Practice. 1 to 10. 10 to 1

Practicing Chabako with Matsumoto Sensei (seated)

Semantics aside, there is a fundamental a difference between the study of chado and those who call it a practice. After about the first five years of my practice as a student of Matsumoto Sensei, people asked me if I am still taking classes. The answer was yes then and after 28 years, the answer is still the same.

Did Segovia practice? Did he learn something each time he picked up the guitar?

In my experience with chado, as well as with the guitar, piano, getting out of bed in the morning, going to bed at night it's different every time.

It almost doesn't matter if there is yet another temae (procedure) to learn. From the onset, we learn "ichi go. ichi e." this one experience. this one time.

Matsumoto Sensei reminds us often of one of the maxims of Sen no Rikyu (our tea ancestor from the 16th century):

"Practice constitutes learning from one, becoming cognizant of ten, then returning from ten to one, the beginning."

Practice

The study of chanoyu, literally in Japanese, hot water for tea, is a lifetime pursuit. This is why it is called the "Way" of tea, chado.

Do: The Way

It is most likened to studying a musical instrument: we learn how to touch, to tune, to hold, to repair, to listen to the sounds of our instrument. We do scales, etudes, explore the classic repertoire, play in ensemble, informally alone.

In short, we practice.

Likewise, in the study of chado, we learn how to hold utensils, how to build a fire to heat the water (and to select the water), how to handle the tea, how to walk in the tearoom, how to identify and combine utensils in pursuit of a seasonal poetic theme. We learn the history of the practice, about the crafting and provenance of utensils. We explore the tea room's architecture and our movement within it. We also enjoy preparing and eating appropriate meals and sweets that complement the experience. it is all done with full cognizance of the seasonal appropriateness.

It is a way of being with ... tea, each other, what is in the room and what is not. 

We learn to be host and guest equally, so that we can have full appreciation of the totality experience.

We practice over and over. From one to ten and then again, one to ten. 

There's nowhere to go.