On Jan 23, 3:24*pm, "Dominic T." > wrote:
>The tea ceremony is very complex, rooted in tradition, and almost robotic precision.

Dominic doesn't make tea ceremony sound very fun-- but *I* enjoy it,
and some of my research has been about the question of why/how tea
ceremony professionals enjoy it. This question has been actively
ignored by people writing about tea ceremony (whether in English or in
Japanese) in an effort to preserve the "profound" image... but, truth
is, an ideal tea gathering should be relaxed, have doses of
spontaneity, and be a concrete expression of the closeness of the
participants... and, I'd say lots of tea gatherings achieve this
ideal. I've even seen examples of somewhat rambunctious levity at
very elite tea gatherings, and people thought they were both fun and
successful gatherings.

I should note that the tea ceremony teachers in Japan who are the most
straight-laced, uptight and not-fun are teachers who seem to feel
insecure in the art, often cowered by status fears. The more
experienced/elite teachers are the ones who are more relaxed, who have
an easier time at being generous (and forgiving) hosts, and who have a
keener sense of *play*.

I think the notion of "playing" at a self-created "tea ceremony" is
nice: it is the creation of a ritual time and space when the
participants can *focus*, something *I* consider to be healthy and
healing. The advantage that I see in learning an established
tradition of tea drinking is that you have a ready-made community of
people with whom you can share this ritual experience. The caveat?
Study with an elite teacher. (If you need hints about how to do
*that*, drop me a note!)

james-henry holland
japanese language and culture
hobart and william smith colleges
geneva, new york 14456 usa