https://meet74.webex.com/meet74/j.php?MTID=mfd9f74515c54733247c6aba5871bbf71 

October 12, 2010

Starting off the day by meditating for a half hour or more calms the mind and lets you connect with your breath. In realization that this breath is the rhythm of the universe and runs through everything, we step a little closer to the Infinite. We sit down and are quiet to ground ourselves, hear some joy in the birds singing outside, wash off the dust of the world and discipline our bodies. It’s also a reminder not to take our study of tea too lightly. We focus a little bit before we have that first cup and start discussing tea. We ought to taste the Zen in our surroundings and ourselves a bit before we think we can taste the Zen in our cups.

Our first cup was a Puerh, and we were once again trying to determine its type and approximate age. It was sheng with some younger characteristics, like a strong astringency. It was about 6-8 yrs old. Aaron describes this as a kind of awkward phase in the aging of Puer Tea. It’s starting to transform but still hasn’t mellowed or transformed very much yet. Adam felt it was very clean with good sensations but Eli and I couldn’t say it felt real good. Aaron said maybe Adam was able to feel the Cha Qi a little more clearly this morning. A nice tea to start with and open our discussion.

We discussed last weeks lesson a bit, reviewing and redefining reciprocity. We will continue our effort to take a deeper look at ‘reciprocity’ in our relationships. This is the first level of relating to others. It isn’t exactly equivalent to the ‘Golden Rule’ of Christianity: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Reciprocity is not as simple as maintaining a functional balance in the world, simply trying to guard ourselves from harm. This is closer to the business-like give and take that we want to distance ourselves from in human relationships. We want to get closer to our fellows and erase the assumed lines that separate us. If we always think of what we will get in return, can our hearts really open very far? I don’t think so. The second level is beneficence. In beneficence, we can remind ourselves that we are no different from others. We have to promote the success of others if we want to be successful ourselves. Another way to look at this concept is to step beyond good and evil. The real peace is the peace that can contain violence within it; true love also loves hate.

Our second tea was a fine aged Baozhong Oolong self-stored by one of our friends in Taipei–a wonderfully elating and pleasant feeling tea. My choice to not say anything about the flavor of this tea is conscious here as I am trying to move away from this level of tea. Of course it tastes ‘good’ but what will my descriptions of its flavor really communicate? Only what I like about it, and that is all subjective to my personal tastes. We are focusing on the feeling more in class–the mouth feel and body sensations. This led us into a lengthy discussion of the effects of antique porcelain and good zisha yixing on tea.

We get on the topic of priorities in purchasing tea-ware quite often. What should I get first? What do I need? What will help me the most? What will help the tea I make the most? Lately Aaron has asserted that tea-ware should come before tea because we all have plenty of tea to drink now. Why have an excellent tea and then not let it shine the way it wants too by brewing it in mediocre or crummy tea-ware. There is a place for simple tea drunk from a bowl- just some leaves in a bowl with hot water. But we need to refine our tea equipment so that we can see the tangible effects it has on tea. Then we can learn more as well and develop our skills. Musicians may start out with simple instruments but they always grow out of them and move on to more finely crafted ones. That way they can become more skilled and make better music. It’s the same in tea. Aaron doesn’t want to teach us things we need for their aesthetic value. We all like nice looking things, and that can improve the tea in another way as well, but its just more objective opinions. He is strongly recommending certain things for their functionality in making better tea. The pot is the father of the tea we drink. It is the first on the list of must-haves in tea-ware. It is commonly claimed that yi xing clay teapots are the best for making tea. There are different designs, sizes and colors of them but one type is miles above the rest- Zizha or purple ore clay. This clay is extremely rare, don’t think that just because the teapot is brown, it is Zisha. The best pots made with this clay date from the Qing and Republic periods of China. The clay was very refined at these times and most of the mines were closed up later. Some is still storage now and a few craftsmen know how to work with it. You can look for a genuine antique amidst an ocean of fakes but you will have to pay thousands of dollars. You can also find a source for a decent one made in more recent times. They are out there too. Why is this clay so amazing? I am still learning but I can already see obviously that it smoothes out the water to make it have an incredible silk-like feeling in your mouth. It just goes right down. Then it also effects the qi of the tea and water to make it feel very clean and full of life. It can make good water excellent and decent tea great. Sometimes we learn more about the universe with some scientific attitude. We are traveling the known and unknown universe without moving an inch. We are connecting with people we have never seen, in the present, future and the past. Our ancestors were more advanced in many ways. We are learning to feel again. We are doing yoga and tai chi. I’m talking about magnetic fields and they are in and all around us. Perhaps genuine Zisha purple ore clay carries the perfectly tuned magnetic field for preparing tea.

After the teapot comes the cups. Clays differ in many degrees. Just as Zisha is much different than river clay, so is good porcelain different from bad porcelain. Porcelain is a paste that is prepared in a special way with a specific combination of minerals. It is stoneware. The formula was kept secret for centuries before Europeans and Japanese figured out how to make copies. Theirs were never as fine as Chinese porcelain. The best porcelain was made in the Yuan Dynasty. This is a relatively short period in which China was controlled by the Mongolian Empire. Chinese culture went on uninterrupted though, though perhaps a little underground. Art and Craft is culture. The Chinese have been developing porcelain since at least the Eastern Han Dynasty (200-100 BCE). Cups surviving from the Yuan Dynasty are next to impossible to find as there are only a handful left. This perfect recipe continued to be used in to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The composition of the porcelain paste as well as the glaze of modern made porcelain is different. Some of the raw materials just can’t be found any more. When you look at old porcelain next to new porcelain, it is pretty easy to see the difference. Tea drunk from antique porcelain tastes better. The tea liquor sits on its surface and rolls off of it differently. Its like it flows off it seamlessly with just the right energy to be absorbed by your body. So, we are looking to acquire antique porcelain tea cups.

This approach to understanding the way that materials affect the tea we drink is one of the most fascinating things that I am learning of during our tea sessions. We do various experiments and can see the way that the tea feels different due to different pots, cups and even coasters. I then go home and continue the experiments in my home. It is immensely refreshing to be reminded that everything around us is living in a way. Everything is energy. We don’t have to see the man as ‘smart’ and the tree or rock as ‘stupid’. Some things have a distorting and obscuring energy. We want to keep those things out of our tea space. Everything matters and nothing is discounted. Magnetic fields, alchemy and love can help make better tea and they certainly are not out of reach!

Calming our minds and cultivating our hearts is the foundation of our approach to tea. The spiritual efforts that we discuss during class carry over into my attitude and choices in daily life. In just this brief period of learning with Aaron, I am feeling many improvements in my tea making skills- big improvements. I may cave considered that my computer being on my tea table was having a bad influence on my tea but I needed him to tell me to get it away from there. I was interested in the effects of different waters on tea but I needed him to urge me to treat it with more respect and teach me how to care for it as well as cleanse it. We need to learn from a teacher. A teacher passes on knowledge that took thousands of years to realize. It is an immeasurable beneficial gift when we are lucky enough to have a teacher come into our lives. If we look the other way because of trivial matters, it is a grave loss.

Also shown in the photo above is a sheng puer tasting we helped Aaron with for a review he was asked to do. Its good to be able to experience all the different teas at one time and see their differences. Unfortunately most of these teas made us feel quite uncomfortable. The bad ones really overshadow the good ones for Adam and I but Aaron was able to pick out a few that were at least OK. Its nice to know that we are becoming more astute at differentiating 'good' from 'bad' teas or 'alive' from 'dead' teas.

October 5, 2010

Lately we have been starting with a meditation session. Aaron’s inner tea room has a wonderful silence about it and when we are sitting in there, its easier for me to calm my mind. The fountain makes a pleasant sound, a stream rolling over rocks. While sitting for around a half an hour, I focused on my breath, reminding myself that the rhythm of the universe can be found within me. If at least for this short period of time, its good to tie in with a greater consciousness and cleanse the mind a little for the tea to be drunk and felt—and to hear Aaron’s advice.

After meditating, Aaron gets the charcoal for the brazier started and we talk about some spiritual matters. Spirituality is a large portion of what we talk about at tea class. Adam and I both see Aaron as a spiritual advisor. Some might view this as unexpected or unnecessary in a tea class but it very much belongs here. We don’t want to have “cha without the Dao”. The tea that we are learning to make and understand has everything to do with the Dao.

Today Aaron spoke of reciprocity, expanding our understanding of it. Generally in the west we regard ‘reciprocity’ with a philosophy of ‘what goes around, comes around.” We treat others as they treat us, in other words. This is how the business world works, and how many of our personal relationships function as well. We will try to raise the bar a little in our relationships with others. If I feel that I have done something wrong to another, I will feel a little worse and more regretful about what has happened. If, on the other hand, I feel that someone has wronged me, I will be a little less hard on them and not so quick to condemn them for some so-called “wrongdoing”. Similarly, whatever kindness another offers me will be met with great appreciation, though when I extend the same kindness I will see it as never enough. This balances reciprocity, which is too often inharmonious due to our egos. The solace of friendship, that we all turn to when we’re tired of the business of the world, is found in the fact that amongst friends there is no “I’ll treat you as you treat me.” We can begin to stop drawing lines between people and try to rise above good and evil. This, too, can make our tea better.

We then began to discuss the tea plan for the session. Wu De would make a number of Puer teas for us and we were to try to determine whether they were sheng or shou, as well as their approximate age and whatever other details we could discern about them. The tea was all brewed in the same pot—a beautiful purple-sand Yixing from the Qing Dynasty. We are also trying to sense the effects different materials can have on the tea liquor we drink. We had the pot for brewing, and by the side lids from a modern pot made from aged, refined purple-sand (grade-A clay), and Adam’s nice purple-sand pot from the 80’s. You can tap your tea cup on the button before drinking. The button is the ‘Bai Hui” of the tea pot and it will affect the quality of the tea liquor in your cup. Some clays will distort the water and it pools in your mouth more before you can swallow it. It takes more effort push it down. It’s also rough in the mouth. Others can really smooth out the tea water and it just shoots down your throat with little to no effort. Then there are many degrees in between. You can tap one, have a sip, then the next, and so on. As expected, the Qing Dynasty pot was the smoothest. It’s as if all the ‘structure’ of the tea liquor fits together perfectly and easily—as if all the atoms were in the “right” place. It moves over your tongue and down your throat in one positively charged movement. The others were nice as well but not as nice as this one. The grade-A clay was a few steps behind the pot we were brewing in and the 80’s pot was third. You have to get real quiet to feel the differences here. They were quite obvious to us, though. It’s great to finally learn what the effect of purple-sand clay has on the tea. I feel that a lot of people speak to the superiority of Zisha (purple-sand) but don’t really take the patience to feel the improvements that it has on the tea they make. It’s also important to know that not everything brown or purple is Zisha. The clay is quite rare nowadays and the antiques are becoming more so all the time. I don’t even have one yet. I can use my years of experience with modern standard and substandard Yixing pots and compare them with one very soon.

One Gong Fu Tea tip that came up in class is the way to deal with the hot lid of the teapot while making tea, caused as a result of showering the pot. You can lift it off the teapot with your thumb and middle finger on opposite sides of the lid and your fiddle finger above on the button. It’s good to have lid rest close by on the right side of the pot so you can quickly set it down when it is too hot to handle. Even though it is rather hot, you should handle it with a steady, unflinching manner. You don’t want to drop and accidentally break it, or make your guests feel uncomfortable. Some training for your finger tips is wise. Every once in a while, dip them in some hot water so that they grow more accustomed to the heat.

Some of our ideas about the Puers that we tried were right on and others were off a bit. We had 3 shou teas, and they were all rather distinct from each other. For one of them, we were pretty sure that it was an aged sheng but found our assumption to be wrong. This is one of the reasons that Aaron made it for us: so we could see that a lot of tea merchants will knowingly of unknowingly pass a shou Puer off as Sheng Puer. Aged sheng Puer fetches much higher prices than shou. We will continue on with Puer next week.

into the floating world of tea

“Tea for us is a space with no time, no convenience and no price. Only proper and improper.” Tea master Wu De was introducing and asserting the importance of wabi in tea values and aesthetic. He went further, “This is one of the most important lessons in tea. You have to separate monetary value from wabi. Wabi is inherent. The price of things is variable through the ages but the original aesthetic is wabi and nothing else. True wabi is priceless.”

Wabi-sabi represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent and incomplete”. Characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetry, asperity, simplicity, modesty, intimacy and the suggestion of natural processes.

For those who are ready to listen, lucky enough to be introduced and truly seeking the leaf; there is a tea master in a small mountainous county of Taiwan who can pass on great wisdom of all things tea; especially how to skillfully transmit and transmute it’s magic. I had been pursuing more knowledge and understanding of tea in America for about 7 years and finally reached a point in life when I was ready to move to Taiwan, heaven for tea lovers. I hadn’t necessarily given up the hope that I would ever find a master willing to teach, rather I had lost sight of my desire to learn such things. Thanks to my dear friend Paul, I was introduced to Wu De and have been studying with him once a week for about 3 months now. I am joined by two friends, Adam and Eli, in our tuesday morning session. This blog is the stage where I can relate some of the lessons learned and experiences felt during classes.