Zen and Tea | Chanoyu Chat: Dairik Amae

Situated on the outskirts of the Tranquil Tai Tokuji Temple grounds in Kyoto is Totousha, the tea room of contemporary tea practitioner Dairek Amae, who fuses his international upbringing and contemporary art spirit with the beautiful tradition of chanoyu. Following a light meal and a small serving of sake, Dairek-san treated us each to a bowl of tea. After watching his beautiful temai, I had the opportunity to ask him a little bit about his practice and his views on chanoyu. So why did you start learning chanoyu? So I first began when I was 19 years old and I was originally interested in the architecture and I liked this kind of sense of a tranquil and the quietness where you cannot find in everyday tea houses or coffee shops. I felt chanoyu had a different perspective. So I was originally drawn to the space. Do you have a favorite chashitsu layout? Yeah, so I like three mats with a nagaita. Nagaita means it's like a middle board. So it's three mats and a little bit leeway. So I think it's for me a very nice size. One of the practice spaces at Wafudo for Ueda Sokuryu is three mats with a nagaita, but one of the mats is a dainei. That's not a dainei. It's one of my favorites. First, Daidek-san made a single bowl of tea in the omo chawan or main chawan to serve to the head guest, after which he told us a little bit about this bowl and why he chose it in particular. So David, you study from Adam? Yes. Yeah, he came here a few times before because you guys also use nanpo oribe. Here Daidek-san is referring to the fact that my teacher and I practiced the Ueda Soko school of chanoyu. Ueda Soko was a student of Furuta Oribe, and Oribe was famous for preferring these styles of chawan and is why these bowls are known as Oribe chawan today. Daidek-san himself originally studied the urasenke style of chanoyu, although today his practice has developed into a more personal artistic expression. After serving the head guest in the main chawan, Daidek-san prepared us each a bowl of tea in matching temoku chawan. Why do you keep doing chanoyu? What keeps you interested in it? So I actually don't know. I think now it's like asking the question, like why do you brush your teeth? You just kind of do it. It's like part of every day. I don't know, you never think about it anymore. And I think originally I was desiring to know more or search for more, but now I don't really think about it. And I think every day I just kind of wake up, prepare tea, prepare breakfast. It's just part of my daily routine. In addition to practicing chanoyu, Daidek-san also practices zen buddhism. These two traditions share a long history and many see them as being inextricably related, one reflecting the other. In fact, there is a famous saying, cha zen ichimi, tea and zen are of the same flavor. Important concept. So where do you find the overlaps? Where do you see tea taken from zen or zen taken from tea and where can they learn from each other? Yeah, that's a very hard question. It's hard because first of all, zen is, you cannot describe it by words. It's beyond words. And tea is also about this feeling. It's a shared experience so you have to be there. I think zen and tea is similar in that it helps you see reality with true eyes, if I can say, you know, beyond judgment, beyond pre-assumptions. My teacher would say winter is cold, summer is hot. And zen also states the obvious. Tea also just tries to state the obvious. I think that's where they overlap. And for those who can't practice chanoyu or don't want to practice chanoyu but want to enjoy drinking matcha, what ideas or mindsets can they take from chanoyu or zen to incorporate into their lives? Yeah, I think just enjoying each moment, you know, the different sensations, the feeling of the cup. You know, maybe in winter, you can enjoy the steam coming off from hot water. You know, that kind of sense of the freshness of the tea, even if it's a latte, you know. As long as you're enjoying the different sensations, it helps you bring your awareness to the present moment. And that itself is a meditation. So I think, you know, that's how I would advise people if they want to enjoy tea at their house.