Events
Events · 18 January 2020
Dear all Chanoyu is about awakening our hearts to the deeper themes of our lives. Let's. The morning of the 25th of January is the Lunar New Year for 2020. Candlelight turns to sunlight. As the sun rises, we will prepare tea, alone, each to ourselves in our private abode. But we will be together in spirit. I openly invite all people to prepare a personal bowl of tea at dawn for the Lunar New Year - 'one dawn, together'. Tea can be matcha, bowl tea oolong, jakseol green, yerba matê, whatever...
Events · 12 January 2020
For Sōmu Shachū, our emphasis is on doing tea. As we explore how to do tea in all our corners of the world, the world learns with us. We've retired a very full 2019 Events page to make way for 2020. I've taken this opportunity to look back on some moments in 2019 that made my heart sing. I hope more and more people can be touched by the sincere chanoyu of Sōmu Shachū people. As time marches on, so does our practice. Here's to developing into more and more capable tea people for ourselves...
Events · 21 June 2019
In Sōmu Shachū, we mark seasonal transitions with chaji - formal tea gatherings consisting of incense, charcoal and ash arranging ceremony, tea cuisine, tea sweets, thick tea (koicha) and thin tea (usucha). We are dispersed all over the globe, so for the solstice, some of us are down South and others up North. Midwinter and midsummer chaji are thus celebrated at the same time in our Shachū, according to our respective loco. All students work together with Adam, the principal sensei of Sōmu...
Events · 20 March 2019
In Sōmu Shachū, we mark seasonal transitions with chaji - formal tea gatherings consisting of incense, charcoal and ash arranging ceremony, tea cuisine, tea sweets, thick tea (koicha) and thin tea (usucha). We are dispersed all over the globe, so for the equinox, some of us are down South and others up North. Vernal and Autumnal equinox chaji are thus celebrated at the same time in our Shachū, according to our respective loco. All students work together with Adam, the principal sensei, to...
Events · 05 February 2019
The morning of Tuesday, 5th February 2019, saw the inaugural Lunar Wabicha, “One dawn together”, roll out across our beautiful Earth. This event was inspired by one of the tea records attributed to Sen Rikyū in the Nampō Roku. No matter what school or tea tradition, all tea people were invited to create a private chanoyu imbued with one’s understanding of ‘wabi’ to mark the start of the lunar New Year. More deeply, the idea was that regardless of individual background, people would...
Events · 05 January 2019
Dear all Chanoyu is about awakening our hearts to the deeper themes of our lives. Let's. The morning of the 5th of February is the Lunar New Year for 2019. Candlelight turns to sunlight. As the sun rises, we will prepare tea, alone, each to ourselves in our private abode. But we will be together in spirit. I openly invite all people to prepare a personal bowl of tea at dawn for the Lunar New Year - 'one dawn, together'. Tea can be matcha, bowl tea oolong, jakseol green, yerba matê, whatever...
Events · 19 November 2018
On Monday 19 November 2018, I hosted a chaji to mark the completion of my “karamono” qualification and to thank Adam-sensei for his guidance towards this level of qualification. It was my first chaji as a solo host and also the first “official” chaji held at my teahouse at home. Since the completion of the interior of the teahouse - the garden is still a work in progress - in late February, I have been thinking about how I should conduct tea gatherings there that embody my training in...
Events · 21 October 2018
Adamu Shachū's inaugural Australian Tea Retreat was conducted from the 17th to 21st October, 2018, on the country of the Cadigal people of the Eora nation. Our practice of silence and attention honours the Aboriginal people of the land, who for millennia have cared for country and sustained a ceremonial practice that enacts the interdependence of all beings, past, present and future.
Events · 24 April 2018
On the 24th of April 2018, Adamu Shachū visited Tango Tanimura at his atelier in Takayama, Nara. Tanimura-san gave us a detailed presentation on his family tradition and the craft of making chasen, before showing us the process for making a chasen. We all then had hands-on experience making chasen at each stage of the process. The 7 steps are: 1. Kata-gi 片木 - Finely shave the outer skin of the bamboo. Divide the bamboo above the node into 16 equal sections and remove the pith from the...
Events · 22 April 2018
Adamu Shachū had a humble celebration on the Sunday night after an intensive week at Wafūdō, the home of the Ueda Sōko Ryū. The week involved lots of keiko (practicing the forms), chaji practice, samu (mindfulness chores) and the week culminated in the receipt of sōden qualifications by many students. Fukuma Shihandai* took Adamu Shachū students for many hours of keiko and also a practice chaji. He also had a major role in the sōden qualification ceremonies. He eased the nerves of many...