ZEN IN THE ART OF THE TEA...

ZEN IN THE ART OF THE TEA CEREMONY by Horst Hammitzsch, translated from the German by Peter Lemesurier (Arkana: $10; 103 pp.). In a noisy and confusing time, the austere grace of the so-called Tea Ceremony exerts a powerful fascination for both Japanese and Western admirers. A noted authority on Japanese culture, Hammitzsch emphasizes that the study of the “Way of Tea” is a form of mental discipline with broad philosophical implications. Although the custom of drinking tea originated in China, Japanese Zen monks infused the ritual with a slightly melancholy, seemingly artless beauty, “a beauty which does not impose itself on the beholder, and yet which attracts the eye and above all captivates the heart.” This concise text, best read in conjunction with Kakuzo Okakura’s “The Book of Tea” (Kodansha), provides a gracious introduction to the ceremony Grand Master Rikyu described as consisting “simply of boiling water, preparing tea and drinking it.”