Our group offers weekly lessons in chanoyu through Shofuso, the
Japanese House in Fairmount Park. Lessons are held on
Saturdays; the time and schedule depends on what kind of class
you are taking.
If you have never studied tea ceremony
before, we ask that you start with our twelve-week
beginner’s course. The focus of the course is hands-on
instruction in the most basic form of tea ceremony, with
discussion of the history and philosophy of tea. The group
environment is geared toward introducing people to tea in a
relaxed (but still challenging!) way.
For people with prior experience with
chanoyu, we offer ongoing advanced lessons. For information on
these or more on the beginner’s classes, e-mail us at info@phillytea.org.
Why study chanoyu?
There are a number of reasons why people
study tea. If you talk to different tea students, it might seem
like everyone comes to chanoyu for different reasons, and with different goals
in mind.
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Some people practice tea as a way to
connect to Japanese culture. In Japan, tea is considered one of
the traditional arts, much like karate, Noh theater, and flower
arranging (ikebana). Through learning chanoyu, one also learns about the history, art,
folklore, and traditions of Japan, as well as the nuances of
Japanese manners.
Some people come to tea from the study of
Zen. Tea and Zen Buddhism have intertwined for centuries, and
even today high-ranking tea masters in Japan study Zen as a
matter of course. Although chanoyu itself is not a religious practice, it
still offers Zen students a way to practice focusing their
minds. In fact, even if you have no interest in Zen, tea offers
a way to help sharpen your concentration, discipline your body,
and relax away from the stress of everyday life.
And, of course, some people just enjoy the
process of getting together and sharing a bowl of tea —
as our students can testify, it's addictive!
Lessons are taught in traditional Japanese
style, which usually means a group. The students begin by
asking the teacher for a lesson, and then each student makes
tea under the teacher’s supervision, with other students
acting as guests. There are literally dozens of different
variations on tea ceremony, or temae in Japanese; students start by learning basic
movements and gradually build up to doing a complete temae. From there, the
temae get
progressively more complicated, each level building on the one
before.
Learning tea is an experiential process.
Students are encouraged to learn by doing and by observing
rather than by taking notes or memorizing a sequence from a
book. Details are important, and there’s a lot of
emphasis on moving in the right way and placing things in the
right position. If you’re a student, it may seem like
it’s all a plot to drive you crazy, but in fact the goal
is to train your body to move in a way that’s purposeful
and, ultimately, beautiful.
That depends on what you want to do. The
simplest temae in the Urasenke system takes six months to a year
to master, depending on the student. (That's assuming one
lesson per week with some practice at home.)
If you want to continue your study, in the
Urasenke system there are many other levels of tea, each one a
bit more complex than the last. In practice, it takes at least
five years to learn enough to host a full tea gathering, and
beyond that you could study indefinitely.
With chanoyu, it's the practice that counts, not the
destination. There's a popular tea story that illustrates this
point beautifully:
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He answered, "Make a delicious bowl of
tea; lay the charcoal so that it heats the water; arrange the
flowers as they are in the field; in summer suggest coolness,
in winter, warmth; do everything ahead of time; prepare for
rain; and give those with whom you find yourself every
consideration."
The disciple, who had hoped to hear some
great secret, said, "That much I already know . .
."
Rikyu answered, "Then if you can host
a tea gathering without deviating from any of the rules I have
just stated, I will become your disciple."
With a little bit of digging, it's not too
hard to find books that will describe the procedure for doing chanoyu, and some
of them go into great detail. Why bother taking lessons from a
teacher when it's all written down?
Genpaku Sotan, the grandson of Rikyu and
himself a tea master, probably put it best when he wrote:
That which is chanoyu
Is transmitted through the mind
Through the eyes
Through the ears
With not a single written word
The true spirit of chanoyu has as much to
do with your heart and mind as it does with the procedure. In
the beginning, the focus is on memorizing the sequence, but
once the student learns what to do, the emphasis shifts to what
is going on in his mind. Learning how to center yourself, how
to pay attention to your own movements and the guests at the
same time, how to distinguish the smallest details that will
either make or break your gathering — all of that comes
with time, practice, and the guidance of someone who knows what
he or she is doing.
There are practical reasons, too. A book
might tell you where to put a tea container, but it can't
correct you if your positioning is slightly off; it can't tell
you when your back isn't straight enough, or when you've added
too much water to the tea. All of that, and a thousand other
unpublished details, requires an experienced teacher.
What about people who don't live near a tea
school? It's a difficult problem. But if you or someone you
know is truly interested, we would encourage you to contact the
nearest tea school (see our links page for a list). Even if
it's too far for you to travel, they may know a teacher who
lives close enough for you to study with, or be able to give
you other advice. You can also try checking with a nearby
Japanese cultural center, if one exists.
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Our group does
public demonstrations at Shofuso once a month between April and
November, when the house is open to the public. We will post
the dates of upcoming demonstrations on our home page, and you
can also get more information at www.shofuso.com. Space at the public demonstrations is
limited, so we recommend that you reserve a seat in advance.
(Guests at these public demonstrations typically sit on the
floor; if you need to sit on a chair because of physical
considerations, please let the staff know beforehand.)
If you have a group that’s interested
in a private demonstration, you can arrange for one at Shofuso,
or one of our demonstrators can come to you. Fees and
availability depend on the date, location, and the number of
people involved.
Demonstrations typically involve a brief
introduction to chanoyu, the demonstration itself, and time for
questions and answers at the end, all of which takes about an
hour. Although any number of people can observe a
demonstration, the utensils are small and the movements are
subtle, so a very large group may find it hard to catch all the
details.
If you’re interested in a
demonstration at Shofuso, please contact their office directly
at (215) 878-5097 or e-mail info@shofuso.com.
If you’re interested in an on-site demonstration, e-mail
us at info@phillytea.org.
