Obviously my labeling has not been the strength of this blog so I will try to do better this morning with my allotted 20 minutes on my Japanese keyboard. Yesterday morning we went to visit a champion tea master. He is a 15th generation tea master! His shop is in Uji, near Nara, so we took a bus there from Kyoto and watched rice paddies whiz by - oh now Peter Gilmartin, our Primary Source leader, has saved me and I am on my actual laptop (long story) so I can speed-type some info here without switching to Japanese every other word, which was culturally interesting but also a total hassle.
Right. The tea master. We clearly are all lacking in some sort of internal work ethic. This guy had to get 100% on ten tests before his father would consider getting him one toy. He began to study tea at age three. When making the tea, one concentrates completely on the tea, the art of making it, and does not clutter one's brain with other matters so that the tea itself is the best possible. We learned from a champion! In honoring this tradition and doing only this one thing so well, he lives a good life.
After that visit we were able to visit a Buddhist shrine where the theme of the many generations continued. We were able to go up on the Dias of the Toda-ji Temple, where there is an enormous Great Buddha. It is 49 feet high, made of bronze. The priest who gave is our tour told us that one curl on the buddha's head was the size of a helmet!
The concept of living in a place where one's ancestors lived so many many years ago is alien to me and to many of us on the trip. It is a theme that keeps coming up as we visit places where people speak of their ancestors and their lives here. The contrast between that and the high fashion, the wildly contemporary Kyoto mall and open-air space across from our hotel, and the fashionable people who we see all over everywhere is striking. Many of the teenagers wear shirts with English on them, and in the shops it is hard to find a t-shirt with Japanese characters. Malls are everywhere. Sound familiar?
Today we are going to have a Zen experience. I am not sure what the Zen experience is, but that is the story. Also, we are visiting Nijo Castle. The castles are such fun - nothing comparable at home except in the movies. We are also visiting a school. We are going by chartered bus so it feels a bit like one of those tours with people looking out the window all day, but I am confident that our intrepid guides will have us walking quickly - in the Japanese style - all over the place!
Right. The tea master. We clearly are all lacking in some sort of internal work ethic. This guy had to get 100% on ten tests before his father would consider getting him one toy. He began to study tea at age three. When making the tea, one concentrates completely on the tea, the art of making it, and does not clutter one's brain with other matters so that the tea itself is the best possible. We learned from a champion! In honoring this tradition and doing only this one thing so well, he lives a good life.
After that visit we were able to visit a Buddhist shrine where the theme of the many generations continued. We were able to go up on the Dias of the Toda-ji Temple, where there is an enormous Great Buddha. It is 49 feet high, made of bronze. The priest who gave is our tour told us that one curl on the buddha's head was the size of a helmet!
The concept of living in a place where one's ancestors lived so many many years ago is alien to me and to many of us on the trip. It is a theme that keeps coming up as we visit places where people speak of their ancestors and their lives here. The contrast between that and the high fashion, the wildly contemporary Kyoto mall and open-air space across from our hotel, and the fashionable people who we see all over everywhere is striking. Many of the teenagers wear shirts with English on them, and in the shops it is hard to find a t-shirt with Japanese characters. Malls are everywhere. Sound familiar?
Today we are going to have a Zen experience. I am not sure what the Zen experience is, but that is the story. Also, we are visiting Nijo Castle. The castles are such fun - nothing comparable at home except in the movies. We are also visiting a school. We are going by chartered bus so it feels a bit like one of those tours with people looking out the window all day, but I am confident that our intrepid guides will have us walking quickly - in the Japanese style - all over the place!
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