An old lesson about relaxation
Camellia sinensis traumans — Scaring tea
Tea ceremony today is often seen as a stiff traditionnal art, stressing, proud and stuffed with so many rules that an Emperor would barely follow…long story short : it’s a snobish art.
Because of that and some other things, it also became a gramps arts. Recently, as I was talking to a australo-japanese girl, I mentioned that I practiced tea ceremony. She then replied with a mocking tone : « my [ Japanese ] grandma would love it. » Here is another story : as I was talking to two experienced students of my tea school in Japan about what we felt when doing tea, they both replied : « I feel fear. »
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| There is no abuse of tea, but there are abusive practices of it. |
I said before that the multiplication of rules in tea ceremony certainly made it more beautiful. But it also produce more anxiety. And it was not always like that.
Recently, I went through some interesting pictures of tea ceremonies taken at the beginning of the 20th century (if not before). For copyrights reasons, I cannot reproduce them here but I will leave direct links. (instead : home made stock pictures to relax your eyes)
Bite casually
Let’s take a look at this first picture : a young lady is serving tea to an older woman. The flower arrangement is not in any alcove but on a tatami and a decorative shelf is set in an skew position. These two details are already strange in a country and an art which have a reputation for symbolic separations and straight lines. But let’s also take a look at the position of the two women : both are « bitting » the edge of the tatami.
« God saves us all ! » screams the modern tea purist. For, just as people with an Obsessive Compulsive Dissorder (OCD) can’t walk on the pavement’s edges, the tea master likes knees and items to be properly stored in boxes.
Now, this picture is probably a set up. Photographers at the time, my sources tell me, were not very versed into tea and they would just recruit peasants to make their pictures. Other pictures show the same kind of "mistakes".
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| Buddha kind of broke the 'no product placement' rule...but he feels warmer |
On this one, the guests bites the tatami, the host might bite also and…even the iron kettle (kama) is set on a small, oddly placed mat.
On this one, tea is even prepared on the edge of two tatamis (which seem to have been altered by the way).
These pictures just clumsy set ups. But they kind of give a more relax tone to the tea ceremony.
Do not mistake me here : my OCD side relish on order and to see a bitting knee puts me, ironically, on edge. But these few photos are a good reminder that tea is, over all, just a way to meet and that it was, at a time, much more relaxed that today.
« Raku » pleasure first
In this world that is aging too fast, where some would like for us to think that happiness is something to be earned, my generation often has to struggle to recover the meaning of the simplest activities. Why do we work, why do we clean, why do we obey the law ? There is no reason to make tea if it is just to follow the rules until the stress ruins the mood. We are not Sisyphe : we have a reason to carry that boulder ! (which is not a boulder as long as we have that reason)
Cool, chill, relax.
When we start a tea ceremony, we say to the guest : « Gô raku ni dôzo » (previously written « ô raku ni dôzo »)
Raku means « joyful, enjoyable » but with the character for sound it also means « music ». It has something to do with harmony, easiness, comfort. I chose to translate it on that blog as « let’s be simple ». But a more literal translation would be : « please, put yourself at ease. »
Long story short : even if these pictures are fakes, I simply want to say : « bite, dear friends, if you feel more at ease that way. »
Gô raku ni dôzo,
Let’s be simple !
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