The degree of attention to detail in both is overwhelming. The practitioner must let go of his or her own desires and concentrate on creating the best possible experience for the guest. Years of training and days of planning and cooking precede every tea gathering. A standard chaji is a ritual which includes the preparation of thick and thin tea, two charcoal ceremonies, and a meal. It takes a minimum of three and a half hours.
The first thing the guest sees is the tokonama, an alcove for a hanging scroll. The calligraphy on the scroll sets the tone for the tea gathering and is ideally written by a respected Zen priest or tea master. Flowers and an incense container are also displayed in the alcove during the tea gathering.
After the host greets the guests, he or she may perform a charcoal ritual. Because the condition of the fire used to heat the water is crucial, charcoal is arranged at the beginning of a tea gathering in winter and after the meal in summer.
The dishes on which the meal is served recall the monk's begging bowl. The cuisine is called kaiseki. These characters mean "breast stones" indicating the meal is like the hot stones monks placed in their kimono to stave off hunger during meditation. Originally, only one soup and three side dishes were served. Today, the meal is more elaborate.
The name of this sweet is minazuki, "month without water," another name for the seventh lunar month which is celebrated in June today. The sweet is meant to resemble ice and give a cool feeling.
The guests assume the same posture taken by monks on the way to a private interview with their roshi.
The atmosphere of the tea gathering becomes more casual. This is akin to "downward training," the period when a person who has experienced kensho adjusts to everyday life.
Norman Girardot has suggested that religion is based on "periodically recovering in this lifetime, a condition of original wholeness, health or holiness." Sen Soshitsu, the fifteenth generation Grandmaster of the Urasenke tea lineage suggested that "Tea is the practice or realization of religious faith, no matter what you believe in." The ideal for devotees of tea ritual is to make their practice more than a worldly means to an end. It is to realize, as Sen Soshitsu says, "Peacefulness in a bowl of tea."
