「茶禅一味」の禅茶道
Zen Teaism:Tea and Zen as One Tastere
壺月遠州流禪茶道宗家について
About the Kogetsu-EnshuūZen School of Teaism
茶道のルーツを訪ねれば、鎌倉時代の臨済宗の栄西禅師。源実朝の時代にいたる。
当流のルーツを遡れば、それは当然千宗易（利休）であるが、織田信長、古田織部、小堀遠州、三代将軍徳川家光と武家に伝わる茶道である。
この流れにある遠州流茶道を更に大正の大徳 大僧正渡邊海旭師（号 壺月）、先々代家元 青柳貫孝宗匠が昇華、
茶の湯における禅茶道を徹底、余計なものは排して、仏道に合致せしめ、壺月遠州流禪茶道宗家を打ち立てた。
東洋初のノーベル文学賞受賞者ラビンドラナート・タゴール（＝タークル） （Rabindranath Tagore (1861年5月7日-1941年8月7日）は、先々代宗家、渡印におけるの弟子である。
深山の渓流の如く、緩急自在に流れる水をもって、当流の茶風となすものである。
簡素をもって旨とするのが武家の茶道であるから、当流の茶道は、飾らない、気取らない、そのままの姿で行う茶道である。
加えて当流には、点前に男女なく、貴賎なく、茶道具の拝見もない。戦国の世に生まれた武士（もののふ）の茶道ゆえに、
現代という乱世に生きる我々に適合する。即ち人々に癒しと生命力を与える茶道である。
If we trace the origins of the tea ceremony, we arrive at the Rinzai Zen master Eisai （栄西）in the Kamakura period, during the era of Minamoto no Sanetomo（源実朝）
When we trace the roots of our school, they naturally lead back to Sen no Soeki (千宗易 Rikyu利休). Our tradition is a form of tea transmitted within the warrior class, handed down through Oda Nobunaga（織田信長）, Furuta Oribe（古田織部）, Kobori Enshu(小堀遠州）, and the third shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu（徳川家光）.
This lineage of Enshu-style tea was further refined and sublimated by the great Taisho-era prelate, the Most Reverend Watanabe Kaigyoku (alias: Kogetsu壺月), and by the late former Grand Master, Aoyagi Kankou.
They thoroughly integrated Zen Teaism into the practice of the Teaism, removed all that was unnecessary, aligned it with the Buddhist path, and thus established the Kogetsu-Enshu Zen School of Teaism.
Rabindranath Tagore (also known as Thakur; May 7, 1861 - August 7, 1941), the first Nobel laureate in literature from the East, was a disciple of the former Grand Master during his travels to India.
Like the waters of a deep mountain stream that flow freely—sometimes swift, sometimes gentle—the tea style of our school is shaped by such natural fluidity.
Because the tea of the warrior class values simplicity as its guiding principle, our practice is unadorned and unpretentious, performed exactly as it is, without affectation.
Furthermore, in our school there is no distinction of gender or social rank in the temae (tea procedures点前), nor is there any formal inspection of utensils.
Born from the tea of samurai in the Warring States period, it is well suited to those of us living in today's own age of turbulence.
In other words, it is a form of Teaism that offers people both healing and vitality.
中村如栴
NAKAMURA.Nyosen
(Photo credit:ASAL"SHINING from KAMAKURA,Tea×Art×Kamakura vol2" MASAHIRO HOSOBUCHI)
入門案内
Introduction for New Students
初伝まではいわば義務教育の部分で、中伝は高等学校、奥伝は大学で、皆伝は大学院のようなものである。但し、当流は風炉を主とした薄茶点前の流儀なのであるから「初伝」「中伝」「奥伝」とはいっても学ぶ事は同じである。腕前に応じて（磨きのかかり具合によって）三段階に分けたにすぎない。免許取得者は以上の主旨にのっとった当流の茶道をマスターしたことになる。
Up to the shoden (初伝)level is, so to speak, the equivalent of compulsory education;
the chuden(中伝) level corresponds to high school,
the okuden (奥伝)level to university,
and the kaiden (皆伝)level to graduate school.
However, because our school is a tradition that centers on usucha temae(薄茶点前) using the furo(風呂), what one learns is the same regardless of whether it is called shoden, chuden, or okuden.
The three levels are simply divisions based on the practitioner's skill—how well one's technique has been polished.
Those who receive certification are considered to have mastered the Teaism practice of our school in accordance with this principle.
