今回のテーマは「茶道の魅力」。
講師には表千家同門会岐阜県支部副支部長の川上省吾先生をお招きしました。
川上先生は10歳の頃から母親について茶道教室に通うようになり、大学を出て社会人になったころより「心のゆとり」を持ちたいと思われ、茶の道を真剣に極めていきたいと思わるようになったそうです。いちばん大切にしておられることばは、素直な心持ちでいればどこでも道場となり、どこでも学ぶことができる、という意味をもつ「直心是道場」。

「茶室は日本の総合芸術であり、茶道を通じて心の持ち方を深めていきたい」と仰る川上先生のお話しの中からは、禅と茶道のつながりや人としての生き方など、私たち日本人ですらしっかりと理解をしていない大切な事柄について教えていただきました。
後半には実際に参加者のためにお茶を点てていただきました。

お点前の見学やお茶をいただく体験のみならず、「お先に」といった他者に対する思いやりの姿勢も学ばせていただきました。参加した留学生も茶道と禅とのつながり、そのフィロソフィー（哲学）に貴重な学びになったとコメントをしていました。

The theme this time is “the charm of the tea ceremony”.
We invited Mr. Shogo Kawakami, Deputy Director of the Gifu of the Omotesenke Domonkai, as a lecturer. Mr. Kawakami started attending the tea ceremony class with his mother when he was 10 years old, and since he graduated from university and became a member of society, he wanted to have a “relaxation of mind” and wanted to take the tea ceremony seriously. The most important word is “Shinshin Dojo,” which means that if you have an honest mind, you can become a dojo anywhere and learn anywhere.

From the story of Professor Kawakami, who says, “Tea room is a comprehensive art of Japan and I want to deepen my mind through tea ceremony,” Tea ceremony can’t be separated from Zen. Zen is difficult to define but it refers to mindfulness and the idea that simple actions may lead to the awakening of our spirits. There are a lot of similarities between the main principles of tea ceremony (harmony, respect, tranquility) and the philosophy of Zen (mindfulness, transience, acceptance).

There are a lot of similarities between how tea ceremony is conducted and the basic practices of Zen. Tea ceremony involves following dozens of prescribed steps so that one does not have to think about the next step and gain inner peace while performing this ritualistic activity. That is why tea ceremony cannot be considered separately from the zen. Tea ceremony also has the values of vabi sabi (natural, simple and minimalistic things are better) which are deeply embedded in Zen Buddhism.

In the second half, they actually made tea for the participants.
We learned not only the experience of observing the tea ceremony and having tea, but also the attitude of compassion for others”. International students who participated also commented that the connection between tea ceremony and Zen and its philosophy was a valuable learning experience.