The Book of Tea – A Japanese Harmony of Art, Culture, and the Simple Life by Okakura Kakuzō is a long essay linking the role of tea-ism to the aesthetic and cultural aspects of life.

It is a true treasure for us at Lateef because it goes into the deep knowledge of tea culture and how it is connected to the Dao/Tao. Also, it beautifully shows a timeline of the development of tea culture.

Addressed to a Western audience, it was originally written in English and is one of the great tea classics. In his book, he discusses such topics as Zen and Taoism, but also the secular aspects of tea and Japanese life. The book emphasizes how tea taught the Japanese many things, the most important of which were simplicity and humility.

Tea inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of the social order. It is essentially a worship of the Imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing we know as life. This, Okakura believed, was an aesthetic that should inform everything from the arts and architecture to daily life. In the book, Kakuzō states that tea, in itself, is one of the profound universal remedies in which conflicting parties might find reconciliation. He ends the book with a chapter on tea masters and spends some time talking about Sen no Rikyū and his contribution to the Japanese tea ceremony.

It’s a must read and also a guide to the layers that tea culture brings.