Pre-Ming Dragonwell will be harvested between March 23-25 for us this season! And I am off again April 3 for more tea adventures, see you at this daily blog!
Year of the Monkey: Celebrate Chinese New Year with 25% Off ‘Monkey Picked’ Tieguanyin
Happy Chinese New Year, Year of the Monkey Chinese Lunar New Year is the single most important holiday in China, if not in Asia. It is celebrated for almost one month straight, where society at every level is honored: the young pay respects to the old and the old indulge the young with red envelopes and candy, friends honor each other with personal visits, businesses curry gifts to their customers and acknowledge their employees with cash, symbolic gifts, foods, and decorations are ubiquitous, and artists and lion dancers put their best performances on display at daily street festivals. Chinese New Year is about celebrating abundance, but at its core, it is really about honoring one’s relationships to other people. Celebrate year of the Monkey, by enjoying some Monkey Picked Tieguanyin oolong at 25% off from now through February 8th, the beginning of the new year! Although not at all picked by monkeys, this is…
The 1400 year old temple of Kannon, where Shinran had a…
The 1400 year old temple of Kannon, where Shinran had a revelation that an easier way to Buddhist practice was through the vow of the Amitabha and his Pureland. Thus, the Pureland Sect, Jodoshinshu, was born. Situated right in the epicenter of Kyoto, only here can you have something so old look completely in harmony with its modern environment. I guess what I like about Kyoto most was its ability to preserve its ancient history and culture seamlessly into the future. Many modern cities can take a page from them! But if the taste of tea and Zen are one, what is the taste of tea and the Pureland?
My winter tea tour went smoothly, without missing a beat, or…
My winter tea tour went smoothly, without missing a beat, or anyone for that matter. Phew, another year without anyone falling off a mountain or poisoned by a centipede, bitten by a spider, or carted off to jail for breaking some rule in Japan! Success!
These tea trips are strenuous for me, but in a way, less so when there is a tour, since I can’t expect folks to pack it in like me. As I get older, I reflect on the purpose of these tours. Tell the stories? Convert one person at a time to be a true tea believer? That’s called a religion, not a business… I should get tax exempt status!
Why do some places develop more culture than other places? I’d…
Why do some places develop more culture than other places? I’d say, reverence to the connection to our ancestors, predecessor masters, and our excellent peers. The respect for a collective value system for art, everyday aesthetics, well made crafts, living as part of nature and congruently with each other, are some of the deeper values of Kyoto. The ubiquity of tea and fine wood work is on one end of the spectrum, all the way to the most convenience available for hassles, and cleanest civic places, are on the other end. This can only happen to a culture that has respect and accountability built in. There are a lot more ways to say ‘I am sorry’ (15 ways without even counting conjugations) in Japanese than we say WTF in English, for example. But I felt a sense of success in introducing a context to my tour group at the very least….
At Kitanoji Temple monthly market, with everything from street…
At Kitanoji Temple monthly market, with everything from street food to antiques to textiles of every weave and embroidery.