The phrase "The taste of Tea and Zen are one and the same" (Cha-Zen-Ichimi) is very familiar among the people who are learning tea ceremony.
"The spirit of tea is zen" is the meaning of this phrase, as SEN-SOTAN said about 400 years ago.When I began to learn tea ceremony just before 50 years old, the phrase "The taste of Tea and Atom are one and the same"(Cha-Kaku-Ichimi) was written on a shikishi at the entrance of our tea house.
The shikishi was written by Mr. Susumu KIYONARI, who named the fast breeder reactor as MONJU, and the advanced thermal reactor as FUGEN.
These MONJU and FUGEN are the names of Buddha.Is the phrase "The taste of Tea and Atom are one and the same"(Cha-Kaku-Ichimi) only a rhyming game?
Or does it mean that the people who engage in nuclear technology should learn the spirit of tea ceremony?
At that time, I had warmed up to my nuclear job after the experience of a quoter century.
I learned tea only to kill time of single transfer, and I wasn't mindful of the phrase at all.It past more than ten years, and I learned not only how to make tea, but also the ways of tea by many seniors, and I asked to myself what kind of tea I should execute.
Gradually, the phrase occupied my thinking, and recently, I concluded that my way of tea is to realize the spirit of the phrase.It is very difficult to explain by words what kind of tea ceremony I should pursue, but I would like to explain the meaning by showing my tea ceremony and the experience of my nuclear research activities.
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