By Sen no Rikyū, 1522-1591
When both the host and guest
have exchanged their minds,
only then does the water truly boil.
Since the garden path is a way
beyond this transient world,
why not shake off the dust
which soils the mind?
What is Tea? Simply boiling water,
making Tea, and drinking it.
Know that this is fundamental.
The garden path, the hut,
the hosts and [...]

Can you guess what company I consider to be the most powerful company in all of history? Microsoft maybe, with an annual income and cash stores that surpass the GNI of most small nations? The company that has their foot on the necks of the vast majoriy of personal and corporate computer system owners throughout [...]

When I first signed on at T Ching as Editor, I was so inspired by this post by Donna Fellman that I rhapsodized about it on my personal blog. Since then, a funny thing has happened. People who google “sage tea” are ending up at my blog.
This got me curious. I was previously unaware of [...]

IN JAPAN, Continued from Part 6
One historian avers Rikyu’s fall came about because he was “not indifferent to money” and abused his unrivaled skill as a connoisseur of tea wares to enrich himself and curry favor with the great. Others think it was Rikyu’s irksome appearance of saintliness that event ally provoked Hideyoshi. (After all, [...]

Merry Christmas! We’d like to share with you Tom Hegg’s poem about how a cup of Christmas tea can transform obstacles into miracles, keeping the traditions of hearth and home alive.
Wishing you and yours all the best on this holiday,
The T Ching editorial team