Make much of little things, and make little of great things, and there lies the source of all happiness. Tea study does not have the danger of studying or drinking wine, even though a devotee might expend just as much energy to the perfection of tea.
Okakura's own prose, with its attitude of whimsy rather than worshipfulness: "What a tempest in a tea cup...Perhaps I betray my own ignorance of the Tea Cult by being so outspoken," is in keeping with the principles of Teaism that he outlines. He makes delightful use of the religious nature of tea, poking fun at Westerners who dislike tea, who call drinking tea a filthy custom as heretics. This lack of reverence towards tea is a key, ironic part of Japanese religiosity, he implies. By not taking things too seriously, the true ethos of tea is manifest. Tea is served with deliberation, but ultimately the pourer knows that it does not matter very much in the grand scheme of things.
Despite such heretical observation, with a gentle yet explosive point, the author provides a potently brewed observation on colonialism: "Strangely enough humanity has so far met in the tea-cup. It is the only Asiatic ceremonial which commands universal esteem. The white man has scoffed at our religion and our morals, but has accepted the brown beverage without hesitation. The afternoon tea is now an important function in Western society. In the delicate clatter of trays and saucers, in the soft rustle of feminine...
The philosophic resignation of the guest to the fate awaiting him in the dubious decoction proclaims that in this single instance the Oriental spirit reigns supreme." By colonizing the Western stomach, tea has triumphed, and therefore Japan and its aesthetic. Although they consider themselves perfectly British, the tea-drinking English matron is really replicating the far older ceremony of what Okakura calls the Orient.
Thus, although the Book of Tea was written a hundred years ago, it is still relevant today. Even persons unfamiliar with the exact details of the historical events discussed by Okakura knows about the often fraught relationship between Japan and the West, and about the differences that still exist today between the American and Japanese sensibility, so memorably captured in the recent film "Lost in Translation." Although the physical act of reading the book itself is not quite replicated in the modern fashion of reading the words online, none of the prose's whimsy is lost, and the clean aspect of reading the book at a cool, simple computer terminal (on perhaps a Japanese-crafted machine) is in its own way, a high-tech version of Teaism. Okakura would approve!
Works Cited
Okakura, Kazuko. "The Book of Tea." [20 Nov 2006] e-text available at http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/tea.htm. a
