When the show was in casting, Roman Coppola was insistent that a real Tea Master was cast, because it's not something that can be learned quickly. It's passed down through generations of training. The great Tea Masters come from tea school, a knowledge that is passed down through lineage in generations of family.
The tea ceremony in the show was performed accurately as it would be in a real-life situation. Even the tea that was prepared for off-camera usage was prepared in the traditional format.
The scroll in the tea room was created by Shunkin Takahashi, a master calligrapher and brush painter who lives in New York. The interior of the tea room was built to scale in a studio at SUNY Purchase.
The language used in the ceremony is deliberately simple and polite. Conversation is restricted to the tea ceremony itself (rather than to day-to-day subjects) so that participants can experience a feeling of otherworldly serenity and inner peace.
Daruma (also known as Bodhidharma) was a Buddhist monk of the 6th century. According to legend, he meditated continuously in a cave for seven years without moving, so that his legs eventually atrophied. This is why Daruma dolls have no legs.