While we wait, there are hundreds of visitors to the Sogen-ji monastery to attend the annual formal tea ceremony today. It is a chance to reconnect with ancient Japanese traditions, to see and be seen having tea with the Roshi (the head of the monastery) in his meeting room next to the formal gardens.
It is important to use just the right gestures, to be silent and listen to the prescribed conversation of the head guest about the tea and the weather, to hear the sound of the bamboo whisk as it whips the tea into a froth, and to share a moment of utter civility and tranquility amidst timeless beauty.