A visiting woman once
attended an ancient tea ceremony with some locals. The woman did the best she
could, but she kept making mistakes and upsetting the host. “You don’t know
anything about a tea ceremony!” the host shrieked. “You’ve ruined everything!”
she said. The visiting woman was visibly shaken and upset. “Nonsense!” said an
old zen teacher who was also at the ceremony. “It’s more important to follow
the spirit of the rules, rather than the rules themselves” he calmly said with
a smile. Relieved, she immediately became a student of the master.
