sherubtse wrote:茶藝-TeaArt08 wrote:Today two different teas: the first pour is the winter gaoshan tea from Taiwan I've been drinking so frequently...quiet rounds under a moody sky of shifting grey clouds while reading The Way Of The Bodhisattva by Shantideva, a book that always speaks so deeply and so clearly.
That's a great book, a favourite of mine, and the only Mahayana text on my bookshelf.
Best wishes,
sherubtse
Indeed! I return to it again and again. It was given to me by a friend whom lived out of his van and spent his life traveling from teaching to teaching. He would park in front of our house when in Santa Cruz and gave me the book as a surprise gift after a night that we spent talking for hours and hours.
I scarfed down everything on Buddhism I could get my hands on when I was young man. There was only one book I kept throughout the years that had a lasting impact on me, The Zen Teachings Of Huang Po, On The Transmission Of Mind, translated by John Blofeld.
It pairs well with a good Da Yu Ling.
Teadoff, Nice pairing!
I have Blofeld's book
The Chinese Art of Tea but haven't read his version on Huang Po.
namaste, is it the translation by shambala publications?
i havent tried pairing buddhist books with tea though i'm attempting to run through the surangama sutra at the moment..
Kyarazen, Yes, it is the older Shambhala version with the blue cover. The newer version is red I believe. I don't often pair books with tea; if I do it's usually after the forth or fifth round. But certain books are rich for "sipping" along with tea. With tea I do include
The Cai Gen Tan, tranlsated by Robert Aiken and
The One Taste of Truth, Zen and the Art of Drinking Tea by William Scott Wilson amongst others. I've not read the Surangama Sutra and looked it up. Seems very rich!
An Interesting idea that ... tea and texts. Which teas go with which books and vice versa. Kyarazen referred to this idea as well in his post just above. Seems like a good topic for a new thread.
Best wishes,
sherubtse
Sherubtse, I agree; it's a thread I'd like to see and be interested in myself, tea and book pairings. Tea for me is a practice of presence and sense and there is such a great receptivity opened during tea. I prefer tea to be the sole purpose and intent of a sitting but do find that certain books really do "pair" well for me with tea. I find I pick up the books after the brewing has passed the fifth round and inbetween the longer steeps of later rounds. Some of the books that have made their way to the tea table in and enhancing way for me in recent months:
The Way of the Bodhisattva (Shambhala edition, Shantideva)
The One Taste of Truth, Zen and the Art of Drinking Tea (William Scott Wilson)
Sky Above, Great Wind, The Life and Poetry of Zen Master Ryokan (Kazuaki Tanahashi)
The Method of No Method (Master Sheng Yen)
The Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry (Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping)
Tai Chi Connections (John Loupos)
Hoofprint of the Ox (Master Sheng Yen)
Vegetable Roots Discourse/Cai Gen Tan (Robert Aiken)
The Way Of Liberation (Adyashanti)
Revolution And Its Past, Identities and Change in Modern Chinese History (R. Keith Schoppa)
Bagua Circle Walking Nei Gong (Tom Bisio)
Blessings all!
Feels good to be drinking oolong again--very very calming and warming.
