A Delectable Tea For A Cozy Evening: Chocolate Berry, Flavored Black Tea ...

"Fine China black tea, black currants, organic rooibos flavored with vanilla, chocolate nibs, cocoa pieces, orange peels, apples, yogurt pieces, almond bits and natural flavors. This blend contains caffeine, trace amounts of dairy. Gluten free, no trans fats. " From SBS Teas.


"If anyone wishes to enter the Way of Tea, he must be his own teacher."

Sen Rikyu, 1522-1591


The above quote is like a Zen Koan and one must think about it deeply. I think about it this evening while having this most delectable tea, and I think of Sen Rikyu, one of the great teachers and masters of the tea ceremony, telling us that we must be our own teachers. It is a conundrum, and it is true. He is my teacher through his writings. I must learn the meaning on my own. We read words, we take them in deeply, they flow through our being, but it is not until we take action that the teaching itself is taken in in solid form, made tangible, made manifest in our lives. I have taught a Zen writing class for nearly 30 years. When my students thank me I must bow to them and thank them, for I can only provide the material, they must do the work. This, too, is the Way Of Tea, we are given the tools, we must become our own teachers.


I am reading the most extraordinarily beautiful book, Living the Zen Arts: Meditation*Martial Arts*Calligraphy*Flower-Arranging*The Art of Tea, and in the chapter on The Tea Ceremony (Chado), author Andy Baggott writes...


For one who follows the Zen path, the Chado principles of harmony, respect, purity and tranquility are not just reserved for the tea ceremony but are a part of everyday life. What makes a master of Chado is someone who embodies these principles in his or her daily life so that when it comes to the performance of a tea ceremony, these things flow naturally without a need for thought or intent. In order for this to happen, one has to practise these principles in all possible circumstances.


And so this is the reason that I have given my life over to the study of Tea Mind, which inculcates all the principles of the tea ceremony, the practices therein being the practices that serve us well in daily life. The Wabi Sabi nature of the world, of our lives, of each moment.


I take a moment here to be mindful with my tea. I take a sip and roll it around on my tongue and then swallow slowly. I can taste the black tea and the rooibos, I can taste the chocolate, the apple, each element in it's own time reverberates on my palette. One cannot just write about the way of tea, one must take the time to honor the tea. And I do so for a few moments before I continue, my own evening tea ceremony, sacred, ordinary, divine. Wabi Sabi for sure. I drink this very new, very fresh, delicious tea from an oversized and very old mug whose beautiful lotus flower has been fading with time. All of life ephemeral, the very teaching, the heart, of the tea ceremony.


In the beautiful book by Ryofu Pussel, Tea and Buddhism. Chado: The Way of Tea as a Buddhist Path, he writes...


Wabi sabi incorporates the Buddhist ideals of finding spiritual freedom in a situation of material insufficiency, not to be bound to material things, expectation, or worldly values, but to transcend them; a broken but repaired piece is completely acceptable at a tea meeting, and insufficient equipment can still be used suffiently by a calm and improvising heart. Wabi sabi is the realm of true sincerity. In short, the Buddhist ideals of being and acting simple and unpretentious, the beauty of a lotus flower blooming above mud, purity and perfection, and detachment are included in the meaning of wabi sabi.


What a powerful teaching wabi sabi has been in my own life. It began in 1995 when Bell's Palsy left me significantly paralyzed to this day. In the mysterious way of the world, just days after I was stricken with Bell's, in terrible pain and looking grotesque, a book would come to me that would be the first place I ever read about wabi sabi, and it has in many ways saved my life and allowed me to live peacefully in this body of mine that was stricken by other events, both physical and personal that have led me to this unusual life I live today, and which I treasure. The book was and is one of my most cherished books to this day, more than a decade later, by the wonderful writer Sue Bender. It is Everyday Sacred: A Woman's Journey Home. This book has allowed me to see the entire world in a whole new light, and in the decade plus since I first read that book, life has allowed me many opportunities to take this lesson in more and more deeply. What a blessing it has been in my life.


And so this night I drink my tea, I breathe deeply and quietly, in and out, out and in, I finger my mala beads as I sip my tea and say my mantra quietly in my mind, and I pray that each day, and in every moment, I might both learn from the wonderful teachings I am presented, and then bring them fruitfully into my life and days. I shall return to my tea now, my breath, my mantra, a prayer and I shall have my own tea ceremony in my humble home, where birds sleep all around me and fresh air flows in through the open windows. I am at peace, and the tea before me will show me the way.


Maitri