The Bible can be read in the spirit of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony, says a pastor who teaches the ritual renowned for its tranquillity and attention to detail that has been influenced by Zen Buddhism.
The Rev. Toshio Takahashi is author of a new Japanese book entitled "The Bible as Seen Through the Japanese Tea Ceremony", published by Forest Books on 23 May.
"What I would like to say in the book is that the spirit of Christianity dwells deeply within the spirit of the tea ceremony which is often described as the essence of Japanese culture," says Takahashi, who lectures on the Japanese tea ceremony and on Christianity at universities and theological seminaries in different parts of his country.
His type of tea ceremony known in Japanese as Omotesenke has been described as "a communication of the minds of host and guests through the enjoyment of delicious tea together" by the Web site www.omotesenke.jp/english/tobira.html
In the book, Takahashi says the origin of the spirit of hospitality found in the tea ceremony is "the spirit of being merciful and compassionate, by serving one's neighbour meticulously without expecting anything in return", as Luke 6:35-36 reports Jesus as saying.
The publication of the book was celebrated at Tokyo's Ochanomizu Christian Centre on 20 June and included a Japanese tea ceremony, the weekly evangelical newspaper The Christians reported on 3 July.
Takahashi said he decided in the early 1970s to model his life on a Christian "daimyo" or feudal lord called Ukon Takayama who lived from 1552 to 1615. In this lifestyle, he sought a Japanese type of Christianity as an alternative to the westernised Christianity that has been in Japan for more than 450 years.
Takayama is a disciple of Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591), the master of the Japanese tea ceremony whose taste for a simple and quiet existence set his standard for life. Rikyu believed that each time one extends hospitality to another person it is a special occasion that might never recur again, so one should try to make it perfect.
Takahashi has a traditional Japanese tea room at his local church in Kasukabe in Saitama Prefecture north of Tokyo. Each autumn, more than 300 people gather there for a tea ceremony, music, and a lecture.
"When Jesus prepares a tea room called heaven to welcome us, we are guests of a heavenly banquet and meet Jesus who is the true host," says Takahashi.
Article written by Hisashi Yukimoto
Ecumenical News I
