I often teach my friends: if you want to taste the Tea, you need to savor it. The word “taste” has three mouths in its character, and “flavor” has one mouth, adding up to four mouths. So when you taste a mouthful of tea, you should sip it in four parts, and thus you will have taste.
When you lift the cup of tea to Drink, do not down it all at once; drink slowly, telling yourself to enjoy this cup of tea. Because you will never again taste another cup of tea exactly like this one. Once you think about it, you will sip the tea very slowly.
Then you will find the tea particularly delicious, because your whole being is immersed in the tea. Being very focused, calm, tranquil, and simple, you can savor the tea.
There is a saying in tea ceremony: “A lifetime encounter, a parting at the Door.” You may only meet once in a lifetime with someone over tea. So every cup of tea is a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity, having been brought together through a long span of time and space. After drinking the tea, when you see off your friend or are seen off by your friend, standing by the door watching the receding back, this is called “a parting at the door.” This farewell might mean there will be no time or chance for another meeting.
In ancient times, if you wanted to visit a friend, it might take months to get there, while now it's much faster. However, the difference between modern and ancient times lies elsewhere. In ancient times, due to poor transportation, you might not see each other for months after parting, whereas today, people might get into a car accident right away, and then they might never see each other again.
So cherish the unique encounter during a meeting, which is why I always treasure these moments. Every time I drink tea and meet friends, we exchange thoughts over tea, and the feeling is wonderful.
Because I love tea, I also collect tea. When collecting tea, I store my friends' tea in jars. If I label them with the names of the teas, it would be meaningless. Instead, I label them with my friends' names. For example, if his name is “Chunzhen,” I'll write “Chunzhen Tea”; if his name is “Weirong,” I'll write “Weirong Tea.” This way, when you see the tea, you immediately think of the friend and remember what kind of tea he gave you and when.
So in my collection of teas, I could say that they are labeled with friendship. Of course, since I've collected so many, some end up in the corner. One day, if that friend calls and says, “I'm coming over for tea,” I quickly move the jar of tea from the corner to the center. When he walks in and sees it, he's delighted to find his tea placed front and center.
Then I tell him that the jar of tea was a gift he gave me 15 years ago, and we decide to drink that tea today. Our meeting becomes quite moving. To be able to share a cup of tea with the same friend after 15 years is extremely rare and precious. “Rare and precious” is also a term used in Buddhism. Therefore, when Drinking Tea, live in the moment, live for the cup of tea before you.