The great 19th-century master, Cho Ui, indicated that tea should be placed in the pot first, then water poured on, only in winter (Hatu-beop), whereas in spring and autumn he was accustomed to half-filling the tea pot with water first, then adding the tea, before pouring in the rest of the water (Chungtu-beop); in summer, he suggested, the pot ( Read more... )

His life story offers a vivid illustration of two main dimensions of the Way of Tea. It nourishes meditative awareness, that is the Zen of Tea; and it nourishes quiet friendship, that is the Heart of Tea. Our pilgrimage constantly reminded me that life itself is a pilgrimage, full of moments in which we experience what a Korean poet called “the ( Read more... )