Wa – Kei – Sei – Jaku. To spend the afternoon in the company of Soshitsu Sen the 16th Grand Master of the Urasenke Chado Tradition was such a treat. To have the opportunity to listen to a zen monk discuss life and zen in the modern world was breath taking in its simplicity and mind boggling in its complexity. The Saturday presentation at the NGV started with a beautiful dvd showing a traditional Japanese tea ceremony “Cha no yu”. It explained the activity of preparing, serving and receiving tea – starting with the entrance through the mossy tea garden, through the gateway where you step from the outside world into a new realm. The ceremony is performed in an austere “thatched hut” where every element of the tea making is of equal importance: how the fire it laid, how the utensils are purified through to how the tea is brewed and served. Throughout the dvd the four keystones of Chado (The Way of Tea) were discussed. These keystones are wa meaning harmony, kei meaning respect, sei meaning purity and lastly jaku meaning tranquillity or a state of spiritual peace.
The celebration continued with the Melbourne Urasenke Association performing a tea ceremony on the stage, it was wonderful to see all the elements from the dvd on display.
The final part of the presentation was a lecture by the Grand Master Soshitsu Sen who is a direct descendant of Sen Rikyu (1522 – 1591) whose artistic sense and ideals based on Zen established the foundations for Chado, the Way of Tea. It was an honour to hear him talk about all aspects of Zen in the modern world in a suprisingly light hearted way.
