Tea Time
SLIPPERY ROCK — Slippery Rock University students briefly traded social networks and cell phones for the stillness and ritual of the Japanese tea ceremony.
Chef-consultant and cookbook author Hiroko Shimbo, visiting campus last month to help dining hall chefs adapt Japanese cuisine for American tastes, gave a demonstration of the centuries-old art in Weisenfluh Hall.
“Today we text, blog and tweet. We connect with friends, but it's very shallow information. We have become slaves of social networking,” said Shimbo.
The tea ceremony, with its stylized movements and strict ritual is an antidote to that.
“I think it will give you time to think about who you are and why you exist in this world,” said Shimbo.
Shimbo said the ceremony was started by Zen Buddhist monks in 12th century Japan who spent their lives in meditation. In their religion they didn't have a strong God figure, “so in their temples the monks meditated for years to achieve godlike strength and wisdom to help others.”
The green tea used in the ceremony is high in caffeine which prevented the monks from falling asleep during their contemplations.
Later, when Japan was wracked with civil war, generals exhausted by the constant fighting “practiced the tea ceremony to clear their minds and refocus themselves,” said Shimbo.
“The tea ceremony is a highly stylized ritual,” said Shimbo, with every gesture and action practiced over and over, so that the ceremony is simple but perfect in every detail.
Shimbo said in Japan, some schools and businesses offer tea ceremony practices. High-ranking Japanese businessmen work to perfect the ceremony's moves as a sign of status.
“The tea ceremony is a big part of Japanese culture but we don't all practice it,” said Yukako Ishimaru, professor of Japanese language and culture at Slippery Rock. “Some people may practice it as a hobby. It's just like martial arts, not everybody does that.”Ishimaru said a more basic ceremony is used among the younger generation, one without kimonos and using tables and chairs instead of kneeling mats.Ideally, the traditional ceremony would be conducted in a small teahouse in a natural setting amid trees and running water.But Shimbo had to use sheets placed on the floor.“This is a simplified version you can practice in your dormitory,” Shimbo told the students volunteering to take part.She asked the students to remove shoes, rings, jewelry and watches. “Even thinking about time during the ceremony is distracting,” she said.The ceremony begins with loose green tea powder.Shimbo said the powder is made from young tea leaves that are harvested and ground into powder with a stone grinder.It's different than the American version of tea which is infused, that is tea leaves are placed in hot water and then discarded.The tea host assembles the utensils needed: the wooden tea caddy or natsume; a bamboo teaspoon and whisk; the chakin, a cloth used to support the tea whisk in the tea bowl; and the ukusa, a cloth used to ritually wipe the tea caddy, which Shimbo said has the effect of centering the mind to the task at hand.“It's the calming down of the soul and getting ready to make tea for guests,” she said.The tea bowl is made of ceramic or porcelain and can be round or wide-mouthed.Different tea bowls are used during different seasons, wide bowls in summer that allow the tea to cool, taller bowls in winter to hold the heat in.
After the guests are seated, snacks are passed out and the first bowl of tea is prepared.The host first ritually rinses the tea bowl with hot water, leaving it clean and warm.Two scoops of tea are placed in the bowl, hot water added and the host briskly whisks the tea and water into a soupy consistency.“It should have a fine foam on top. It's like espresso, but we don't use a machine to make it,” Shimbo said.Then the bowl is placed on the mat with its front end forward before the first guest. The guest takes the bowl in hand so its back is facing him, raises bowl to the preparer and drinks the tea in three to four sips.The drinker makes an audible sipping sound at the end. Shimbo said this means “I have finished the tea and the tea was delicious.”Then the drinker wipes the bowl rim where his lips touched, wipes his fingers on paper the snacks arrived on, turns the bowl so the front faces the host and places the bowl on the mat.The host empties out the tea dregs, rinses the bowl and repeats the process for the next guest.“No one speaks during the tea ceremony. We don't have any conversation,” said Shimbo. “Focus plus discipline and meditation are the elements. The spirit of the tea ceremony is to give service to the invited guests.”A tea ceremony could have up to seven guests, said Shimbo. Some ceremonies incorporate a full meal and can take up to four hours to complete.“I guess nowadays we tend to forget to appreciate the small things of life,” said Ishimaru. “The tea ceremony teaches us simplicity and to appreciate minimal lifestyle and humble spirits.”The Japanese have a saying that roughly translates as “One encounter happens only one time.”Shimbo said this exemplifies the mindfulness the tea ceremony tries to instill.“We are sharing this very special moment with you. Ten minutes later we can all go in any direction,” said Shimbo. “Each time we cherish each other.”
