Learning Japanese tea ceremony is a way to cultivate onself. Learning how to make the tea is not that difficult. But to understand the true meaning of the ceremony as well as the tea tools is difficult. It requires long term learning. Before drinking the tea it is necessary to eat the sweet as the sweet helps to counter the bitterness of the tea.
Harmony refers to the spirit of being harmonious, to be peaceful.
Respect is to show respect. Purity is the state of purtiy of the mind. And loneliness means quiet serenity. Drinking tea enables oneself to have spiritual release. When everyone sits on the tatmi, drinking tea , admiring the calligraphy and the beautiful music, one feels that he is leaving the hustle and bustle of city life and drifting into utopia.