
from the main room, roji, a path leading to
the tea room. Simplicity defined the aura
for the tea room. A kakemonu, single painting, hung in one corner of
the room,
while a pot of flowers hung from the ceiling.
The room was called tokonoma, a place of
honor. (6-158)

Because of Rikyu's efforts, the tea ceremony would become an
ordered
traditional part of Japanese culture. Harmony
with nature was essential. The method in
which the the cups or utensils were laid could
create a sense of awareness in the room; as
the wind blew over the chimes or dishes,
sands, sights, the singularity of colors were
emphasized. Keeping a harmony between
the individual soul and the natural world were
tied in with the basic precepts of Zen Buddhism. Unknowingly, Rikyu had
not only
transformed the art of tea but his own
religion. He had accidentally ushered in the
beginnings of a new era.

A simple room with the curtains hung low
to protect the visitor from the heat of the sun;
the cool warm lighting of soft candles in the
room, relaxing music in the background. On
the table, a steaming hot pot of tea, sitting
elegantly on a table in a New England country-
side. So, perhaps when the sun is setting on
another distant horizon, and those evening
stars of youth are beginning to show themselves in the dusk of
moonlight; it may
not be such a bad evening's dream, as to
think of Rikyu sitting beneath the swaying
overhanging trees of the first tea garden.
Maybe, a new ritual should be added to this
tea ceremony of old; a hearty toast to the
kindly old master himself.

Bibliography
Joel, David and Schapira, Karl. The
Book of Coffee And Tea. New York:
St. Martin's Press, l975.

Footnotes

1David Joel and Karl Schapira, The
Book of Coffee and Tea, (New York: St.
Martin's Press, l975) 155.

2David Joel and Karl Schapira, The
Book of Coffee and Tea, (New York: St.
Martin's Press, l975) 155.

3David Joel and Karl Schapira, The
Book of Coffee and Tea, (New York: St.
Martin's Press, l975) 156.

4David Joel and Karl Schapira, The
Book of Coffee and Tea, (New York: St.
Martin's Press, l975) 156.

5David Joel and Karl Schapira, The
Book of Coffe and Tea, (New York: St.
Martin's Press, l975) 156.

6David Joel and Karl Schapira, The
Book of Coffee and Tea, (New York: St.
Martin's Press, l975) 158.