The Eight Eight Bowls
Our tradition is based on a lie o tea, and whether as tea monks who are
committed ull time or householders who may only devote a portion o their energies to this Way o ea, the goal is the same: awakening and presence through tea. Tis lie and practice is to help cultivate our own inner wisdom, and to then share our inner peace with others in the true spirit o tea—leaves and water oered reely in recognition o the oneness o Being, and the healing power in commune with Nature and each other. other. As a tradition it is important to remain living, just as tea itsel has so much more healing power when it is alive and vibrant. For that reason we must tread careully around dogma and ormalization, allowing uture generations to adapt this Way o ea ea to the truths and situations they ace, passing on these tools o cultivation without any attachment a ttachment to the concepts or words that surround them. Te living wisdom wi sdom that ows must be exible, growing and adapting to the contours o the world. It must be an open system, able to evolve and absorb any truth, now and then. We wayare together as individuals, each with his or her own destiny desti ny,, and each with his or her own unique abilities and capacities or service. Our goal is to acilitate an awakened destiny in everyone, without exclusion. As we are all o one heart, we are also o one tradition: the tradition o the Earth. We We have arbitrarily divided this lie l ie o tea into eight ei ght bowls, eight aspects, but they should not be regarded dogmatically. dogmatically. Te division is merely or communication; it isn’t isn’t important. Far more relevant is the daily consumption o these eight bowls o tea lie in this tradition, and the resulting transormations in consciousness—awakenings that ring across the very heartstrings o the world. Each o the eight bowls has reected on its dewy surace the other seven, like the diamonds o Indra. One o our masters says that i you want to brew tea well, you must rst learn to be a person. For example, without meditation and prayer there is no mastery o the sacred, and without that a lie o tea would be ruitless. In that way, each o the eight aspects o this lie as it is lived is a ractal in each o the others. In Zen, teachers oten ask the students koans to delve their understanding o the tradition. Te answer is a state o consciousness rather than certain words or poetry, poetry, and as long as one embodies that state, the teacher will know it and any answer will sufce. Tis is why many such dialogues involve the master repeating the student’s student’s answer verbatim—when the student gave the answer, answer, it was wrong, but when it i t was uttered rom within the consciousness
o the master, it was correct. Similarly, Similarly, a lie o tea needs to be lived, not discussed. Tese eight practices are a Dao, a Way Way o lie. Understanding them has no meaning aside rom true participation. Tough this introduction might help clariy the work and its directions, each o the dierent aspects o this Dao will look and eel dierently as they are embodied in dierent individuals, and a true knowledge o their efcacy will only come in the living orm o each. Te drawings o the local ora in an encyclopedia are very dierent than the living plants, in innite ways. Guidance and understanding are oten wonderul incentives to practice, though a rather poor substitute or even the smallest bit o participation, as discussion o tea is no replacement or a true bowl. And like li ke the Zen master, the proo is in the tea itsel. i tsel. When others who are awakened drink o your cup, they will know the state o mind it was prepared in. Cultivating and sharing spiritual awakening through tea is ancient, older than mankind.
Te Eight Bowls of a Life of ea: Skillful means; Moral Uprightness Mastered mind; Meditation Humility and Gratitude; Study, Contemplation and Prayer Cleanliness; Purity Physical wellbeing; Diet and Movement Healing and Community; Work and Service Connection to the Great Nature; Bowl tea Grace and Beauty; Gong fu tea
Skillful Means; Moral Uprightness Rather than speaking in right and wrong, involving judgment and rank, let us dene morality in terms o that which is skillul, wholesome and healthy. healthy. We We are what we do, and the way we treat ourselves and others aects our tea. We We should consequently honor lie, and not kill; avoid greed and desire, with a love o reedom rom material possession. We We know that our actions, words and most importantly thoughts towards ourselves and others aect our ability to live a lie o tea in every way. way. Rather than ormalizing a moral code o conduct, we practice sel-eacement and recognition o the true oneness o all Being. From such an awareness, comes true love and compassion. And in that state, all conduct is i s pure conduct. In that way, way, we walk with heads h eads held upright. Knowing oneness, there is no opportunity to behave unskillully—lie ows like tea, rom empty vessel to empty e mpty vessel. ‘Love and do what thy will’ shall be the whole o the law.
Mastered mind; Meditation Without mastery o the mind we shall never walk upright, no matter how wonderul our intentions. Te mind is a strong and powerul elephant, able to serve ser ve or destroy the city equally. equally. For that reason, our centers and schools will always be places o meditation, just as a lie o tea in this tradition will include morning and evening meditation sessions, raming each day in peace and centeredness. Also, periodic peri odic retreats o longer duration should be held in the lie o a tea wayarer. wayarer. Just as we need to plunge the dipper di pper into the healing waters o silence every day, day, we also need a deeper draught now and again to balance periods o activity with stillness, doing with being. Our minds are turbid waters, and only quiet stillness can bring the clarity we seek in a lie o tea. Connection between the kettle, pot and cups is completed in their emptiness, which they all share. Te emptiness in the vessel is what makes it useul, connecting it to the other vessels. Like that, all great tea comes out o the meditative mind.
Humility and Gratitude; Study, Contemplation and Prayer All liturgies are in truth consummation and proclamation o a state o being—making the invisible become visible on the physical level. We We make altars to our own inner truths. Bowing to the Buddha, I bow to awakening and stillness in me. I learn humility beore the Divinity in me, and then begin to learn rom the wisdom o those people, places and things which surround
me. Daily prayer and contemplation compliment my meditation and tea, as does academic study o inspirations o masters past and present—or in their words I nd the maps to my truths, as well as the words and ways I’ll need in order to articulate my experience, strength and hope to others. In study, study, we do not seek to ape the ways o any saint, sage or seer, seer, but rather to nd inspiration and guidance in our quest to know ourselves. In prayer, prayer, we do not seek to petition the Divine with our desires, but to recognize outwardly our ownmost truths. We We seek to create a sacred space in our lie that is always there to remind us o our true tr ue ace. Surrounded by owers, ruit, incense, tea and light we remember and make ceremony o the act that we are Mother Earth, we are suering and orgiveness, we are Buddha-nature. Proper prayer is or orgiveness, or out o gratitude or the endless blessings each and every one o us is showered with daily; prayer is or loving-kindness and the sharing o our merits as we ollow this spiritual path; and prayer is to ask the Divine, or our higher sel, or knowledge o the Divine will and the power to carry it out. We We ask that the Divine will, wil l, not our own, unold in our inner connection to the Dao. And having seen this path, we ask or the acceptance and courage to walk it. ea ea is prepared with mastery master y only when it i t prepares itsel. As in lie, we must step out o the way and let the current ow through us—the way the tea ows through the pot and cups.
Cleanliness; Purity Purity Reverence and purity acilitate a lie o tea, and the communication o peace and wisdom through tea. Purity unctions on all levels, rom the body to the tea room, the spirit and the mind. We We must respect the space and beingness all around us, keeping our homes, and especially our tea spaces, clean and bright so that all who come within them—including the many aspects o ourselves—will nd stillness here. Even a conused or cluttered mind will wil l nd peace and cleanliness here, especially i that cluttered mind is my own. Tere is a proound peace in the practice o careully laying out all your utensils or tea, and looking them over in a ew e w minutes o meditation beore you even begin. And like all truths, the tea session should leave no trace o itsel—all should be cleaned thoroughly ater the tea has been served and the guests departed. Tis applies equally to the inner level, as one should not carry around the dregs o previous sessions which only give rise to the comparative mind and prevent you rom connecting to this moment. Wash Wash away all traces o a tea when it i t is done. Clean thoroughly—internally and externally—so that your guests will know that there is but one encounter, one chance. In that way, true presence and connection have room to grow in your lie and tea.
Physical wellbeing; Diet and Movement Movement It is unortunate that much o the world has taken to compartmentalizing lie: body or the doctors, mind or the psychiatrists and spirit or religion. rue healing is a unication o these alse barriers. A lie o tea is a life , and applies equally to all aspects o truth. Te sacred must ow through the spirit and body, body, uniying and then ultimately transcending such arbitrary boundaries. What we eat aects our tea incredibly. incredibly. Te pure oods are either ei ther vegetarian, or that which is donated and then received by an open pure heart. We We must promote physical wellbeing in order to heal the spirit as well. ea ea has always been synonymous with medicine, in its i ts purest orm. We We drink tea to ush the toxins rom our bodies, as well as our hearts. hea rts. Similarly, Similarly, tea preparation involves the ow o energy through our bodies. For that reason, we practice Qi Gong, ai Chi or Yoga to make this ow graceul, knowing that it will inuence how we live and how we prepare our tea.
Healing and Community; Work and Service Te only reason to seek mastery o this tea is in service o our world. Furthermore, it is perhaps paradoxical that the road to mastery itsel essentially contains service, or without it mastery can never be achieved. Having cultivated inner awareness and peace, we must seek to share it with others. In recognizing oneness in the center o ourselves, we are committed to healing this world one bowl at a time. For no being can be healthy in an unhealthy environment. We We are the earth, the air, air, the mountain and the tea; and we are the sharing. In community, community, we nd strength and support, example and leaderlead ership. ogether, we can achieve much more than any o us alone. Our tradition is orged rom the combined insight o the tea masters, sages, seers and cloud walkers rom ancient times unto the present. Let us donate our time, money and energy towards promoting an awakening and healing through tea, sharing this lie and a nd Way Way with all beings. bei ngs. As a practice, service ser vice helps us break away rom our sel-serving plans and goals, connecting with others in our heart o hearts. We We must also work towards transcending the dichotomy between sacred and proane. All that we do is our ownmost lie. Tere is nothing which is not our Dao. We We should nd our livelihood along our spiritual path and travel with it, rather than seeking or wealth, ame or power outside our center. center. We We should urthermore view our work in the world as another kind o service, ser vice, oering us the chance to donate some o our resources as well as the opportunity to work on ourselves through all the responsibilities and relationships we encounter in the world. Like the lotus, we cannot survive without the mud.
Connection to the Great Nature; Bowl tea Te Lea is the highest o scriptures. In tea we read sutras written not in the language o man, but that o the mountain and orest, earth and air, brook, brook, stream, sunshine and moonshine. Tese leaves contain vast tomes, i i we but learn to speak their language. In ancient times, it was said that a lea ell into the Divine Emperor, Emperor, Shen Nong’s Nong’s kettle as a s he sat in meditation. Tis legend speaks o the plant kingdom’ kingdom’s need to be human, to reach out and teach us o our origins. In drinking bowl tea, we return to the oldest brewing method. We We seek connection to the spirit spiri t o tea, as it i t has been drunk dr unk these thousands o years. In leaves and water, water, we nd simple connection to Nature and roots, reaching down into the depths o our time and evolution to nd our own source. In this way, way, we also wash away any o the pretensions associated with expertise, not allowing our training to make us eel superior, missing our only chance at connection with Nature, others and ourselves. We We drink bowl tea in the shaman’ shaman’s hut, or healing and silence, wisdom and smoke—runes that hint at the Great Mystery these veins unlock.
Grace and Beauty; Gong fu tea Our tea lie isn’t just about a greater connection to Nature through the Lea, but an attunement with our sel as well. We We must thereore cultivate both inner and outer harmony, harmony, a ow rom the absolute into i nto the relative. We We learn this ow through the practice o gong u tea, rening our sensitivity and grace as we prepare ner and ner tea over time. We We must spend adequate time doing exercises to rene our palates, our sensitivity to tea and its Qi as well as some academic study o tea and spiritual matters both, in order to rene our intellects as well. We We should be able abl e to articulate tea and spiritual matters, and eel comortable doing so. A mastery o tea includes a grace with all kinds o teaware, preparation, discussion and presentation. We We should know dry leaves by appearance and smell and be able to prepare them with a grace and beauty that transcends the ordinary. ordinary. We We should strive to brew the tea the way it wants to be brewed, recognizing its inner nature and becoming a graceul part o that ow. ow. We We should also develop our aesthetic sensibilities, in i n recognition that beauty comes rom the Divine; and that it signicantly aects our ability to transorm others through tea as well. A beautiul tea arrangement aids in one’s one’s transormation. All o this renement should temper our spirits and teach us how to live in grace.