Elaine and I attended a Japanese tea ceremony today. It was a beautifully calming occasion and one that I would want to experience again. A scroll on a wall had the four characters above, the four principles of the tea ceremony as given by Sen Rikyu. A placard below gave their equivalents: wa kei sei jaku, or harmony, respect, purity, tranquility. Here is a page with further explanation. The relation to current events is pretty clear. What the world needs now: wa kei sei jaku.
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Excerpts and more excerpts from Kakuzo Okakura’s The Book of Tea
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Wa kei sei jaku
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comments: 1
I have Okakura's book. Bought it and many others on the subject when I had a tea shop in the local Farmers Market several years ago.
I'm working on attaining the four principles within my soul. It's hard work and I lose sight of the path too often, but it is a goal worth pursuing.
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