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The
sixteenth-generation grand master of the Urasenke
chado tradition, Soshitsu Sen XVI, will conduct a
ritual tea offering in Bodh Gaya on the 15th of February,
2006. The Urasenke delegation is now visiting India
12-17 February and this is the first visit of Soshitsu-sen
XVI to India.
Chado, the Japanese “Way of Tea,” is one of Japan’s
most representative traditional forms of culture.
It is an extremely highly developed and comprehensive
creative activity that includes artistic, religious,
philosophical, social, and cultural aspects,
and which effectively leads to the cultivation
of one’s character, mind, and spirit.
The succeeding generations of grand masters ever
since the founder of the chado tradition, Sen
Rikyu (1522–91), have given concrete form to
its spiritual aspect by presenting ritual tea
offerings, referred to as kencha-shiki, at important
shrines and temples. These rituals in themselves
are non-sectarian, but honor the holy spirit
enshrined at that sacred site.
In that chado virtually came into being owing
to its deep connections with Zen Buddhism, however,
and the ideas inherent in chado and Zen share
the same sensibility, the conducting of a kencha-shiki
at Bodh Gaya, the holy place where Buddha attained
enlightenment, holds very special significance
for chado.
From the Embassy of Japan, Mr.Hajime Matsumura,
Director for Japan Cultural and Information Center
will attend the tea offering.
Specifics
Date
and time: |
15th
of February, 2006 (Wednesday), 9:00 A.M. (tentatively) |
Place: |
Mahabodhi
Temple |
Attendees: |
Approximately
200 (approx. 150 of them from Japan) |
|
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Soshitsu
Sen XVI was born in 1956. He is the grand master
of the Urasenke Chado Tradition. He underwent Zen
training under the guidance of Chief Abbot of the
temple Daitokuji, Nakamura Sojun. He was ordained
in a tokudo shiki, "ceremony of taking Buddhist vows," and
received the name Buddhist name, Zabosai. Later,
he trained under Morinaga Soko at the temple Myoshinji.
Presently he is the resident abbot of the Rinzai
Myoshinji sect temple Kyoshin'an. He succeeded to
the position of sixteenth grand master in December,
2002.
Among his many positions, Soshitsu Sen serves
as President of the Kyoto Art Center and professor
in the department of Historical Heritage at Kyoto
University of Art and Design. He is a certified
clinical psychologist and a member of the Japan
Writers' Association.
His books, The Hexagonal Room a Moment of Distress
(Kadokawa Shoten) and Tasty Lines (Koike Shoten)
have been designated Recommended Books by the
Japanese Library Association. He has also written
Sitting with Chin Propped in Palms (Kyoto Shimbunsha),
and Places My Mother Inhabited (Chuo Koron Shinsha).
His hobbies include landscape photography, cycling,
reading, and music. |
