Tea Gong Academy
日本語

Chapter 4

Beginning Tea Gong

Brew a cup, return to yourself

Here the practice begins. Tea Gong takes the ordinary act of brewing and drinking tea and rebuilds it as a procedure for setting yourself in order.

First the leaf is chosen; then the body is returned to a neutral state. On that footing come the four basic steps — set the environment, brew, drink, and take care afterwards.

The last two lessons go further in. The “qi of tea” is something tea drinkers describe constantly and vaguely; we examine it from both traditional medicine and neuroscience. And we retell, in the language of the default mode network, why the ritual of tea has the power to rewrite a person’s sense of who they are.

Lessons in this chapter (5)

  1. 01 Preparing the Leaf In Tea Gong the leaf is viewed through four things — savour, aroma, texture and qi — taking the plant as a whole. What to have ready before you start.
  2. 02 Bringing the Body to Neutral Neutral means a state with little disturbance or excess stimulation, where the senses are clear. How to settle the body as preparation for tasting Tea Gong properly.
  3. 03 The Four Basic Steps Set the environment, brew, drink, and take care afterwards. The basic procedure of Tea Gong, for shedding social position and passing emotion and returning to the plain self.
  4. 04 What the Qi of Tea Actually Is Digging into the vague phrase "this tea has strong qi" from both traditional medicine and neuroscience, and recasting it as the relationship between you and the tea in front of you.
  5. 05 Tea Gong, for Rebuilding the Self The default mode network behind the thoughts that run on their own, and its seesaw with the task-positive network. How the ritual of tea rewrites the self.