By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

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anjali
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By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by anjali »

With a mix of old and new members brewing in our Zen community, I thought it would be nice to offer some tea for everyone. :)
A guest was asked by Chao Chou, "Have you ever been here?"
"Yes, I have, was the reply.
"Seeing as you've been here,' said Chao Chou, 'I ask you in to tea."

After some time, another arrival was asked by Chao Chou, "Have you ever been here, brother?"
"No, I haven't."
"Seeing that you have never been here," said the master, "I ask you in to tea."

Hearing this the monk in charge was very surprised. "These two visitors gave you quite contrary answers to the same question, however, both were invited to tea. What did you mean by that?" he asked Chao Chou.

At this Chao Chou cried out, "Oh, Master in charge!"
"Here I am," the monk replied without delay.
"Come along! Let's drink some tea!"
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KeithA
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by KeithA »

:applause:

I prefer a nicely aged raw pu erh, but that's just me.

Keith
When walking, standing, sitting, lying down, speaking,
being silent, moving, being still.
At all times, in all places, without interruption - what is this?
One mind is infinite kalpas.

New Haven Zen Center
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anjali
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by anjali »

KeithA wrote: Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:59 pmI prefer a nicely aged raw pu erh, but that's just me.
I had no idea what pu erh is, and had to look it up. Regarding taste, the wiki entry states,
Over time, raw pu'er acquires an earthy flavor due to slow oxidation and other, possibly microbial processes. However, this oxidation is not analogous to the oxidation that results in green, oolong, or black tea, because the process is not catalyzed by the plant's own enzymes but rather by fungal, bacterial, or autooxidation influences. Pu'er flavors can change dramatically over the course of the aging process, resulting in a brew tasting strongly earthy but clean and smooth, reminiscent of the smell of rich garden soil or an autumn leaf pile, sometimes with roasted or sweet undertones.
Do you find that to be a good description?
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Grigoris
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by Grigoris »

anjali wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 4:13 amDo you find that to be a good description?
Reading that, I would say that the best description is "moldy tea".
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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Larryo
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by Larryo »

English Breakfast for me please :smile:
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KeithA
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by KeithA »

anjali wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 4:13 am
KeithA wrote: Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:59 pmI prefer a nicely aged raw pu erh, but that's just me.
I had no idea what pu erh is, and had to look it up. Regarding taste, the wiki entry states,
Over time, raw pu'er acquires an earthy flavor due to slow oxidation and other, possibly microbial processes. However, this oxidation is not analogous to the oxidation that results in green, oolong, or black tea, because the process is not catalyzed by the plant's own enzymes but rather by fungal, bacterial, or autooxidation influences. Pu'er flavors can change dramatically over the course of the aging process, resulting in a brew tasting strongly earthy but clean and smooth, reminiscent of the smell of rich garden soil or an autumn leaf pile, sometimes with roasted or sweet undertones.
Do you find that to be a good description?
That seems about right. Whenever I share a cup with someone, it really surprises them. It's kind of an acquired taste, because of it's strength. Pu erh comes in a bewildering variety of styles and prices. I have no affiliation with this https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/ ... ea]website, but you can see what I mean there. Each product has tasting notes and information about where and how it was made. For an interesting deep dive, check out the Half Dipper blog.

But, as Larry mentioned, a good cup of English breakfast is wonderful thing too!

Keith
Last edited by Grigoris on Fri Nov 10, 2017 1:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Fix broken url link
When walking, standing, sitting, lying down, speaking,
being silent, moving, being still.
At all times, in all places, without interruption - what is this?
One mind is infinite kalpas.

New Haven Zen Center
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KeithA
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by KeithA »

Another tea story:
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era, received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”

Like this cup, Nan-in said, you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?
An oldie but goodie.

Keith
When walking, standing, sitting, lying down, speaking,
being silent, moving, being still.
At all times, in all places, without interruption - what is this?
One mind is infinite kalpas.

New Haven Zen Center
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Astus
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by Astus »

Tea washes the mouth.

"Meditation was a labour, all night long, but
When you brewed tea, I felt infinitely glad.
Just one cup of tea, and the dark clouds were banished,
Feeling cool to my very bones, all worry vanished."

(Muuija: With Thanks for the Tea and an Answer to the Questions, in Collected Works of Korean Buddhism, vol 9, p 90)

Tea washes the bowl.

"When one is hungry, and can eat, the rice is tastier,
Waking from sleep, and sipping tea, the tea is sweeter.
This place is poor, and since no one knocks at the door
In the empty hermitage, its a joy to be with Buddha in a niche."

(Wongam: Written at leisure, in CWKBv9, p 131)

Tea washes the brain.

"Everything is just as it is from the beginning, not created.
Why toil away to seek the truth from outside?
All you need is concentration, not arousing the mind.
If thirsty, boil tea, if you feel tired, go to bed."

(Preceptor Naong: Reply to Monk Bo’s Request for a Verse, in CWKBv9, p 214)

The kettle can never be emptied.

"All his life, the novice should
Brew tea for Master Zhaozhou.
When the mind is gone and the hair is white
What need is there to recite Nanzhou?"

(Cheongheodang: Seon Master Toun, in CWKBv9, p 320)
1 Myriad dharmas are only mind.
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?

2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.

3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.

4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.


1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by KathyLauren »

Grigoris wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 9:23 am
anjali wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 4:13 amDo you find that to be a good description?
Reading that, I would say that the best description is "moldy tea".
I tried it once. Yes, that would be an accurate description! :tongue:

A nice Darjeeling (= Dorje Ling) for me, please.

Om mani padme hum
Kathy
Last edited by KathyLauren on Fri Nov 10, 2017 2:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Dan74
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by Dan74 »

Good idea, Anjali!

The tea bowl is a container housing whatever is put in, like the mind.

The tea is best when the container is rinsed and warmed up - letting go of impurities and giving energy to it.

The tea itself is composed of all five elements:

Earth, it grows out of.

Water, it needs as sustenance to grow.

Wind, the air it feeds on.

Fire, of the sun for growth and drying or roasting.

Void, is the space that houses the tea.

Similarly with much of the experience - when every element is in harmony, the tea is fantastic. But when the container of the mind is pure, then every tea, good or bad, is just so. This, this, this.

At the retreats, my teacher would always do a little tea ceremony and talk of these things (I certainly don't do justice to it). I guess the point is that not just tea, but every aspect of the day is Dharma when seen clearly.

Let's have some tea!

_/|\_
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Lindama
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by Lindama »

always liked that story!

Let's have tea!

Every morning at sesshin, we started with a small bit of green tea served in the dojo.... same for beginning after lunch. Such traditions stay with me, tho I'm a coffee person in the am at home.

If I had known about the aging thing with puehr, I would have kept the last few nuggets. I thought they were too old. I'm not too fussy, tho I prefer loose tea... sometimes in a clear glass pot where I can see it.

linda

KeithA wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 1:07 pm Another tea story:
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era, received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”

Like this cup, Nan-in said, you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?
An oldie but goodie.

Keith
Not last night,
not this morning,
melon flowers bloomed.
~ Bassho
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by Sentient Light »

KeithA wrote: Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:59 pm :applause:

I prefer a nicely aged raw pu erh, but that's just me.

Keith
I'm a ripe puerh guy, but I have a decent collection of raws too! Nothing older than ten years, unfortunately (yet). A couple of very young (< 2 years) bricks, and then one in that 'awkward' phase, being only six years old.

I was going to crack open a new cake of ripe puerh this evening (probably a 2012 cake), but after this post, I'm thinking I'll take some more out of one of the 2007 raw cakes I have. It's been a while since I've had raw.
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anjali
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by anjali »

If tea is not your thing, how about a fire poker? ;)
The Zen master Hakuin used to tell his students about an old woman who owned a tea shop in the village. She was skilled in the tea ceremony, Hakuin said, and her understanding of Zen was superb. Many students wondered about this and went to the village themselves to check her out. Whenever the old woman saw them coming, she could tell immediately whether they had come to experience the tea, or to probe her grasp of Zen. Those wanting tea she served graciously. For the others wanting to learn about her Zen knowledge, she hid until they approached her door and then attacked them with a fire poker. Only one out of ten managed to escape her beating.
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by Larryo »

anjali wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 6:57 pm If tea is not your thing, how about a fire poker? ;)
Reminding Meido could be dangerous :jedi:

Especially if he meets any Zennies who....
Meido wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 8:52 pmfall into a kind of gentle, New Age guru meets Protestant minister meets psychotherapist, very spiritual way of speaking, using all the right catchwords
:jumping:
Last edited by Larryo on Fri Nov 10, 2017 11:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by bokki »

kyosaku tea time?
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by Meido »

No fans of baito, i take it.

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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by DGA »

anjali wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 6:57 pm If tea is not your thing, how about a fire poker? ;)
The Zen master Hakuin used to tell his students about an old woman who owned a tea shop in the village. She was skilled in the tea ceremony, Hakuin said, and her understanding of Zen was superb. Many students wondered about this and went to the village themselves to check her out. Whenever the old woman saw them coming, she could tell immediately whether they had come to experience the tea, or to probe her grasp of Zen. Those wanting tea she served graciously. For the others wanting to learn about her Zen knowledge, she hid until they approached her door and then attacked them with a fire poker. Only one out of ten managed to escape her beating.
To have the good fortune to meet such a one
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

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the one out of ten?
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anjali
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by anjali »

Meido wrote: Sat Nov 11, 2017 1:24 am No fans of baito, i take it.
I'll bite. ;) I'm not familiar with the term.
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Re: By way of welcome: Let's drink some tea!

Post by Meido »

anjali wrote: Sat Nov 11, 2017 2:19 am I'll bite. I'm not familiar with the term.
It's a hot drink made from umeboshi (very salty pickled plum) and water. A slug of it is a traditional morning drink in monasteries. Medicinal, said by some to be alkalizing.

Folks who've never had it, and are expecting "morning plum tea," are fun to watch.
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