12 May introduction to tea tasting evening

Gongfucha -- Gongfu tea – Taitotee  in Helsinki 12 May 2014

Tervetuloa! Nimeni on Päivi Kuusela. Synnyin kiinalaisen, amerikkalaisen ja suomalaisen mailman risteyskohtaan, ja tämä luonnollisesti myös heijastuu yritystoiminnassani. Kiinan kielen ja liikekulttuurin koulutustoimintani ohessa järjestän myös teehetkiä yhteisöllisyyden rikastuttamiseksi. Usein nämä tapahtumat rakentuvat erilaisten teeemojen ympärille.

Perinteisesti kiinalaisen kulttuuripiirin alueella tee, taiteet ja yhteiskunnallinen keskustelu ovat kuuluneet yhteen. Oppineet keittivät teetä lähdevedestä ja kokoontuivat puutarhapaviljonkeihin keskustelemaan ja nauttimaan taiteista, esimerkiksi runoudesta.

Tästä ajatuksesta minulle on syntynyt haave luoda sellaisia teenmaisteluhetkiä, joissa yhdistyisi taide ja yhteiskunnallinen keskustelu. Tämä sarja on muodostunut tämän haaveen pohjalta...sarjan teemana on ekososiaalisen hyvinvoinnin rakentaminen, jossa ihmiskeskeisyys ja luonnon kunnioitus ovat kestävän kehityksen keskiössä. Samalla tavalla kuin kestävän kehityksen haasteet, idän ja lännen kohtaaminen on myös asia, joka tarvitsee ajatuspaja-tyyppistä lähestymistä

CONTINUES IN ENGLISH:

Because of our English speaking guests, I will speak partly in English. The Finnish translation of my short introduction has been given to you in paper form. English-Finnish translation will be provided throughout the evening.

When training Chinese business culture, Confucianism is a central theme for me. Confucianism has a rich virtue heritage. The Chinese world also places heavy importance on form and symbolism. In the example below symbolism and virtues interact

Phoenix (feng凤)

The phoenix is the ‘king of birds’ and symbolises good fortune and opportunity as it appears only in times of peace and prosperity. In Chinese mythology, the phoenix is a benevolent bird since it does not harm insects, and each of its body parts represents one of the virtues of benevolence (ren 仁 ),

righteousness (yi 義),

propriety (li礼),

knowledge (zhi 智)

and sincerity (xin 信).

For me, gongfucha is a celebration of skill and wisdom, to which the theme of balance is very much inter-related. Virtue can be seen to be the golden way in the middle of two extremes. Virtue is about balance. Virtue and skill are not automatic in nature, but require training... Gongfu means skill that has been acquired through training.

For example when studying dance, one realizes that training, stretching and bending are required. This can sometimes even hurt.

So it is with the search for wisdom; sometimes we must let go of our own magnificent plan in the light of the brilliance of Wisdom. The art of letting go…

For me the Gongfucha tea brewing method symbolizes the search for wisdom and skill as potrayed in Proverbs 2. One translation in Finnish says “ ...to apply (bend) one´s heart to understanding?”

Proverbs 2

The Value of Wisdom (my two notes like this)

... if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you,So that you incline your ear to wisdom,And apply (BEND) your heart to understanding;Yes, if you cry out for discernment,And lift up your voice for understanding,If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures;Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God.

For the Lord gives wisdom (A HER!); from His mouth come knowledge and understanding…

Finally,

As a social entrepreneur, I am interested in finding ways of doing balanced business, business that is in harmony with both nature and my community. In more detail, my research question is how to

"not only look to your interests, but also to the interests of others"

Thank you

Ville Sorsa & Puer @ Think Tank Tea 1.4! Respect!

Next event will be on Tuesday 22.4 6PM welcome! Details belowwhere you can also RSVP!
Seuraava tapahtuma tulee olemaan tiistaina 22.4 klo 18 alkaen. Lisätietoja alla olevasta facebook eventistä, johon pyydämme ilmoittautumiset jotta voimme kohdentaa tarjoilut.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1395790750694798/

In answer to a question today that I had difficulty answering at first

Why?

Background of upcoming series 

"On Tea, Virtue & Balance" Ever since I can remember, one key resource that I have had is tea. Having been born into a life in-between worlds, tea has been a factor that has linked these worlds for me. Tea brings people together, and there is something divine in people coming together. 

We become who we are through a complex web of interaction and encounter. I am, because you are, and I am all the more richer because of my community.  To explore shared meanings, understandings while respecting and valueing difference: this for me, is encounter. Together, we are stronger. Often we think that it is a sign of weakness to need another. Although we need a balance in everything, it is not a sign of weakness to need another - togetherness is actually within the Divine plan. 

But how to measure that balance? Virtue, it has been said, is the middle ground between two extremes. When we cultivate understandings of virtue - and virtue itself, we cultivate balance. Virtue is at the core of the best we can be. It is also at the core of the best economy that we can build. In Finnish, the degrowth economy is called "kohtuutalous" , which speaks of an economy that is balanced and "reasonable". 

If balance is virtue, then can an economy be virtuous (everyone please allow this mindplay)? To my mind, yes, if its function is to serve instead of subdue. The ancients in China believed that those who govern should govern by virtue. To my mind, this is an example for us today even on the grassroots level! As each of us governs as king or queen of our own castle, of our own microcosmos, we are to govern with virtue. What do we govern? That which we have influence over. In our own microcosmos, we hold the scepter of authority and can make choices. This is my vantage point and starting point for reform. 

Again an ancient Chinese wisdom speaks of the ramifications of reforming oneself. As we strive for balance, in our lives, the small waves - when combined- form larger ones in a way that the larger currents of society are affected. Balance masters chaos! The reform of the global financial architecture takes place from the bottom up. For me, revolution in this context is about acting in the opposite way as that which has poisoned this global financial architecture; the opposing force of solitary greed is communal generosity. 

My way of making a change in the marketplace has been to sow the seed of generosity when possible. At a time in my life where I had very limited resources, I asked myself the question of what is a resource that I can share? What I had was, tea. And so I began sharing the tea, the main idea being: I share my tea to bring people together, and as everyone comes together and shares - life knowledge or other resources, maybe the jam- we are all enriched!  My adventure of exploring what it means for a business to function in a degrowth economy is only beginning, but one key lesson that I have learned is that much value can be created with very little. It is this story that is continued by the upcoming Think Tank Tea- event series. 

Today somebody told me that "money makes the world go round". This is my answer!

Read in Preparation for 22.4.2014 Think Tank Tea! -event

Read over tea today:

"Addressing a sustainable economy is for me an economy which upholds a socially and ecologically just society, locally, which in turn has important ramifications globally. The dominant economic paradigm in which economic growth is seen as a panacea, continues to generate globally inequalities, as well as ecological havoc by its using up of natural resources.

Instead, it seems useful to be looking at alternative paradigms which put people and nature first, and which make people and not corporate profit interests, the producers of value. At the Peoples Summit of the Rio+20 Conference in June in Brasil, where I participated, such alternative paradigms were prominently present and debated, such as that of Solidarity Economy building and the Commons.

The idea of a Solidarity economy has been developed since the 1980’s, especially in Latin America, and has been taken forward in processes as the World Social Forum.  In this approach, economy is about the whole of how “we as human beings collectively generate livelihoods in relation to each other and to the Earth” (Miller 2004), and we are being urged to look at the economies that we build with our everyday lives and relationships. “Maintaining social life” is the primary goal of these “people’s economies”."

Excerpt from "Sustainable Economy" By Ruby Van Der Wekken
http://www.sitra.fi/blogi/kestava-talous-foorumi/ruby-van-der-wekken-sustainable-economy

Read on a windy evening

"The ren man expends his wealth to expand himself. Lacking ren, one expends himself to expand his wealth."

Ren= the highest Confucian virtue: selflessness, love, "the virtue denoting the good feeling a virtuous human experiences when being altruistic" (wikipedia)

Found In
The Great Learning 大學
Translated by A. Charles Muller
The Traditional Commentary, Attributed to Confucius, Through the Transmission of Cengzi
Source: http://www.acmuller.net/con-dao/greatlearning.html

 Photo:Elina Julin

On the Role of Technology in Alleviating Suffering

Topic: Merging Innovation & Poverty
What: Bill Gates Wired Essay

POINT TO PONDER:

"Technology is unlocking the innate compassion we have for our fellow human beings. In the end, that combination—the advances of science together with our emerging global conscience—may be the most powerful tool we have for improving the world." - Bill Gates

More of article below:

"This realization led me to rethink some of my assumptions about how the world improves. I am a devout fan of capitalism. It is the best system ever devised for making self-interest serve the wider interest. This system is responsible for many of the great advances that have improved the lives of billions—from airplanes to air-conditioning to computers.
But capitalism alone can’t address the needs of the very poor. This means market-driven innovation can actually widen the gap between rich and poor...
I have been sharing my idea of catalytic philanthropy for a while now. It works a lot like the private markets: You invest for big returns. But there’s a big difference. In philanthropy, the investor doesn’t need to get any of the benefit. We take a double-pronged approach: (1) Narrow the gap so that advances for the rich world reach the poor world faster, and (2) turn more of the world’s IQ toward devising solutions to problems that only people in the poor world face. Of course, this comes with its own challenges. You’re working in a global economy worth tens of trillions of dollars, so any philanthropic effort is relatively small. If you want to have a big impact, you need a leverage point—a way to put in a dollar of funding or an hour of effort and benefit society by a hundred or a thousand times as much.
One way you can find that leverage point is to look for a problem that markets and governments aren’t paying much attention to..
Catalytic philanthropy doesn’t replace businesses. It helps more of their innovations benefit the poor...
People often ask me, “What can I do? How can I help?”
Rich-world governments need to maintain or even increase foreign aid, which has saved millions of lives and helped many more people lift themselves out of poverty. It helps when policymakers hear from voters, especially in tough economic times, when they’re looking for ways to cut budgets. I hope people let their representatives know that aid works and that they care about saving lives. Bono’s group ONE.org is a great channel for getting your voice heard.
Companies—especially those in the technology sector—can dedicate a percentage of their top innovators’ time to issues that could help people who’ve been left out of the global economy or deprived of opportunity here in the US. If you write great code or are an expert in genomics or know how to develop new seeds, I’d encourage you to learn more about the problems of the poorest and see how you can help.
At heart I’m an optimist. Technology is helping us overcome our biggest challenges. Just as important, it’s also bringing the world closer together. Today we can sit at our desks and see people thousands of miles away in real time. I think this helps explain the growing interest young people today have in global health and poverty. It’s getting harder and harder for those of us in the rich world to ignore poverty and suffering, even if it’s happening half a planet away.
Technology is unlocking the innate compassion we have for our fellow human beings. In the end, that combination—the advances of science together with our emerging global conscience—may be the most powerful tool we have for improving the world."

For the whole article go to  http://www.wired.com/business/2013/11/bill-gates-wired-essay/

A honor!

It was a special privilege and honor to hear about President Niinistö´s project to support children and youth in Finland. Here is the webpage:  http://www.tavallisia.fi/

More later!

Gold

Suomen Pankin Rahamuseossa on rauhallinen kahvila, josta saa myös haudutettua teetä ja hyvää lohipiirakkaa. Kiitos! (Upea kuva:Jaakko Koskentola)!
Recently, I have been thinking a lot about gold - yes. For example, what kind of perspective should I have in relation to profit, what it is I value, how to balance social capital in the equation... etc!

Teellä luettua

 Upseerin etiikka.
 Jarno Limnell (Vieraskynä, www.hyvejohtajuus.fi)

Johtajan on kuitenkin lähes mahdotonta kehittää johtamiskäyttäytymistään, jollei hän ensin osaa johtaa itseään...

Sotilaille johtaminen on vahvassa yhteydessä toimintakykyyn. Sen kehittäminen voidaan määritellä kasvavaksi valmiudeksi toimia vastuullisesti eri tavoin – fyysisesti, psyykkisesti, sosiaalisesti ja eettisesti – kuormittavissa tilanteissa ja ympäristöissä...

Hyvällä sotilasjohtajalla tulee olla kyky jatkuvaan itsereflektioon. Tarvitaan jatkuvaa pohdintaa siitä, mitä tehdä, miten ja miksi toimia. Kuten fyysinen kunto, myös moraalinen kunto on prosessi. Se on jatkuvaa ponnistelua aiemman käyttäytymisen parantamiseksi. Moraalinen kunto on käytännöllistä viisautta, joka tekee mahdolliseksi tehdä oikeita valintoja.

....inhimillinen toimintakyky on tarpeen nimenomaan vastuullisessa päätöksenteossa – vaikeissa ihmisyyttä, oikeudenmukaisuutta ja ylipäätään elämän säilymistä koskevissa tilanteissa.

...Upseerina (nyt reserviin siirtyneenä) olen oppinut, että henki on aina miekkaa vahvempi – oli taistelupaikka, -aika tai -tapa mikä tahansa. Johtajan tehtävänä on huolehtia hengestä.

Read over tea today

The Chicago Plan Revisited
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Working Paper No. 12/202

"At the height of the Great Depression a number of leading U.S. economists advanced a proposal for monetary reform that became known as the Chicago Plan. It envisaged the separation of the monetary and credit functions of the banking system, by requiring 100% reserve backing for deposits."

Did you know, that banks have not always functioned as they function today? Initially the monetary and credit functions were seperated, yes they were!  The full working paper, from where the above excerpt is taken, can be found at:
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=26178.0

NEW!

New, restored company webpages! www.3stones.nettiavain.fi 

The music playing at the studio today!

Nicole Willis - Siesta (Roberto Rodriguez Remix)

Testing the tea

Kiitos vuoden yhteistyöstä, Herttoniemen Budosport.

Kuusela tea company studio thanks

Snapshot from the tea café...the beautiful art is by a friend- thank you!!:)

好功夫，功夫茶 This is a picture from the studio, where we train our skills - be it the art of movement, the art of tea, or calligraphy