Matcha Latte

Paul T. wrote: "To my knowledge, nobody has ever started a spiritual practice based on the preparation of a Starbucks Americano.
Of course, some people may have what is a religious commitment to the Cup in the morning, but these serpentine lines, steam and noisy nature jolts of caffeine in coffee may make an order large enough mindfulness. good old coffee and conversation discussed, we associate the black pick-me-up more passion and productivity so that we do with the self-contemplation.
Organic tea , on the other hand, full of grace and femininity, has been ennobled centuries ago in a religion of aestheticism - Teasim, if you want. According to the Book of Tea Okakura Kakuro, "Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It inculcates purity and harmony ... the worship of the imperfect ... and is an attempt to tender to accomplish something possible in this impossible, we know that life. "Today, tea is hot, and its popularity symbolizes change in American values to live a less pointed, more peaceful lifestyle.
The inspiration of all these thoughts of coffee, tea and duality has been my quest for the American dream back to a quiet meditation retreat in the Buddhist New Year Director of the silent race to land within our mind has been Shinzen Young, a professor of Western or Eastern meditation Vipassana Insight. There, a student Shinzen who was also a passionate practitioner of tea was an opportunity for us to take part in the ritual Cha-no-yu (literally "hot water for tea").
Transforming the lobby of the elderly, Catholic retreat center in a tea house in good taste, she has demonstrated her agility with green tea powder known as matcha, thoroughly preparing portions of a small group of us in the peaceful surroundings. We were told that the study and control of tea ceremony takes many years, life often last. While participating as a guest in the semi-formal Cha-no-yu I need to study and learn maintenance tearoom general, gestures and expressions and prescribed the right way we take tea and cakes.
Given my membership Samovar, I got to thinking ... thinking ... and think a little more (a phenomenon that I understand now consists of sensations, body, self-talk, and images from my mind.) Why, I wondered, is that we do not cross more than black-clad, devout Buddhists sipping soy lattes? Why stronger link between the Enlightenment and coffee cuz, this slightly bitter drink served hot? Scratch a little, I discovered that the fair-trade tea , like coffee, has been linked through the ages with popular cultural values. Tea social experience, however, is more closely linked to ritual practices, often occupying the center of some ritual practices. rituals established as the Japanese tea ceremony I have lived, strongly influenced by Zen Buddhism, sought to divide the world between the sacred and the profane (or daily) to establish or create community social experience.
Those fortunate enough to have taken place in a tea tasting Jesse felt an energy similar respect and nobility. To the unenlightened eye, it may seem like a means of creative marketing that allows you to move products. But look a little closer ... and you may catch a glimpse of Samovar Tea shaman skill in maintaining a living legacy of relaxation, pleasure, dignity, and joy.
Who leads turned round to me. Shinzen explained.