![]() ![]() He was first known as Shōha, then Ryōkyū Sōsa, before finally receiving the title name Zuiryūsai from Ikkei Sōjū, a priest at Daitoku-ji, a temple in Kyoto. He was welcomed into the Omotesenke house in 1661. He was the son of Sen Sōtan's daughter Kure and Hisada Sōri (the second generation of the Hisada line), and thus the nephew of Kōshin Sōsa, who had no children of his own. His equipment of choice was a large Shuteoke, (scarlet bucket), a Mikimachidana (double layer shelf), and a Karakane hou'ou-furo (Chinese copper brazier with a Phoenix design). Finally, with Sen’nami as the original ancestor, Sen family lineage was officially established. The domain master ordered Kōshin to organize family histories and related documents. Kōshin began working as a tea master for the Tokugawa family of the Kii Province in 1642. Fourth Generation: Kōshin Sōsa (1612-1672)Īlso known as Umenosuke, he was bestowed the chamei (tea practitioner name) Sōju, and later named Sōsa. The Omotesenke tea room (chashitsu) is known as Fushin-an. The fourth-generation head was known as Kōshin Sōsa, and it is this Sōsa name which the family line uses today. The title of head of the house passed down to the second and then third generation (Sen Shōan and Sen Sōtan, respectively). Donegan & IshibashiĪpanese haiku, the simple three-line form of poetry, is now the world’s most popular poetic form.Omotesenke is one of the three houses (families) descended from Sen no Rikyu, the Japanese tea master who perfected the Way of Tea in the 16th century. Since it first became known in the West one hundred years ago, it has been seen from various perspectives. As a way to convey an aesthetic image, as a way to appreciate nature and as a way to record the Zen ah! moment. Perhaps it could also be seen as a means to appreciate “transience” - a way (or perhaps a practice) to enabling us understand and accept death in our ourselves and everything around us. Haiku brings us the birth and death of each moment. Everything is stripped away to its naked state. No high tech speed, but slowly and naturally we discover what is simply here, as in meditation: our aging bodies, the afternoon light on the bed sheets, the sound of a siren in the distance. Whatever is contained in this very moment, without adornment. The Tibetan Book of the Dead talks about these momentary bardo states, states of transition from one realm to another, from life to death to re-birth. These states of transition also exist in each moment of our life when we are alive on this earth, each moment containing a mini-birth and mini-death. One result of the shock of Septemis a greater recognition of this transience, on an individual, national and world level of consciousness. Usually it takes a personal crisis such as a death or separation from a loved one to awaken this realization of our true human condition. It is really our inability to accept this impermanence that causes us to appreciate less and suffer more. As Pema Chödron, a Tibetan meditation teacher says, “… happiness lies in being able to relax with our true condition which is basically fleeting, dynamic, fluid, not in any way solid, not in any way permanent. However, in the midst of the speed of post-modern culture, we somehow miss this point. The effect of speed is that it ignores, denies or negates the natural process of life. For things take time to grow: a garden, a baby’s steps, the trust of a friend, the study of a map or the stars, even a good cup of coffee or tea. This was recently illustrated in a Japanese comic strip showing the making of a cup of Japanese tea: a hundred years ago, one hour to make and serve tea in tea-ceremony style fifty years ago, fifteen to thirty minutes to boil water in a kettle and serve tea in a ceramic cup twenty years ago, five minutes to steep a tea-bag from a hot-pot into a paper cup ten years ago, five seconds to get a hot can of tea from a vending machine (See KJ 47, P. ![]()
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