Tea and Ceremony: Experiencing Tranquility

by Diana Saltoon

Tea and Ceremony is about far more than tea. The book deals with the American fascination with Zen, meditation, and the value of simply living. It's about experiencing tranquility, about ceremony and removal and how removal improves the quality of life by providing detachment from those trials and limitations that inhibit awareness of the present.Whether simple or elaborate, a ceremony creates a rare opportunity to do something wise and compassionate, not only for yourself but for others. The author shows how many different ways of tea – even alone or out-of-doors – can be equated with removal in which one becomes centered in quiet spaciousness where it is possible to accept whatever comes. It explains how this can bring calm and focus to both the host and the guest. The book embraces the reader in the spirit of ceremony while creating a sense that it would be easy to follow on your own. Tea and Ceremony is beautifully illustrated, with an introduction by Taoist author, Deng Ming-Dao. It is an autobiographical account that reflects the rewards of tea ceremony and proves that, along with its many medicinal properties, tea offers unusual moments of tranquility.

192 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2004

About the author

Diana Saltoon has traveled extensively, studied yoga, and in the 1970s developed a program that dealt with modern stress. Her interest in Zen led to a study of Chado, The Way of Tea, as a Zen art and received a certificate of Chamei from the Urasenke School in Kyoto, Japan. Diana became a teacher at the Portland Wakai Tea Association in Oregon before moving with her husband, Robert Briggs, to New York in 2011. They returned to Portland, Oregon, in 2014. A member of Zen communities in Oregon and New York, Diana continues to give presentations, classes and workshops on the Zen Art of Tea. Diana co-authored "Wife, Just Let Go: Zen, Alzheimer's, and Love," with her late husband, Robert Briggs. She is the author of Tea and Ceremony: Experiencing Tranquility (2004), The Common Book of Consciousness (1990), and Four Hands: Green Gulch Poems (1987).

Reviews

[Debbie B · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a tea lover and avid reader, I love how this beautifully written book celebrates chado - the Way of Tea.

The story, written by Diana Saltoon, is like the fine green tea served to grateful guests seeking wisdom and tranquility via various tea ceremonies - enlivening the mind and spirit and clarifying the meanings behind each step. The author’s descriptions of her experiences in the world of tea add a lot of charm and interest. The delicate illustrations and book design are like the tea implements used in a traditional tea ceremony, setting the tone and helping to place you gently in the here and now.

Reading this was a real pleasure. “Tea and Ceremony” is a means to learn more about tea history and tea culture, but it also talks about how to be in the moment and enjoy the deeper meanings and mental/spiritual nourishment that rituals can provide. It celebrates the simple act of drinking tea and describes the sequence of actions that both hosts and guests can use to create an atmosphere of what the author calls “removal” to diminish the everyday stresses of living.

I highly recommend this delightful book. I will be rereading it soon!

[Jacob D. Salzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book that focuses on Chado, the Japanese Tea Ceremony, ancient in its roots in Japan, yet just as relevant, and needed, even more so, in today's fast-paced modern culture. Diana Saltoon is an experienced teacher and practitioner of Chado and it shows in her writing in this book. I highly recommend it.

Reviewed by Jacob D. Salzer, author of Sea Wind: Haiku (Lulu, 2025), My First Trip to Japan (Lulu, 2025), Maui Wind (Lulu, 2025), A Lost Prophet: Haiku & Tanka (Brooks Books, 2024), and Unplugged: Haiku & Tanka (Lulu, 2022)