Lera Zujeva: The Magic of Tea Ceremony

In these times of physical distancing and uncertainty, we need connection to something bigger than ourselves more than ever. Something sacred, something internal, something that is always there.

Tea Ceremony is an amazing deep practice that on a daily basis can bring us back to that connection, to that sense of peace and harmony. Making time for tea and actually sitting down to have it - makes us stop, slow down, which is incredibly important in all times, not just now. So often we feel we are so busy and have so much to do, that we don't have time to stop. Tea helps us to create that time and space to stop. Tea is a gateway, an invitation to take a pause. It is a calling to connect.

To connect in such a way, we don't need to create an elaborate complicated ceremony. Simplicity is important - both in tea and in life. Your intention to connect, to be present, to deeply listen to the Tea and the space is what matters most.

Practical ways to do it:

1. You can prepare your own space for the tea ceremony, in which you will feel cosy and comfortable. Prepare it so it represents a sacred space for you personally. You can light a candle and burn incense. The most important is that it is purified, clean - so the energy is flowing freely.

2. Put a kettle on, prepare a bowl or a cup in front of you - can be a soup/rice bowl, and some loose leaf organic tea. If you don't have this tea available you can use the tea that you have, but please remember - this session is about meditation, slowing down, finding peace and harmony within. If the tea you are using is not organic at least, and not grown in harmony with nature, how can it bring inner harmony to you? How can it be a Medicine to your body, mind and spirit?

3. Tea Ceremony engages all our senses - it is a beautiful human practice - to live life connected through our senses. Senses are a basic gateway to something more deep inside. When all our senses are engaged at the same time, another sense is created - it's called the Sense of The Heart, dropping into the heart. In that place we feel connection and intimacy with the whole of Life. Tea takes us there naturally.

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4. So engage all your senses, listen deeply to the kettle boiling, to the water pouring into the teapot or a bowl with leave, the sound and sight of how the water merges with the leaves. Feel the warmth of the bowl in your hands and the steam rising into your face. 

5. Be attentive. Listen deeply to the Tea with your whole body, your whole being. Not with your ears, but with the body. Deep listening is something that we rarely do - thinking about many things in our head. But when we listen in a deeply engaged way, whatever we listen to responds in a powerful way. Tea responds and shares her teachings. Our Self, our Heart, our True Nature - respond too. When we are in our heart, in our body, when we are deeply present and listen - and simply drink tea, nothing else, peace and harmony just happen by themselves.

6. In Tea, in Chadao, everything is always paid attention to. Nothing is seen as a means to an end, so we can just get to drinking tea. Everything in preparation, arranging the space, brewing tea - is done with full attention and love. Handling the tea, pouring it, holding the bowl, drinking tea. All of these from beginning to the end are an invitation to stop, pay attention, and savour. And then continue to move through life in the same way. Chadao is not just about tea, it's the way of life itself.

7. So continue to do a Tea Ceremony with the way you wash your hands (these days we have an opportunity to practice it many times), with the way you cook, or take off your shoes, or the way you walk. This will transform your life.

If you would like to know more about the practice of Chadao and The Way of Tea - please follow Global Tea Hut - an amazing tea community that is all about Tea as the Way.

Words by guest contributing writer, Lera Zujeva of TLovers
Instagram: @withtlovers
Website: https://t-lovers.com/