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Kakuzo, Okakura - The Book of Tea - The Art of Teamaking
Identifier
010782
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
The Book of Tea - Kakuzo Okakura
Tea is a work of art and needs a master hand to bring out its noblest qualities. …. There is no single recipe for making the perfect tea, as there are no rules for producing a Titian or a Sesson. Each preparation of the leaves has its individuality, its special affinity with water and heat, its own method of telling a story. The truly beautiful must always be in it. How much do we not suffer through the constant failure of society to recognise this simple and fundamental law of art and life; Lichilai, a Sung poet, has sadly remarked that there were three most deplorable things in the world: the spoiling of fine youths through false education, the degradation of fine art through vulgar admiration, and the utter waste of fine tea through incompetent manipulation.