Wabi purged the tea ceremony of all its lingering aristocratic qualities, bringing into being cha-no-yu as it is practiced today. Today many Japanese, even those who practice neither tea drinking nor Zen, know and appreciate the ideals preserved in the ceremony. In recent years the concept of wabi has become the rallying point for those who regret the intrusions of the modern West into traditional Japanese culture, and cha-no-yu is valued as never before as a lesson in life's true values.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN