The tea shop I work at stocks Global Tea Hut founder Wu De’s book “The Way of Tea.” Out of curiosity on a slow day I started reading the display copy behind the counter. Now before anyone says anything, this post is not about my opinion of Global Tea Hut. This post is rather about a specific quote in that book:
Master Rikyu said, “imagine your life without tea, and if it’s any different than it is now, you don’t understand tea.”
I actually can’t find any sources that contain this quote other than this book. Regardless of who said it, the idea is interesting to think about. If I imagine my life without tea, I would be yawning constantly. The time spent brewing tea would be spent doing something else… video games, music making, or hanging out with friends. Speaking of friends, I wouldn’t have any of my tea friends, and I would not work at a tea shop. So of course my life would be different! This seems trivial and must not be the actual meaning of the “quote.”
So what does it refer to? It does seem that my quality of life would be different, but just as fine. It is not necessary to drink tea to be happy. The point of the quote to me is that if you can’t apply what you have learned from tea to all aspects of life, you have not made the most of your tea practice. If you can do the dishes the same way you make tea, that would give you a happier life. The quote’s condition isn’t that you never had tea (of course you would not understand tea if you never had it), but that your privilege to have tea is taken away. Perhaps the essence of tea can remain when the actual tea is no longer present.
After all, it is not advised to have tea constantly all day. Most of our lives are spent without tea, although it can be in our system for a few hours after drinking. We should not be clinging to tea so tightly, and should be willing to let go of it: not by giving it away, but by letting it be.
Tea Secrets 