The Zen of Tea

With permission of An Sonjae (Brother Anthony) from Panyaro: The Korean Way of Tea.  In Korean, Seon is Zen.  Korea has the purest form of Zen in the world.

The Zen of Tea

The ‘Way of Tea’ takes the simple, everyday gestures of making and drinking tea and makes of them a spiritual ‘way’.

The ‘Zen of Tea’ suggests that in drinking tea in such a manner, one touches the edge of an intuitive meditation.

Zen is a reality that can never be explained in words or writing.  Zen is a concentrating, a positive awareness.

Zen is above all free and creative, and subjective too.

Zen offers a short-cut by which to reach a limitless individuality.

Just like tea.

All you need to do is prepare tea and savor on the tip of your tongue its six tastes: bitter, tart, sour, salt, spicy-hot, and sweet.

Tea and Zen should constantly govern and guide both body and mind; only so can such a level be attained.

Therefore people have said, ‘tea and Zen have a single taste,’ and also, ‘tea and Zen are one.’