Lera Zujeva
Chadao, Lera Zujeva, December 2020.
Chadao. The Way of Tea. Tea Ceremony. It has so many layers to it, so much depth (and so simple at the same time) – yet if we try to put what Chadao is into words, none of them will do it any justice. As in Tao Te Ching – if you can speak about Dao, it is not Dao. The Way that can be described in words, is not The Way. It’s ineffable, and those who are walking it, usually transmit it through silence and presence.
However, we live in a world where language is a common way to convey our experience and perspective. So we all try our best to do just that, with the understanding that what we convey can never be what the actual experience is. And it will also be filtered through another’s perspective based on their life’s experiences and beliefs. And so, we can never truly transmit our understanding and insights through words. But we try, so here we go…
Long long time ago ancient Daoists were moved to leave worldly pleasures behind and retreat into the mountains to live a life of simplicity – in simple huts, enjoying simple things like painting, calligraphy, drinking tea, having friends around, being in nature. It was their way of stopping, being still within and soaking in every moment of the magic that ordinary life is. Harnessing that ability to see magic in everything. To see the perfection of each moment.
Everything was a spiritual practice. And Tea Ceremony was an important daily practice too. For it provided a further opportunity to stop, be still and connect. It was a way to understanding that there is nowhere to go and nothing to do. Everything is already here. That this moment, here and now, contains it all.
These days too - Tea Ceremony is an invitation to stop, slow down and be still. To connect to the beauty of this simple moment. To deeply listen.
Listen to what? Deeply listen and connect to the Sacred. To the Truth. To the Self that is trying to emerge within us, that is always trying to get our attention. And we can only hear its whispers if we become silent and quiet within. This journey never ends as deeper and deeper layers of Truth are revealed each time we make space and time to listen.
That’s where the mystery of Tea comes in, and for me Tea is deeply mystical! This mystery cannot be explained by science or logic. It can only be experienced! The Medicine of Tea quiets the Mind and helps our listening to be truly deep. Tea awakens our Heart. The Sense of the Heart. It has the ability to effortlessly evoke the sense of homecoming in us, something, that in a simple meditation can take some considerable time to feel. Tea by being such a gentle generous heart opening Plant Medicine that she is simply makes it happen. Quite often on a third bowl of a tea ceremony. That third bowl of tea that suddenly shifts everything and drops us into the depth of our heart, of our soul.
A film called Beyond the Clouds tells the story of the nomadic baggage carriers that suddenly stopped in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. Without explanations. Just stopped with their eyes closed and sat for hours. Everyone was perplexed. Following a number of hours the carriers stood up and resumed their journey. One of the elders decided to give an explanation. He said: "We were walking too fast and our souls got left behind. So we had to stop and wait for the souls to catch up."
This story is such a great depiction of what tea is. Tea Ceremony is that space for us to rest and become quiet, so our souls, that got lost in the busyness of life, in the constant doing, can catch up with us. Otherwise, without this time, without the soul, everything becomes meaningless, disconnected. And life without connection to the sacred and meaning is empty.
And tea, like a river, carries our souls to us much faster, so we don’t have to wait for hours, like those nomads did, three bowls of tea is enough.
In Chadao we connect both to the sacred and mundane gradually coming to the understanding that the mundane is sacred. All is One. With this understanding Life is suddenly beautiful, even when it’s not.
Simple. And Deep.