photo credit: Molly Nudell
Photos of tea activities and events:
Trip to Japan, May 2005
Opening of Yukoan (photos by Marvin Moore) and other tea events 2004-2007
Hatsugama, 2008
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Kalapa Cha
In 1980, during her first visit to Boulder, Colorado, Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche invited Mrs. Kyoko Shibata to introduce the practice of chanoyu. At that time, a handful of students began to study this centuries old contemplative practice. Rinpoche named the group Kalapa Cha.
The arrival in Nova Scotia of tea masters John Soyu McGee Sensei and Alexandre Soro Avdoulov Sensei in 2000 brought Kalapa Cha a fresh opportunity to continue the practice some of us began many years ago.
In 2002, McGee Sensei and Avdoulov Sensei presented Shambhala with a gift of an interior tea room, constructed in Japan and shipped to Nova Scotia in pieces to be assembled on site. The tea room was built in the Halifax Shambhala Centre and officially opened by the Sakyong on November 13, 2004. He chose the name Yukoan for the tea room, which means Abode of the Equable Tiger.
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photo credit: Marvin Moore
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| Chanoyu literally means hot water for tea. The art of Chanoyu, preparing and serving a bowl of tea, is a synthesis of many Japanese arts such as flower arranging, calligraphy, poetry, ceramics, lacquerware, cooking, architecture, gardening, and more.
A meditation in action, the practice of tea developed in Japan alongside the practice of Zen Buddhism. The tea master Sen Rikyu (1522-1591) studied tea from an early age and received Zen training at Daitoku-ji temple in Kyoto. It was Rikyu who joined the ordinary aspects of daily life with spiritual practice in what has been passed down to the present as the Way of Tea.
Leaving familiar reference points of the world behind, host and guests create a gentle moment, without past or future. Preparing and serving a bowl of tea is a discipline of mindfulness and awareness, a celebration of the senses and a journey to open heart.
If you are interested in studying with us or simply visiting our class and being served a bowl of tea, please contact:
Mindy Moore (479-0299)
Jill Scott (420-1118)
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