Right, it's easier to look at the protected tip, than to live with a chipped one.
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Dec 26th, '08, 17:30
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Space Samurai
Heck, I'm divided about the issue. I recently got a kyuso with the plastic covered spout, and was wondering what to do about it.Space Samurai wrote:Interesting topic, I would never have given it a second thought, but apparantly this is an issue that divides us.
For me, I would rather use something and enjoy it to its fullest than use something that detracts from its beauty. If it breaks, it breaks. Isn't that what impermanence is about?
I used to find it odd to see sofas in peoples homes with plastic slip covers. How can you feel the fabric against your skin?
Or crystal, china and silver kept in a cabinet and never used to preserve its appearance. Whats the point. Its hard to take it with you. But if that gives a person pleasure, then its right for them.
So I'll probably pull the darn thing off. If the spout comes off with it, I'll know who to blame
Neither of my kyusu have a spout protector tip thingy. They didn't have one to begin with either. My smaller kyusu came with a small chip on the spout, so it wouldn't even matter if I had a protector for it since it is already chipped. It doesn't bother me since the chip gave me a good discount on the pot when I purchased it. The Adagio PersonaliTea came with a rubber tip and it only stayed on the pot because I haven't been able to get it off. I prefer my pots to be pretty how they are and hope that I am careful enough with them to warrant not having a rubber tip for the ends of the spouts.
Dec 26th, '08, 22:13
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Space Samurai wrote:For me, I would rather use something and enjoy it to its fullest than use something that detracts from its beauty. If it breaks, it breaks. Isn't that what impermanence is about?
From Ondrea and Stephen Levine's Embracing The Beloved:
"Achaan Chah held up a fine crystal goblet presented to him earlier. He said he liked the goblet very much: the sun splayed rainbows onto the water as it passed through the glass, the fine crystal rang when tapped. But when the sleeve of his robe brushed it from the table, or the wind blew it from the shelf and there it lay in its new incarnation, its light broken into a hundred shimmering shards, he was not disappointed or surprised. Because he knew the glass was already broken. Even when first seeing the glass, he had acknowledged its impermanence and appreciated it 'for all it was worth'. He recognized that 'goblet' was just one moment in its process - one name in a thousand shapes and incarnations from dust to pearl."
(Or kyusu to clay!)
Hmm... now thinking twice about that "prophylactic"
Jan 6th, '09, 14:43
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Interesting perspective that Space has brought into the discussion. Perhaps it is the PA Dutch values I grew up with living in this area all my life that it is hard to share the perspective easily. One of my earlier kyusu had a smashed handle that I glued then had to tape, I just could not throw it away since it still held water and poured. 
But I hated using it. I felt better finally throwing it away.
So, anyway, I have been living dangerously. I removed ALL the tip protectors that were made from a cut piece of tubing as an experiment. I kept 2 color-matched, silicone, mold-formed ones on 2 kyusu since they are pretty nice. But the other 8 have nothing. It has been over 10 days.
I do like not having them on. I have found that this also keeps me focused since I know from chipping 2 kyusu previously, that momentary lapses in focus were the cause each time.
But I hated using it. I felt better finally throwing it away.So, anyway, I have been living dangerously. I removed ALL the tip protectors that were made from a cut piece of tubing as an experiment. I kept 2 color-matched, silicone, mold-formed ones on 2 kyusu since they are pretty nice. But the other 8 have nothing. It has been over 10 days.
I do like not having them on. I have found that this also keeps me focused since I know from chipping 2 kyusu previously, that momentary lapses in focus were the cause each time.
Last edited by Chip on Jan 6th, '09, 15:41, edited 1 time in total.
Jan 6th, '09, 15:36
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Chip, I'm getting nervous just reading that!Chip wrote:It has been over 10 days.
I have five kyusu, two of which still have their protectors, three of which don't. One of the "protected" pots is a beautiful Hojuko mogake kyusu which I've not used yet.
I don't have a lot of space to store my teaware (and my fiancée recently asked if I could store them elsewhere!) so I'm conscious of possible chips and breakages. But I agree those things are not attractive, and I wouldn't pour tea with one on.
Jan 6th, '09, 23:14
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In Japan, lots of people leave them on. However I'm with Space Samurai on this - I think it ruins the asthetic of a beautiful kyusu - better to risk breaking it. However if it is a cheap/ugly kyusu that is merely functional (maybe at work or in a commercial setting where the pot isn't visible to customers, etc.) I might be tempted to leave it on.