[zither introduces traditional
Japanese arrangement]

[flute leads]

♪

♪

(woman)
The tea gatherings
help to form a respite.

It functions
almost like meditation.

I let go
of my other thoughts, and

I focus on the sound
of the gravel under my feet

and the sound of the water
when I wash my hands

and the sound
that the door makes

opening and closing
when we go into the teahouse.

I like everything
about the tea gathering.

(female narrator)
Experiencing
the rich Japanese tradition

of chanoyu,
or the "way of tea,"

only requires a visit

to the Culberson Asiatic
Arboretum at Duke Gardens,

known as the crown jewel
of Duke University in Durham.

This artful preparation,

serving,
and receiving of tea

captivates visitors
like Jeanette Stokes.

(Stokes)
I love how simple it is.

I love
that it's very prescribed

and choreographed,
so it's the same every time.

I know what to expect,

and yet in that sameness,
there's variation.

So the teacups

and the sweets that are served
and the scroll

will all be different
each time

because those things
are chosen

to go along with the season.

It both helps me calm myself
in the moment

when I am experiencing
the tea gathering,

and it helps me
appreciate the rhythm

of the natural world
and the seasons of the year.

(narrator)
Whether you visit
in the spring or fall,

the tea gathering
follows its own unique rhythm.

First, the host
greets the guests

at the waiting shelter

and escorts them
to a water basin,

where each guest
washes their hands.

Then, they enter the teahouse
using a crawl-through door.

(woman)
No matter how high
your social status is,

you have
to lower--

(Stokes)
We're all the same.

(woman)
Yes, so inside
of the tea room,

all the guests are equal--
heh, heh...heh!

(narrator)
Once inside,

guests enjoy
traditional Japanese sweets

before the host begins
the tea-making procedure,

or temae,

using powdered green tea
called matcha.

After receiving tea,
guests have the chance

to study various utensils
and ask questions.

This is a tea scoop
we used for today.

This bamboo
is from Duke Gardens.

I carved this tea scoop.

This is a tea whisk,

so just one piece of bamboo
then cut into tiny pieces.

(Stokes)
Every implement
is very thoughtfully chosen

so that when I arrive
at the teahouse,

there are small delights
from the very beginning,

and the delights
just continue so that,

almost like a child
at a birthday party,

I relax and assume
that I'm being taken care of,

and then the most restful
thing for me

is actually watching
the host make the tea.

The host will move
very slowly and deliberately

in this very careful
and stylized process,

and so just watching
the hand movements of the host

is calming,
watching her dip water

out of the water boiler
and pour it, the whisking,

almost as though watching
someone do an art project

or someone dance
carefully and slowly.

It's just totally engrossing.

(narrator)
This attention
to the smallest details

embraces the Japanese phrase
ichi-go, ichi-e,

"one moment, one meeting,"

the belief
that each moment in time

is unique and worthy
of the fullest appreciation.

Many forms of tea practice
exist in Japan,

but Chizuko Sueyoshi

and other tea program
volunteers

follow the Urasenke school
of chanoyu ,

one of three schools
continued by blood descendants

of 16th-century
grand tea master Sen Rikyu.

With a strong belief
in simplicity,

Rikyu distilled the way of tea
down to four basic principles:

wa, " harmony;"
kei, " respect;"

sei, " purity;"
and jaku, " tranquility."

This is a art
of everyday life.

The wa kei sei jaku

is not just
for the way of tea.

I think
this is just for everything.

(narrator)
The peaceful awareness
of the environment

found in tea gatherings

also flourishes in the garden
the teahouse calls home.

(man)
It's such a wonderful world
of plants out there.

Sometimes the most interesting
plants, I feel,

aren't the ones that are showy
and gaudy and, you know,

have the biggest
and most interesting flowers,

but the tiny ones.

I very much appreciate
the God-given beauty

of the natural world,
and that's how I look at it.

So the man-made objects--

truly, they're intended
to embellish

the natural beauty
that exists here.

♪

I think the process we used
to place the Japanese teahouse

would be one good example.

So this is
a particularly nice feature

where the carpenter
made the post

appear to be coming
from the rock.

The Japanese teahouse
that we currently have

will be sort of
the frontispiece, as it were,

of this new Japanese garden
that we're creating.

We're going to try
and portray to the public

that this
is a mountain hillside.

Early on in Japan,

tea huts were often removed
from the city

and were perhaps
in the mountains.

You really sort of left
the world behind.

Once we built the teahouse,
the Triangle-area tea group

began doing
tea demonstrations,

and one of the women early on,
her name was Kaki.

One morning
as she walked in, you know,

she was just
particularly radiant,

that is, sort of glowing,

and I commented
to her about that.

She said that when she walks

to the teahouse
from the parking lot,

as she gets closer and closer
to the teahouse

and then walks
along the Japanese-style fence

and comes in the gate,

she just really feels
like she's at home in Japan,

and that's, you know,
the ultimate compliment.

(Stokes)
On a regular basis,

I might come just to enjoy
this beautiful structure.

I appreciate that it
was built as a project--

as a joint project
between the gardens,

the sister city program
in Durham

and the sister cities program
in Toyama, Japan.

And so it's fun to sit

not just
in a beautiful building

but a beautiful building

that represents
cultural exchange.

(narrator)
Duke Gardens
is building bridges

not only
with Durham's sister city

but with the local public.

(woman)
I think Duke Gardens' benefit
to the community--

you can look at that
so many different ways.

What can we do
that helps people understand

more about the natural world,

understand about how
other places

have approached
the natural world,

hence the tea program,
and share that, those values.

What if you're
a schoolteacher

and you want
your children to understand

in a real
and kind of engaging way

how the natural world works?

Programs here
can help you accomplish that.

Children come
through the program

and write haiku,

and I actually have
a favorite haiku.

It was written
a couple years ago

by a fourth grader.

He was standing
in the bamboo grove

and he said,
"Bamboo--such a funny name.

Is it bam or is it boo?"

Hah!

(Jones)
There is so much
great horticulture

available to the public
in the terraces garden,

in the Blomquist Garden
of Native Plants,

in the Discovery Garden,

the gardens
of the Doris Duke Center.

There's just so much
going on here,

and we're just
a small part of it.

(narrator)
This commitment
to sharing moments of beauty

across cultures
and communities

runs deep
through the teahouse,

right down to the name
of a tea scoop.

So today's tea scoop's
name is Dream.

Our tea group's dream is,

we want to show
Japanese traditional culture,

which we are studying,
to the people in this area.

Then I hope all the visitors
to tea gatherings

enjoy the moment
in this teahouse.

♪

[birds chirping]