WAKEISEIJAKU -
Harmonious respect, purifying tranquility
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Why did the Japanese make the ordinary act of drinking tea into a ceremony? For more than four hundred years, the answer that has been offered by the Way of Tea has been: Wakei seijaku, harmonious respect, purifying tranquility.
These ideals are far better expressed by flowers than by words. Look for the highest reaches of harmonious respect and purifying tranquility that are offered by the flower arrangement artist.
Eating and drinking are more than nutrient intake and hydration. Life is more than survival. When entering the tea house, people of old would leave their swords outside the small entryway. Affairs of the outside world would be left behind, leaving host and guests on equal terms with each other. Civility and human-heartedness come when there is peaceful respect. Thoughtfulness of the host in presenting the face of the tea bowl is returned by the guest in pivoting the bowl above open palm so that the tea can be drunk from the plain side of the bowl in deference to both host and bowl. When social roles and individual agendas are left outside and shared mindfulness of this moment is all that remains, there can be the sincerity and compassion that make us human. Putting this into action is the way of tea.
Tea performed by the host is a purification of mind. When utensils are purified, mind is purified. When the garden is prepared for the guests' arrival, mind is made open in welcome. This openness is clarity, and this clarity is tranquility. It is in this way that the purification and preparation of the tea ceremony is a spiritual discipline.
Before accepting tea for oneself, guest places the bowl momentarily in the direction of the guest on the left and says, O-saki ni, "Pardon my going ahead." Momentarily placing the bowl in the direction of the guest on the right, guest bows and says, oshooban itashimasu, or "Let us partake together." All this happens before one drinks one's own portion. In this, an age-old ritual of becoming human together is re-enacted when we share a moment of tea. May such ordinary actions be graced with peaceful respect and purifying tranquility.
by Robin Fujikawa