There Is Always A Bowl Waiting Here

Article by Max Raphael
From Global Tea Hut: Issue 38 / March 2015...

Tea is connection. This bowl of tea, held in my two hands, connects me internally and externally. My senses awakened, my attention drawn inward, I gain permission to slow down and find my center. All the same, I can simply glance up from this stillness and see a brother or sister across the tea table, to whom I am also connected. After we finish this bowl and before the next one is poured, all our bowls come back together to receive the tea as one bowl. As a resident student at this tea center, it is a true gift to meet so many of you who travel to our center, and share so simply and deeply through this tea tradition. However, if you have not made it to our center, you may like to know that you are still a part of our life of Tea. Our hearts open to you again and again in a very real way. When we say we raise our bowls or cups to you wherever you are, we truly mean it!

Every day or two at our tea center, we take a pause during our tea session to brew some tea not for ourselves, but as symbolic offerings to both within and beyond ourselves; to our own Divinity we wish to make space for, and to each of you, our community of tea brothers and sisters across the world. It is a beautiful ritual that arises from our daily tea sessions. After a few bowls are shared in silence, the brewer places a special tea cloth on the table, used specifically for this ceremony. At this moment, the students rise from the tea table to gather the cups that sit at each altar. After they are carefully rinsed and cleaned, the cups are placed upon the tea cloth in a circle, and a fresh steaming pot of tea is poured into them. With dedication, intention and care, each cup is taken, one by one, and placed back on the altars as an offering.

These altars are dedicated to various deities or aspects of Divinity, relevant to our practice of Tea and Zen. These figures include the Buddha in our meditation room and Kuanyin, who watches over our tea sessions in the main tea hall; Milafo (Laughing Buddha) brightening our Gongfu tea room, and Tea legend Shen Nong in our main hallway, inviting us to feel rooted in Great Nature. Upon each of these altars rests a unique teacup, along with the traditional offerings of fresh flowers and fruit, incense, and light. The presence of these altars is not a sign of any religious affiliation here at our center—after all, there are deities from many different spiritual traditions watching over each space. Instead, their role in our daily life here is more universal and accessible. They are vehicles through which we continually cultivate humility, presence and gratitude. Bowing before the Buddha, I bow to the stillness and awakening in me. In offering this cup of tea not to myself, or even another person in the room, its potential becomes infinite. Its expression can reach far beyond this tea space, as far as my mind will allow. And while maintaining the beauty, purity and cleanliness of these altars has its own significance with respect to our internal practice of Cha Dao, the ceremony of offering tea to them also carries another intention—an act that welcomes each and every one of you into our hearts on a continual basis.

You may have read these words in previous issues: “at our center there is always a cup of tea waiting for you”. This is not simply a symbolic gesture or saying, but a living expression. In the true spirit of Tea, we commit to continually opening ourselves; opening our doors, our home, and our hearts to let others in. The life and breath of this center is not found in any abundance of tea on the shelves, or teaware in the cabinets; it is lived through our sharing of each moment together, and in giving of ourselves to others. This tea, this bowl, are mere material things without someone to share them with.

I place this cup on the altar before Buddha or Kuanyin, but I also set it out for you. These cups, which are not yet drunk, signify that a cup of tea is always waiting for everyone still on their way to visit us here. Whether we are joined by just one beautiful being at the tea table or several wonderful guests, we remind ourselves that, beyond these walls, our family is ever more vast than we can see in any given moment. This is easy to remember once a month, when addressing hundreds of envelopes to carry this magazine across the world. But we remember our connection with you throughout the month, seeing you reflected in the cup of tea that warms our hands and our hearts. Each week, we receive the gift of meeting more and more of you as you make it here to our center and share in this community. It is a unique joy to live our days together in the spirit of Tea, and I hope you are able to welcome this experience more and more, wherever you are. This cup of tea I place on the altar is dedicated to awakening my higher self, my own Buddha nature… but it is also to prepare for your coming here, whenever that day might come.

Whether you are planning to come here in the near future, or haven’t thought the least of it; whether you reside in the Americas, Europe, Australia, or Asia … you are every bit as connected here at our tea table as you can imagine. The presence of this magazine and its continual growth are evidence of this connection—and surely, if you have visited us here, you might not have imagined two years earlier that you would find yourself at a tea center in Taiwan!

This cup that won’t be drunk transcends the physical, and becomes an offering made purely of intention. From there, it is only our imagination that will define its reach in time and space! Just as we pause and place our hands on the Global Tea Hut envelopes of those we know, sending love and metta before they are sent out, we close our eyes and invite each of you into our minds and hearts, as we put forth this cup of tea. Of course, we don’t want you to arrive and drink this cup from the altar! But this practice is very real inside us, connecting us each time to the true essence behind a life of tea, which is ultimately of sharing ourselves, our own awakening and wisdom, and holding space for others. 

Without believing in some sort of 'magic' behind this ceremony, there is an obvious energy you can feel when seeing a gathering of steaming cups on the table that no one in the room will drink. For me, it is a physical reminder that the tea we brew is not our tea. This center, which indeed we call home, is not only our home. It is always open to you, as are our hearts. Joined together by the Leaf, we are ever warmed with gratitude for each and every opportunity to share our lives together. Until we do so in person, know that I raise this cup of tea to you…

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Gongfu Tea Tips: Separate The Table and Center Yourself

by Wu De
From Global Tea Hut: Issue 38 / March 2015...

­­We’ve received some requests to return to the basics, exploring the foundations of all tea brewing from a practical level. Returning to the practical foundation of tea brewing is important for us all. Every now and again we have to renew our contract with the most essential principles in order to make sure that the ground on which we build our mastery is strong. Though these principles apply to bowl tea as well, they are primary in gongfu brewing. Over the next five issues, we plan to explore the Five Basics of Tea Brewing one by one, adding depth for the more experienced brewers and covering the foundations for those of you who are new to Tea.

At the center, we often teach that “repeat” is a dirty word. It is much better to say, “renew”. The Sanskrit word for wisdom is “prajna”. “Pra” means “before” and “jna” is “knowledge” so prajna is that which is before knowledge—the “beginner’s mind” as it is often translated. When we think we know something, we shoot ourselves in the feet, crippling our ability to learn from the lessons all around us. The enlightened mind is humble, open and receptive. There is an old Chinese saying that “everything which is not me is my master”. When we dismiss things as “basic” we interrupt our learning, our humility and heart growth. We get in our own way. Our heads prevent our hearts from being fully present, from realizing that this lesson that is returning in our lives is a chance to renew our contracts with positive support. We miss the chance to deepen and refine our relationship to the foundation of our art and practice. This applies to Tea as much as to life.

We also often have the bad habit of assuming that mastery is an extravagant, difficult skill. Real mastery is in the simple. Advanced techniques are basic techniques mastered. In life, it matters little that we achieve exalted spiritual states if we cannot be happy in the simplest ways; if we cannot connect to this moment fully, it doesn’t matter what satori we had in the past. And if we cannot connect heart to heart with the people, places and things around us, all the wisdom cultivated in meditation or at seminars is lost on us. We must brew tea with heart to master this art!

There is a great Tea story that expresses this: A man once walked across Japan because he heard that the great Zen master Rikyu was accepting students. After some time, he was allowed to study tea with the old master. He worked hard and progressed. After about a year of study, he asked Rikyu: “Master, now that I have been here a year, would you initiate me into the essence of Cha Dao?” The master smiled, “Of course, I would have done that on the day you arrived… “The essence of Cha Dao is this: draw the water, lay the coals, boil the water and steep the tea!” The man scoffed, “That’s it! I could have realized that at home.” Rikyu looked at him in askance, shaking his finger. “The day you can do that, I will walk across Japan and lay my head at your feet and call you master!”

With the right spirit of heart—knowing that the path from the mind to the hand travels through the heart—and a beginners mind, let us then return to the Five Basics of Tea Brewing, starting with the first: Separate the tea space in half and do everything on the left side with the left hand, and everything on the right with that hand.

A lot of the basics of tea brewing arise out of the need for fluency and remaining centered while brewing tea. Lefties are usually more centered, having grown up in a right-handed world. The rest of us, however, are often off balance in our daily lives. Our right hand is usually much stronger than the left, and we go about our day as though the left hand is some kind of evolutionary vestige, like the tailbone.  Through Tea, we return to balance. We should be able to do every movement proficiently with both hands. This brings our whole body to the center, and the movements will then flow from our heart. We will be more present, more engaged and brew from the core of our being—the “dan tian”, as it is called in Chinese. This is the navel-point we breathe from when we are relaxed and focused. Using both hands will bring tea brewing to that space.

Being energetically and physically front and center to your tea and your guests promotes mindfulness. This simple aspect of tea brewing cannot be overestimated. There is a profound change in brewing with both hands, without swiveling from the center of your space. It changes the way you handle each implement, promotes dexterity and availability to your guests.

In Asia, it is rude to turn your back on your guests when brewing tea. When you reach over the center with either hand, you will invariably lose your center to your tea implements and turn your back on some of your guests. This is a minor reason for this principle, but it is important. By staying upright and facing the center, you will find concentration easier. You will also find it easier to connect to your guests, whether energetically if it is a silent tea session or in heartfelt conversation if you choose to have a discourse over your tea. Staying oriented towards the center honors your guests, showing that you are fully present to the moment.

The simple, most practical and maybe most important reason for dividing the table and doing all movements with the corresponding hand relates to protecting your teaware. In decades of tea brewing, the number one reason I have seen teapots, cups or other implements knocked over or broken (by beginners and advanced brewers alike) is reaching across the table with the opposite hand. If you reach over your pot and cups with the left hand to get something from the right side of the table, when you return to a centered position, the pot and all your teaware are now in a blind spot. Tea brewers are encouraged to wear loose-fitting and comfortable clothes, and if your sleeves are long, it will be easy for you to catch them on your tea cloth, tea tray or even the pot and knock something over. It happens a lot! If you try reaching across in this manner, you will see just how blind you are to the placement of things on your tea table.

You will have to practice using both hands in tea brewing if you are to achieve gongfu, which you know by now means “mastery”. This will mean that many times you have to pass things from one hand to the other. Make a habit of this. It is always amazing to see this unfold in Japanese or Chinese tea ceremonies, as it inspires clarity, purity of movement and mindfulness/presence in host and guest alike. In Japanese tea rooms, for example, there is often a sliding door that the host goes in and out of to bring supplies from the back room. If you have the chance to attend a ceremony, or watch a video of one, you will notice that the host opens the door halfway with the left hand and then finishes opening it with the right. She then goes out and closes the door in the same way.

This month, try putting your hands together in a good Namaste over your heart. Then extend your hands together to the center of the table and commit to do everything left of that line with the left hand and everything on the right with the right hand. There are, of course, many deeper levels to this practice that we haven’t covered here (like the movement of Qi in the body). We encourage you to renew this practice even if you are a seasoned brewer! As always, we are excited to hear your insights. Contact us with any ideas, comments, wisdom our questions: globalteahut [at] gmail.com

Communitea

Article by Andrew Taylor
From Global Tea Hut: Issue 38 / March 2015...

Our tea community here at Tea Sage Hut is the most important aspect of our tradition. We are a group of people working towards a greener and happier world while cultivating a greater connection to Nature, self and others through the use of the Leaf. No matter what separates us in our preferences toward a certain kind of tea or teaware, brewing vessel, or method of preparation, we are all interconnected through Her and the way in which we approach Her binds us together. But what does that mean exactly, a “tea community”? A community can be described as a social construct where the interactions and behavior of the members are oriented through their shared values, beliefs and interests. Therefore, we all share a common thread in our reverence and respect to tea and Nature while relating to Her in our individual ways. The community is backed by a deeply rooted tradition linked back to ancient sages and tea masters. Most importantly, we are all inclusive and stay outside the concept of "us" versus "them", so please come sit for a bowl as no applications nor prerequisites are needed!
 
Since we’ve had quite a large increase in our membership since last year, I’d like to take this opportunity to explain a bit more about Global Tea Hut and the importance of our worldwide community. First and foremost, as a not-for-profit organization GTH operates because of the good graces of numerous people donating time, money, resources and expertise to bring you this magazine, tea and gift every month. Here at GTH headquarters in Miaoli, Taiwan we are only a core of five people, so without those folks, and you, our members, we would not be able to sustain the ongoing operation of this organization! Our community is a group of Tea lovers from all walks of life and cultures, promoting and cultivating the awakening of self and others through the spirit of Tea. We are part of a Tea tradition that connects us to tea masters and teachers of years long past and work within the vision that it will be carried on for generations to come. One of the three guiding principles is that our tradition is a community of people, unique individuals who desire to create a Tea family that bonds us closer together with love and support along our own personal journeys through life. Our community spans the whole globe and grows larger by the day. Los Angeles, Moscow and Tallinn are a few of our biggest hub communities, with established tea communities that host gatherings every week. Many of our guests that come to the center were introduced to Tea through these events held by our worldwide brothers and sisters. 

Why this tradition and community has resonated with so many people is because our approach to Tea is one of respect for Nature and recognition of Tea as plant medicine and a vehicle for self-cultivation. And no matter what community you want to connect with, Tea will always have a place. We do not see community as a matter of "inner" and "outer", and in this way we can facilitate a connection to everyone, regardless of how different our ideas or views of the world may be. In this way, we can relate to all circles and break down the walls that separate us.

What makes Global Tea Hut a special community is right here in these pages and within these walls where I sit. To have this media outlet communicate via the center, where we share tea wisdom and knowledge—a beautiful tea center that anyone can visit for free—be completely supported through the donations of everybody who participates is a truly unique circle of energy. We write about the tea wisdom cultivated in the space you support and visit, inspiring you to send more support…
I've gotten to know the names of many members over time by preparing GTH each month, and it's always a special occasion when one of those household names comes to life in the flesh with a visit to the Tea Sage Hut. A real treasure of living here at the center is getting to know the guests and being able to serve them during their stay. We share our stories of how we came to meet Tea and how we found the Hut. We share about our lives, the paths we are traveling on and have traveled through and what we are celebrating and struggling with in the present. Some guests arrive without much of an intimate relationship to Tea, but have been called to Her for reasons unclear at the time. Many of them fall in love immediately and continue to make Tea a sacred part of their day. This connection and transformation represents not only an individual’s willingness to receive, but also the potency of a Living Tea and the effect of steeping it in intention, reverence and stillness. Some guests have been longtime members, dating back to the inception of Global Tea Hut, and have just recently visited the center for the first time. I had a realization when one of the original GTH members visited last year; that her support over these past years was partially responsible for the creation of this center, thereby allowing myself and hundreds of others the opportunity to live and learn in this space. And now all of you follow in that chain, supporting the future guests and residents to come! Another longtime member of our community, a dear brother and important figure behind the scenes in the operation of GTH, visited the center for the first time ever during this past Christmas. After a few days of allowing the center experience to settle in, he exclaimed out in a dumbfounded and celebratory manner to no one in particular, “This is a real tea center!” Yes, indeed, but one whose existence would not be actualized without the support and love from him and every one of you reading this right now!
 

With our attention focused on serving the guests visiting here at the Tea Sage Hut and preparing for the monthly GTH, we must take time to reflect on the people that came before us, before Wu De, our elder generation who have been such an integral part of helping us function and thrive. Some of the more special days are when we get the opportunity to visit with our older Taiwanese tea family of farmers, tea makers, artists and shop owners. These great people support the community in so many ways, from donating tea and teaware, hosting us at their farm, or helping to organize trips to China. They see us not as cute foreigners who have an interest in Tea, but as the younger generation to carry on the knowledge and spirit of Tea that they have cultivated over so many years. They see in us the same passion for Tea as they themselves have towards farming, roasting, pottery or research and education. This elder generation may not be able to connect with us on the level of our daily lifestyle at the center, but they certainly want to support us in contributing to the awareness of Living Tea and the true Taiwanese culture of tea. As Wu De has written about, farmers’ eyes light up upon hearing that their tea will be sent to people in over thirty countries. And their incredible generosity and willingness to give is a personal reminder that Tea (and everything for that matter!) is not about gathering and collecting, but giving and sharing. Often when Wu De speaks about the tradition and our future center, Light Meets Life, he speaks with a deep passion for creating something that will outlive ourselves and be passed on to future generations. As the tradition continues to evolve and transform in minute ways, the wisdom, spirit and teachings imbued from Wu De’s teachers, mentors and tea family will be forever ingrained.

There is a special connection within the members of this community. Strangers meet here in Miaoli as if in reunion from lives past to later reconvene for bowls of tea on Skype. We are volunteer agents of the Leaf, facilitating Her destined meeting with the uninitiated. You and I have brothers and sisters all over the globe, waiting for our visit with a kettle on the fire and an open heart. And whether separated by a tea table or by time zones and vast oceans, we are all sharing the same bowl, steeped from the purist heart and Spirit… 

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