There is an important distinction between seeing and knowing. Seeing is something more intuitive and knowing is based on data and research and facts. There is sometimes this idea that we can be a scholar of something and from the knowledge we can get to the seeing. But that is actually the reverse order. The natural order of things is that we see first and from this intuition we can create knowing. This is the Zen perspective.

In our tradition we start with leaves in a bowl tea. Put some leaves in a bowl, add hot water and sit with it in quiet. As the intuition develops, knowledge will come later, easily.

This is the first of a two part discussion where we outline the extended history of tea. Grab a bowl of tea and join us!

"On an absolute level there is no Qi of tea, there is no Qi of anything. It doesn’t belong to any form, it flows through the whole universe. How did the tea get its energy? It got the energy from the sun, it got energy from the water, it got energy from the minerals of the mountain and that’s how it made those leaves. The leaf is the tree’s expression of its relationship to its environment." - Wu De. In this episode we discuss the elusive topic of Qi related to tea practice. Join us for a bowl of tea!

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"The ironic thing is that the best form of self cultivation is actually service to others" - Shen Su. In this episode we discuss vision, devotion and surrender on the path of Tea.

"The leaf is the tree's expression of its relationship to its environment"

- Wu De. In this episode we discuss one of the most fundamental aspects of Cha Dao - living tea.

In this episode we discuss the merits of service, self-discipline and what it is like to return to the world after serving at the Tea Sage Hut.

In the seventh episode we unpack and discuss the second half of the Eight Bowls of this tradition of Cha Dao

In this episode we discuss the first half of the Eight Bowls of our tradition. Join us in the next episode for the second half of the discussion!

In this episode we discuss what it's like to serve a 10-day Intro To Cha Dao course at the Tea Sage Hut.

In this episode we discuss the relationship between Zen and Tea