The tea ceremony is not symbolic
My morning coffee ceremony
I’m sharing this conversation between the Qigong master Ken Cohen and Ray Haywood as I was struck by what he said about the tea ceremony not being symbolic.
Ken is making tea for Ray and explaining the tea ceremony.
“There are practical reasons for everything in tea it’s not symbolic. People might say ‘Oh what does it symbolise when you pour the hot water into the cup?’ ‘Er, it doesn’t symbolise anything, I’m drinking tea!’
It’s not for symbolic value, in fact it’s the opposite. It takes us out of our ironic tendency to treat everything symbolically.
As if something only has worth if it refers to something else. That’s a kind of craziness!
It’s always looking elsewhere for what is actually right here.”
(This little dialogue comes 15 mins in)
