Chanoyu Course – The Way of Tea
Throughout history, great minds have sought beauty in spirituality and spirituality in beauty, giving rise to profound traditions. Among the most exquisitely beautiful is the Japanese tea ceremony, known as Chado or Chanoyu – “The Way of Tea.”
Rooted in Zen Buddhism and shaped by generations of devoted practitioners, Chado is not simply a ceremony—it is a path. It is a refuge. It is a mirror reflecting the state of our heart. My recent pilgrimage to Eiheiji, the monastery founded by Dogen Zenji, reignited a long-held aspiration to share this subtle, wordless teaching with my Western friends.
Grounded in the Four Principles of Tea—harmony (wa), respect (kei), purity (sei), and tranquility (jaku)—Chanoyu becomes a way to train the body, calm the mind, and awaken to the sacred in the ordinary.
As a lifelong tea practitioner, I have introduced the beauty of this tradition to American high school students, to museum visitors, and to fellow spiritual seekers. Time and again, I’ve seen the transformation that occurs when one holds a bowl of tea with presence and care—it is as if we are holding our own heart, and the heart of the world.
8-Week Course
With Chöying Khandro
Buddha Nature in a Bowl of Tea
Tasting Inner Goodness through Training in the Traditional Tea Ceremony
“To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind, as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. No trace of enlightenment remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.” - Dogen
I warmly invite you to join this 8-week course, designed with Western students in mind while remaining true to the traditional forms preserved by great Japanese tea masters. We will base our learning on the Urasenke school’s introductory curriculum—gentle yet precise movements that cultivate awareness, humility, and grace.
Each week, we will study and reflect on one verse from the Hundred Verses of Rikyu, composed by Sen-no Rikyu, the legendary tea master who brought Zen spirit into every whisk and bow. These verses offer not only instruction, but koan-like glimpses into the heart of the Way.
What You Will Experience
- Learn to prepare and serve a bowl of matcha with wholehearted presence
- Discover the meditative grace of embodied ritual
- Develop one-pointed focus and reverence for ordinary objects
- Integrate beauty and simplicity into daily life
- Foster compassionate presence through sharing tea
- Touch the luminous stillness of “Buddha nature” through every gesture
Whether you are new to tea or have long been drawn to its quiet power, this course offers a doorway—a way to taste the sacred through the most intimate of acts: making, offering, and receiving a bowl of tea.
Let us meet in the tearoom, in stillness and in silence, and drink deeply of the truth that lives within each of us.
“In each bowl of tea, I discover the same spaciousness I found in the mountains of Tibet or in the Dakini’s mandala. The practice is different. The awakening is the same.”