Japanese Tea Ceremony!

Japanese Tea Ceremony – February 17, 2023

On February 17th, The Tallahassee Chan Center was honored to host a performance of Cha No Yu (the Japanese Tea Ceremony). The ceremony was presented to an audience of about forty attendees by Ms. Nishida Umejo. She visited us in Tallahassee from Gyokusen-en, the Nishida family garden in Kanazawa, Japan. Ms. Nishida is a regularly published haiku artist and tea master in the Urasenke Chado lineage.

Chan center members attending the ceremony

Ms. Nishida was joined in presenting the ceremony by her daughter, Chiho, who is married to our teacher Guo Gu. Their daughters Zea and Zoe also joined them in the presentation. Tea was served to Guo Gu and several others who attended the showcase. In honor of the event, Guo Gu also created a calligraphy piece from Case 19 of The Gateless Barrier, the gong’an in which appears the famous phrase “ordinary mind is the way,” which was on display for guests to enjoy.

Ms. Nishida Umejo introduces the Japanese Tea Ceremony

After a short talk from Guo Gu, Ms. Nishida offered an introduction where she explained that the tea ceremony in Japan is deeply connected to Chan and Zen Buddhism. She told us that its origins are connected to the famous Japanese Zen teacher, Eisai. In accordance with the spirit of the Zen tradition, the aim of the tea ceremony is deeply meditative. It asks practitioners to simply experience the simplicity of a moment of drinking tea. Through the experience of tea, the ceremony channels the principles of harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility.