A few weeks ago I was pouring myself a cup of tea during my own mini tea ceremony. It is said you should never completely fill your tea cup as it is considered impolite. While you may typically pour tea from a pot or gaiwan to fill your teacup at about 70 percent full, I was at the last bit of liquid left in my teapot and I wanted to try something new, as you may tell from the image above.
What inspired this action was a tale I found titled “A Cup of Tea”. This piece is a great eye opener on how important it is for us to learn to relax, empty our minds and just breathe. Living in the moment is something that I find easy to do when I have my own mini tea ceremonies. It’s time for me to practice tea meditation of sort, and feel extra fulfilled in my life. With many different versions available online, I have shared one version of A Cup of Tea below, the first I came across.
A Cup of Tea
Once, a long time ago, there was a wise Zen master. People from far and near would seek his counsel and ask for his wisdom. Many would come and ask him to teach them, enlighten them in the way of Zen. He seldom turned any away.One day an important man, a man used to command and obedience came to visit the master. “I have come today to ask you to teach me about Zen. Open my mind to enlightenment.” The tone of the important man’s voice was one used to getting his own way.
The Zen master smiled and said that they should discuss the matter over a cup of tea. When the tea was served the master poured his visitor a cup. He poured and he poured and the tea rose to the rim and began to spill over the table and finally onto the robes of the wealthy man. Finally the visitor shouted, “Enough. You are spilling the tea all over. Can’t you see the cup is full?”
The master stopped pouring and smiled at his guest. “You are like this tea cup, so full that nothing more can be added. Come back to me when the cup is empty. Come back to me with an empty mind.”
*To read longer version of this tea story, another version I encourage you to check out is on Osho.com
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