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THE ART OF TEA
TRANSMITTING ESSENCE
Photographs and teachings from the tea table
Tea is my art form, it is the art of marrying heaven and earth. It is the art of essence and light, it is the art of embracing our humanity and divinity . It is the art of presence and being. My mission in life is to share this with others....
click on photos for full verse
Each tea session.....
Each tea session is a celebration of the miracle of being alive, the deep integrity of life itself, expressing itself eternally and creatively to the sound of an unknown song…
Gestures of the spirit...
Gestures of spirit- in tea practice, through embodied intent, we make gestures of healing, liberation and connection- “god or life force” does the rest…..
Art-fullness should imbue ....
Art-fullness should imbue every thread of tea practice- from the way you hold the space, to the way you respond to the shifting energies and states within the ritual field, to creating beauty with the objects themselves...
From Stillness, Spirit Speaks.
From stillness, spirit speaks. Silent worlds so full of life, waiting so patiently for a human ear.... In tea practice we cultivate this deep listening- it is pure tao- in stillness is activity and within all activity, stillness. Shakti -Shiva in hindu tantra. Become the ear that hears creation dance...
Shadow play....
shadow play- as flower and kettle lean into one another. the intimacy of life hangs thick in the air in spring....
Every moment is theatre...
Every moment is theatre, every gesture a window into intent. So much of tea has to do with this at a very deep level. Enjoy your time in this world, things pass so quickly and only have the weight you give them. Weight can mean value or it can mean a heaviness, but either way , it is you that builds the story....
Perfection is messy....
Perfection is messy- we need to strive towards it to become more artful in what we do, but if you hold it too tight, it becomes your captor. When people try to look perfect when they do tea, is when the life goes out of it because they are trying to appear a certain way rather then actually be. Bring your love and authenticity to tea practice, bring your quirkiness, bring the flavors of you. If you cultivate deeply within, the heart of life will shine through you just as you are....
Listening to life.....
We work with tea to learn how to listen to life. We learn how to listen to our bodies, our energy feild, all plants, all of nature. The more we learn to listen, the more we can live in a way which is responsive to the current energies around us and allow us to act in a way which is aligned with the shifting song of life.
Old things, sharing stories....
Old things, sharing stories, there is a poetry to relationship. When serving tea, become the poetry- each sit is a unique energetic expression, a rose blooming for one day. Tea is an art form, make it art! Your body, voice, rhythm, personality, spirit are your colors, Paint The Room!
Lineage speaks through tea...
Lineage speaks through tea. When someone pours for you, you are receiving lineage connection to all the teachers they have ever sat with. Sit with this…
Life on earth.....
Life on earth is both soul breakingly mundane and breathtakingly magical in its expression. Through cultivation we learn to reach through the veils of apparantness and grab the tiger tail of essence- to reach into the vast energies of creation and express them through creative action. The magic of existence is waiting to be heard..... This is the storybook of YOUR life....
The lamp of the heart...
The lamp of the heart fills all worlds, shine it fiercely into this one. Think of a tiger made of tulips…..
Making life art....
Making LIFE ART- the long shadows of dawn, as luminosity crowns the earth and bathes the table. Breathe with the soft glow of dawn, draw in the energy deep into your belly, food comes in many forms.
Receive....
Gratitude is an essential practice in tea cultivation. When we are in a genuine place of embodied gratitude, then we energetically shift into a receptive mode. From this place, our beings can begin to hear creation speak.
holding center.....
In tea practice, we learn to hold center, as everything is in chaos and motion.
A prayer goes out to humanity....
A prayer goes out to humanity. My orientation when i do tea, is that every pot is a prayer, every cup an offering to life. This is not some cheap sentiment borrowed from a book or a belief, this is a deeply embodied act from the body and soul, this kind of prayer only comes from real internal work over a long time. If you are giving an offering, give something real from yourself. This is tea as puja. No one should even know or notice what you are doing, but it will be felt throughout the ritual feild. People should leave deeply cleared, harmonized energetically and soul nourished. Tea school is open
We are the flowing.....
In the art of tea , we are constantly flowing with the play of opposites- light and shadow, hard and soft, water and earth….. we are the movement in between…never completely arriving on the shores of either...
Mastery, in any art form...
Mastery, in art forms such as tea, can only be attained through your own work, dedication and experience. It must be unwound from the inside. A teacher can only guide, sometimes push, and possibly save you years on the path, because they have made all the mistakes already and overcome all internal obstacles. The path to mastery will take you through intense places inside because you cannot separate real mastery in an art from genuine deep internal growth of heart, soul, and spirit.
THERE IS A MUSIC OF THINGS
One aspect of tea cultivation is the understanding of how things go from embodiment to spirit (the realms of creation not visible to the physical senses) and from spirit to embodiment. Through practice we learn to discriminate and feel into these shifts. Follow the breath- of your breath, the breath of the tea, and the breath of creation.
The way of the leaf....
The way of the leaf will lead you back to your own radiance, where being flowers and you ride the dragon of becoming into your destiny. Courage is needed and the ability to breathe into the star of your souls aspiritation .
In tea practice ....
In tea practice we learn to cultivate the ability to ride the dragon currents of energies which move through our own beings and the world. This involves paradoxically deep surrender and great will. The will power to stay in the seat of self while powerful forces run through you. The key is not to create story, but to simply feel and allow emotions and thoughts to rise and fall. Just see, feel and work not to identify with them.
Perfection in reflection...
Perfection in reflection. Perfection in any art form, such as tea, is an ideal to drive our aspiration and work. The real world is bumpy and on closer examination never perfect, not even pretty - but this is where the poetry and power of life resides- rising out of the broken self, the broken world. As Nina Simone sang, in the song Suzanne- "And Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching from his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain only drowning men could see him
He said all men will be sailors then until the sea shall free them"
And he spent a long time watching from his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain only drowning men could see him
He said all men will be sailors then until the sea shall free them"
In the magic hours before dawn....
The magic hours of dawn in the tea temple, where aspirational prayers reach for heaven and grace descends. Tea practice involves more than making tea, it is a whole approach to engaging life. You cannot go deep into the art without engaging every part of your being and life because... tea cultivation is not about the tea.....
Clarity of Intent.....
Clarity of intent is essential in tea cultivaton. Whatever intent you are holding deeply in your heart and body- this is what will inform all the expression of energy and experience at the tea table.
Joy floats....
Joy floats…. In tea practice we begin to be able to discern finer frequencies, these tend to give one a felling of rising or floating. It is all about training your listening- feeling ability.
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