The first, most basic, and the most essential environment we need when drinking a cup of tea, is quiet.
Lots of people are always wanting or fighting for so-called freedom. Still, they’ve never understood that even though we can go anywhere, we want to and do whatever we want to, we won’t be able to experience true freedom unless we can obtain genuine peace and quiet from our inherent nature.
For thousands of years, throughout the history of tea, we have tried to figure out how to use tea to become proper human beings.
In Japan, they concluded that the tea culture related to four important words:
(Wa)和(Peace/Harmony)
(Kei)敬(Respect)
(Sei)清(Clean/Purity)
(Jaku)寂(Quiet/Tranquility)
It beautifully describes how to work with tea to cultivate our inherent nature authentically. However, even though these practices seem quite basic, most people still cannot attain this level. Let’s take a look at the original roots of these four words to better understand how to follow these principles.
If you pay attention, you may recognize that some of us have already had this sort of experience:
When the mind and spirit are focused on something, they might trip over or bump their head against a tree while walking, yet will not feel it. Although someone might wave at them, they won’t realize it, and even if someone might shout their name, they won’t hear it. Because it’s not that they have lost their eyes and ears, it’s that their spirit is not on duty.
So, if a man’s mind is concentrated on trivial matters, he will overlook essential things; if the mind is focused on the inner, the outer will be forgotten; if the mind is concentrated on something above, the things beneath will be neglected; and if the mind is focused on the left, the right will be missed. The unfortunate reality is that we will always be tempted by one thing or another. People who are greedy and have various desires and lusts, are tempted by power, material interests, fame, and ranks. Therefore, they hope to outdo others with their superior intelligence. As a result, their spirit will wear down day by day and thus become more and more distant from their bodies. The spirit will dawdle outside of their bodies for a long time and won’t return. Their bodies will close up their hearts and refuse the spirit, and if this is the case, the spirit can no longer enter the body. Therefore, disasters caused by blindness, crankiness, and the loss of one’s bearings often occur in the world.
If this sounds too abstract, then think about what’s happening at the moment. More and more ultra-powerful and rich people believe they can use artificial intelligence to reach immortality. They focus on exploring the universe and are trying to transfer their minds into machines; they want to change their bodies to become mechanical superhumans. With those superpowers, they believe that they will be able to outdo others. I do believe they will successfully achieve this in the near future, but at the same time, this group of people will be the biggest losers because their spirits will no longer be able to return to their natural bodies.
Once this becomes a reality, these people will no longer be called human beings because they will have lost three of the primary and most fundamental elements essential to a natural life: the body, Qi (氣/chi), and spirit. The body is the residence of life. If the body remains in a place of discomfort, the life within it will wither. Those who think that they can move their minds to dwell in immortal machines will carry their spirits into inhospitable conditions, and their minds will wither.
The Qi (chi/氣), according to ancient Chinese medical science, is the breath, the air, the energy from nature; without it, there is no life. If qi is not respected according to its natural law, it will leak. If a bionic body or artificial intelligence becomes central to one’s life, the qi will lose its purpose. Moreover, once qi is no longer acquired from nature, the most crucial element to a natural life is lost: Spirit. If spirit does something unsuitable to itself, man will become muddle-headed.
Muddle-headedness arrives due to the pressure of life’s realities. Many people go against their spiritual pursuits and force themselves to engage in work they are not interested in. They sacrifice their hobbies and do work that can only meet their basic material needs. This inability to do what they like in order to meet their spiritual needs has led to spiritual deprivation and has, over a long period of time, gradually brought medical terminology like depression, delusional disorder, and other mental illnesses to the forefront.
When spiritless machines roam this earth, endless chaos will abound. Human beings can see and hear; their bodies can stand, their joints can stretch and bend, eyes can discern white from black, and the beautiful from the ugly, intelligence can identify similarities and differences and tell right from wrong. Why is that? Because qi and spirit are at their service. For those under the guidance of their spirit, their bodies will follow their spirit, which is advantageous for being a natural human being. But for those under the control of the body, their spirit will follow their body, which is disadvantageous to them.
Those under the control of the body usually let themselves act as slaves of material interests or allow desires to disturb the placidity in their hearts. Once their spirit comes into contact with external things, likes and dislikes will occur. After likes and dislikes arise, the spirit will be tempted by external things and, therefore, cannot return to its original state. As a result, the intrinsic nature will be neglected. Once the inherent nature is neglected, extreme anger or joy, great fear, sadness, and resentment will arise, after which illness, the numerous likes, and dislikes, disasters and troubles will follow.
This is how social phenomena such as financial crises, epidemics, world wars, environmental degradation, and widespread death are born. These happenings are the typical signs telling us that we have compulsively been pursuing the wrong path of life.
This is why when drinking a cup of tea, what is crucial is not the taste of the tea, but the aspects of the experience that maintain and nourish our spirit. It’s also the reason why drinking a cup of tea requires peace, respect, purity, and silence.
Humans are born quiet; it is our inherent nature. Whenever external things appear, the spirit feels them. This is the reaction of the spirit.
The first step to living a proper tea lifestyle that will help you stay peaceful during chaotic times is to cultivate your mind correctly.
For more informations. Please check:
• Covid 19 Lockdowns: A Perfect Time Drinking Tea Alone at Home
• What is Qi of Tea? (Chi/Qi/Energy /氣）
• Growing and hiding are the basis of life
@ All copy right reserved by Wild Tea Qi & International Tea Academy
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