Turning Toward The Flaw

When I lived in Japan I studied the Tea Ceremony with Soen Nakagawa Roshi. The tea ceremony is an ancient art and ritual practiced for over a thousand years. Powdered green tea is placed in bowls called chawan. Some bowls are over 400 years old and the great bowls were hand thrown by master potters who spent a lifetime perfecting their art. The tea master ladles hot water into the bowl and vigorously whisks the tea into froth with a bamboo brush. This could be the original Chai latte. As the master hands the tea to each guest he turns the bowl so that a tiny flaw or imperfection in the finish of the bowl is visible to the guest. As the bowls were fired in kilns they developed flaws in their finish. Rather than throwing the bowls away they are revered and valued. The flaws represent the unpredictable forces of nature. These imperfections were most valuable because they pointed to forces beyond human control which mark each bowl as unique.

Jeff Pulver was an extremely shy child. He had trouble going to his friend’s birthday parties and socializing. He spent many years as a lonely kid with few friends. He became a geek and turned to technology to expand his horizons. Yet in the back of his mind he realized that he wasn’t alone. There were others out there feeling lonely and isolated. He was driven to find easy and inexpensive ways to connect people. First Jeff turned his attention to developing an internet phone company. He was one of the founders of Vontage. Now Jeff has turned his attention to helping people come together. He travels around the world sponsoring breakfasts. I went to a recent breakfast in LA and had a blast. Jeff has created a safe place for people to come together and share stories and maybe end up as friends. He uses all the devices of social media such as Twitter and Facebook to let his fans know where he’ll be and what’s next. Jeff has over 5000 friends on Facebook alone. For a shy and lonely kid this ain’t bad. Jeff turned his flaw of shyness into his passion for connecting people.

We’re all flawed. Usually our first response is to turn away with feelings of guilt and shame. Can we take a lesson from the ancient art of tea and realize that our flaws may be the very thing we need to contemplate. Perhaps our flaws are to be seen like a window where the powerful and unpredictable forces of nature help us express our creativity.

Comments

[amy lenzo]

What an insightful story, Robert!

I too love the Japanese art of "wabi sabi" that you describe so beautifully, where imperfections are key to the art. It reminds me of Native American weaving, where there is always a flaw, on purpose, as a way for Spirit to enter the design.

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