Here’s another passage from the Zen Tea Record. This is
short, but I wanted to give you this one by itself because there’s a lot of
food for thought:
“Comprehension requires resolve, not the dogged passage of
months or years in study. Since the thought of aspiration may be shallow or
deep, you must strive with wholeness of heart solely to fulfill your resolution
and practice chanoyu-samadhi.”
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I remember in my early years as a student of chado that I
would often sit in lessons and let my mind wander – as any student does in
class, I guess! – and not pay attention to what was going on. It’s easy to get
out of the habit of focusing on what’s happening, especially if you’re not
learning anything new at the time. Even now I sometimes forget to pay attention
when I should be. That’s the key lesson: resolve never goes out of style!
