the memorial tea

how to choose a tea bowl

why purchase a chawan
when one does not practice tea ceremony

or when
space is lacking at home
to prepare it in the proper way

why acquire a chawan
when there is no one
to whom we can give the tea

for oneself
from time to time
standing
in a corner of the kitchen
without ceremony
just for
the stimulating effect of macha

for its taste
– if it is good –
combined with the sweet
that comes with it

for this solitary pleasure
a chawan
the price of a painting
or of a trip
brings the feeling
of a waste
that we don’t deserve

an unjustified
meaningless
expense

if several times a year
we actively create the chance
to prepare a tea for guests
then
it is the aesthetics and complicity
of norms and customs
inherited from a particular history
which lead us to choose a bowl
of this form
of this color
of this region
of this technique

to know how to choose a bowl
in this context
is to have to testify
from one’s
experience
taste
or one’s
connection
with a place
an artist
a group

we reveal
our soul
our knowledge
our limits
when choosing a bowl

to expose oneself that way
is intimidating

only few collectors dare to

or tea practitioners
who know that
that bowl
they have not seen elsewhere
or which reminds them of a museum ceramic
will resonate forever
in their palms

that this bowl will dialogue
harmoniously
with their others tea instruments

is a chawan
therefore
just a luxury beauty
reserved
to a caste
of a thousand people?

no

because nowadays
we miss
ceremonies
to celebrate
our dead

not
social obligation
filial duty
public demonstration
of our debt to
the lineage
the clan

we lack rituals
for our mourning

and then
once our mourning is over
rituals to celebrate
peacefully
the people we miss
and who were important
in our lifes

people
so important
that just a detail
at the corner of a street
at the corner of a page
through a melody
a landscape
a season
brings out
with a discreet smile
at the corner of our lips
and with a real smile
deep in our heart
their living presence in us

tea ceremony
vibrates accurately
to celebrate
the memory
of those we love

a ceremony
without fuss
without darkness
that we can do alone
as many times as we want
without waiting
an anniversary
or a specific calendar day

tea
makes us able to bring back the presence
of the ones we miss
by sharing with them
a bowl
a chosen moment

tea honors them
and honors the rare and the good
of how we felt
in their contact

it is reactivating our link with them
not forgetting
the luck of this link

finding care
inspiration
security
healing
in this link

not forgetting
those we love
and who loved us

memorial tea
is a ceremony that we offer ourselves
without feeling pompous
deadpan
or exotic

because we are accompanied
by love
and we lead
our soul
in this love
for a few minutes
at home
without the need for gods
beliefs
altars or priests

memorial tea
does not require any knowledge
nore lessons

no need
to have learned tea
in order to create
our own ceremony
without witnesses
which will be refined
over the years

we don’t even need tea

cool water in summer
hot water in winter
any drink
will do

but we need a bowl
an object
that connects us to the ones we miss

one bowl is enough

a single bowl capable of accommodating
all the souls
of all the people we miss
is enough

but
these unique bowls
simple and humble
are rare

only masterpieces
reach this level

chōjiro
perhaps sign his genius
from this
to be able to accommodate
in total simplicity
all the souls

if you come across a bowl of this type
don’t miss it

most often though
bowls have
a distinct personality
male or female
reserved or demonstrative
hot or cold
intellectual or erotic
imperfect or flawless

the chawans
are portraits
sculptures
of a soul

that’s why it is
so easy
to choose them

if someone places in front of you
hundred bowls
and if you are asked
to choose the one
which looks like
your grandmother
or the bowl she would have liked the most

then immediately
you know in which bowl
you will have pleasure
to prepare
regularly
a happy ceremony
in memory
for her
with her

this bowl will bear her name

it will not be a pretentious object
snob
but the trigger
reassuring
familiar
of what unites you
to
good
to what in life is worth it

instead of taking
the dust in its box
or on its shelf
these bowls are jewelry
that we take in our hands
smiling with our eyes
while getting older

and maybe one day
someone
a friend
a love
a relative
a student
a stranger
will choose a bowl in our name

and this bowl will be the keeper
the testimony
of what was the most beautiful
in our life