Thank-you for this video. Since I've spent much time in Beijing and have watched my late brother-in-law and my wife's classmate prepare tea, my own practice is more akin to what people today call gongfu tea. We were recently in Sichuan and the proprietor of the B&B at which we stayed is studying the tea ceremony with a teacher. She has set up a couple of rooms in the inn as tea rooms and presented a very nice ceremony for us. She apologized that her chaxi was not as put together as well as she would have liked since our tea ceremony was spontaneous; I thought it was just right for the occasion and the circumstances. Later that evening one of the other guests was a certified tea master and presented a tea ceremony. Talking to her about tea was fun and watching the grace and smoothness with which she moved was magical. Again, this was what is currently called gongfu cha. As I said, this is the ceremony I have been practicing, although my tea practice certainly is not gongfu cha; I am still a beginner using a scale, thermometer, and timer on my iPhone as extraneous tools, tools that when I use them, my wife shakes her head and rolls her eyes muttering something about "fung le laowai" (crazy foreigner). Leaves in a bowl is a refreshing breath of fresh air. As a former engineer, the details of the Chinese tea ceremony and all the tools I use is appealing, yet too often it crosses the line into fussiness. Leaves in a bowl is grounding and I have listened to your suggestion of practicing this once or twice a week, even if I'm alone, maybe especially when I'm alone. Last night while washing the dishes I smelled the inside of a rice bowl, about the size of the bowls in the video, and could detect a bit of residue from the dish soap I was using. Then after drying it I could detect a faint scent of the laundry detergent we use to wash the dish towel. This was a reminder to be conscious of the soap with which I use to wash my hands before the ceremony and the soap I use to wash the towels -- maybe only hand washing from now on -- and with what I use to wash the bowls -- maybe just baking soda if I need something more than hot water. Leaves in a Bowl is just what I need at this point in my life as I transition from engineer to retiree, from Kungzi (Confucius) to Laozi, and head on a new adventure in my life, a new journey. There seems to be no room on the Leaves in a Bowl chaxi for a scale or thermometer or iPhone. As I take a deep breath I may be able to begin leaving them out of a gongfu cha chaxi as well.
It is a great joy for me knowing that the original rice bowls that You gave Mikki and I to start our journey with Tea, have since been the first step on the path for at least two other couples. Thank you so much and may those two simple bowls continue to bring joy to others throughout many lifetimes.
We are updating old videos in this series. Remember, "repeat" is a dirty word in Zen. "Renew" is better :) In the beginner's mind, we are always ready to renew. We go from one to ten, and ten to one :)
Hey there, Thank You for video. It made me think how funny how each individual starts to drink tea mindfully, but we all still start differently. I was trained in Tea shop 9 month, in place where China or Taiwan or any of those places are far away. When I arrived there I had no idea that TEA CEREMONY exists even thou some sort of assam tea has always been present in my life and of course tisanes. I was tought Gongfu. I was doing what I was told but at that time I dint know why I do it althou It gave me sence of calmess and full attention. So that feeling never left me. I continue. I read and watch and learn. I brew Tea for myself, my family and friends. I also watched 5 basics of tea brewing and I loved the fact of being balanced in center emotionaly and in balanced way using bouth sides of body. I never noticed this. I practised it today and if felt a bit confusing but it made lots of sence. It gave me new perspective and helped to improve my ceremony. Watching videos I noticed that You dont mesure t of water and You dont look time up. I have used to mesure t of water for certain teas and also if the steeping time is 45s how does that take part in ceremony?Thank You so much for sharing knowledge of Tea.
Thanks so much! We always suggest learning to feel amount/time--the way a musician or painter feels what they are doing, as opposed to measuring. You will make some mistakes, but if you learn from them, they aren't mistakes, they are lessons! Eventually, this will be ingrained!
Thank you for sharing this foundation practise. One question: When performing this ceremony do you need to let the tea steep in the cups before drinking or does this happen over the many steepings gradually releasing the tea?
I like this, thanks for recommending it over email... but I don't like hands touching the bowl where lips go and having to keep track of where you've touched etc. I prefer using a tong to clean and handle the cups so people don't get anxious about fingers. Is there a way to do bowl without doing that?
Thanks for the great videos, and for the sincere passion for tea! I'm curious as to how improvisation fits in to your practice at GTH? In my experience, a focus on a prescribed list of steps and motions has the *potential* to become dogma, which in turn can kill the spontaneity and joyful spirit of a practice. In short, how do you avoid the "ceremony" becoming the star of the show, rather than the tea itself? Thanks, and happy tea drinking.
This is a HUGE question! Any training happens in three phases: copying/following, breaking the rules and abandoning. All three are necessary. You are absolutely right that form can become dogma, done without understanding. That is the essence of the "breaking" stage, which means finding the exceptions, knowing when to break rules and also understanding experientially why things are done a certain way. Then abandoning means becoming, spontaneously manifesting, without any more training or guidelines, form at all. But you cannot skip to this stage!!!! Westerners always want the freedom without the form, which is just chaos. Sure, a star athlete or epic dancer are free on stage, but so are kindergarteners wiggling around loosely. The difference between them is lineage and years of training. True freedom is in and through the form. Become it, then release it.... Tea is not more the star of the show because one is sloppy and has no form, neither, as you say, should the form detract from the experience of drinking tea at all... I think those who have attended our tea ceremonies know that our form rarely gets in the way of one's conversation with tea, though in this setting as we teach that form, this may seem a possibility... This question goes on for many more pages...
Thanks for your thoughts! From the videos I've seen on your channel, the "ceremony" seems a way to bring greater mindfulness to tea making, which is wonderful. I'd contrast that with what has become popular sometimes in Taiwan for "gongfu" tea to be done by pretty girls with a bunch of graceful choreography that comes across as equal parts performance and tea practice (likely much often heavier on performance). As visually pleasing as that is, I'd rather sit down for tea with a bunch of old timers who don't give a damn about appearance and focus on the tea any day. Thanks for keeping a true tea practice alive, and showing that to the Western world. Keep making these great videos! Cheers!
Love this so much! Just wondering when you say tradition, which one are you referring to? I’m a little bit confused as to the name of this tea ceremony and it’s roots.
Thank you for this. I have just begun my tea journey through a month-long online retreat for Leaves in a Bowl. I have a question about the washing of the bowls... is this the only washing they have? Do you serve them again without any further washing? Or do you also wash them with soap and water?
Beautiful video! Thank you so much for sharing. I noticed the amount of tea leaves you use for each bowl is smaller that what you usually have for gong fu brewing. What's the approximate ratio of tea leaves and water you recommend? Thank you!
Depends a lot on the tea. Start with less. n You can always add more, but it is messy and a waste to take them out :) So work your way up to teh right amount. That is good advice for all brewing methods really...
Hard to get them all out that way. You would need a lot of water. We prefer to remove them and then wash the bowls again. With some practice, you can remove the leaves without even touching the bowl, just the slightest scrape. If you used water you would have to spin the leaves to unstick them from the bottom and then very quickly pour the whole of it out, which would often be awkward--at least for many of the large, striped leaves we like to use in this brewing method.
Love this video.. just a question out of curiosity, I have a feeling that I would love to pour the water either completely from the right to left or from left to right. So it would resemble a swipe of a brush. Of course making pauses between bowls. Should I practise it the way you're doing it in the video?
Do you think that leaves in a bowl ceremony can take place in a christian and religious context ? I would say yes but I want to have some thinks too :) ! And about the tea itself what are the best types of tea to enjoy with during this ceremony ?
There is no reason why it can not be celebrated by Christians. Tea transcends religion as one's practice is experienced through ones' set of beliefs. A group of Buddhists will approach a tea practice from a Buddhist perspective and a group of Christians will approach tea from a Christian perspective. If you are concerned about it being Biblical or not, keep in mind that Genesis introduces God as the creator or source of all things in the world, which includes the tea plant. So by taking time to focus upon an aspect of God's work you are honoring God in the process.
This was absolutely beautiful! I will host tea ceramonies with my community. Thank you for sharing your passion and wisdom
We want to thank Erika and Gordon for helping make this video. They are the reason it looks so much better than our previous ones!
Thank-you for this video. Since I've spent much time in Beijing and have watched my late brother-in-law and my wife's classmate prepare tea, my own practice is more akin to what people today call gongfu tea. We were recently in Sichuan and the proprietor of the B&B at which we stayed is studying the tea ceremony with a teacher. She has set up a couple of rooms in the inn as tea rooms and presented a very nice ceremony for us. She apologized that her chaxi was not as put together as well as she would have liked since our tea ceremony was spontaneous; I thought it was just right for the occasion and the circumstances. Later that evening one of the other guests was a certified tea master and presented a tea ceremony. Talking to her about tea was fun and watching the grace and smoothness with which she moved was magical. Again, this was what is currently called gongfu cha. As I said, this is the ceremony I have been practicing, although my tea practice certainly is not gongfu cha; I am still a beginner using a scale, thermometer, and timer on my iPhone as extraneous tools, tools that when I use them, my wife shakes her head and rolls her eyes muttering something about "fung le laowai" (crazy foreigner).
Leaves in a bowl is a refreshing breath of fresh air. As a former engineer, the details of the Chinese tea ceremony and all the tools I use is appealing, yet too often it crosses the line into fussiness. Leaves in a bowl is grounding and I have listened to your suggestion of practicing this once or twice a week, even if I'm alone, maybe especially when I'm alone.
Last night while washing the dishes I smelled the inside of a rice bowl, about the size of the bowls in the video, and could detect a bit of residue from the dish soap I was using. Then after drying it I could detect a faint scent of the laundry detergent we use to wash the dish towel. This was a reminder to be conscious of the soap with which I use to wash my hands before the ceremony and the soap I use to wash the towels -- maybe only hand washing from now on -- and with what I use to wash the bowls -- maybe just baking soda if I need something more than hot water.
Leaves in a Bowl is just what I need at this point in my life as I transition from engineer to retiree, from Kungzi (Confucius) to Laozi, and head on a new adventure in my life, a new journey. There seems to be no room on the Leaves in a Bowl chaxi for a scale or thermometer or iPhone. As I take a deep breath I may be able to begin leaving them out of a gongfu cha chaxi as well.
It is a great joy for me knowing that the original rice bowls that You gave Mikki and I to start our journey with Tea, have since been the first step on the path for at least two other couples. Thank you so much and may those two simple bowls continue to bring joy to others throughout many lifetimes.
Beautifully done and very inspiring to return to the basics. I love the spinning technique! Simplicity is the best.
Thank you very much for these wonderful videos! I love them and all you are sharing with the world! This practice has changed my life!
Cool. Good job, Jaanus.
Absolutely fantastic video! Great work! I'll be enjoying leaves in a bowl ceremony tomorrow morning.
Start your practice here!
Renew your practice here!
Isn't there already a video about the 5 basics?
Also please don't stop making these videos, i love them!
We are updating old videos in this series. Remember, "repeat" is a dirty word in Zen. "Renew" is better :) In the beginner's mind, we are always ready to renew. We go from one to ten, and ten to one :)
I did`t know this ceremony, is reconforting of only wathcing it, I will practise this ceremony too. Thanks!
Great video, thank you!
Hey there,
Thank You for video. It made me think how funny how each individual starts to drink tea mindfully, but we all still start differently. I was trained in Tea shop 9 month, in place where China or Taiwan or any of those places are far away. When I arrived there I had no idea that TEA CEREMONY exists even thou some sort of assam tea has always been present in my life and of course tisanes. I was tought Gongfu. I was doing what I was told but at that time I dint know why I do it althou It gave me sence of calmess and full attention. So that feeling never left me. I continue. I read and watch and learn. I brew Tea for myself, my family and friends. I also watched 5 basics of tea brewing and I loved the fact of being balanced in center emotionaly and in balanced way using bouth sides of body. I never noticed this. I practised it today and if felt a bit confusing but it made lots of sence. It gave me new perspective and helped to improve my ceremony. Watching videos I noticed that You dont mesure t of water and You dont look time up. I have used to mesure t of water for certain teas and also if the steeping time is 45s how does that take part in ceremony?Thank You so much for sharing knowledge of Tea.
Thanks so much! We always suggest learning to feel amount/time--the way a musician or painter feels what they are doing, as opposed to measuring. You will make some mistakes, but if you learn from them, they aren't mistakes, they are lessons! Eventually, this will be ingrained!
@@globalteahut Thank You/ practise practise practise!
Thank you for sharing this foundation practise. One question: When performing this ceremony do you need to let the tea steep in the cups before drinking or does this happen over the many steepings gradually releasing the tea?
I like this, thanks for recommending it over email... but I don't like hands touching the bowl where lips go and having to keep track of where you've touched etc. I prefer using a tong to clean and handle the cups so people don't get anxious about fingers. Is there a way to do bowl without doing that?
Thanks for the great videos, and for the sincere passion for tea! I'm curious as to how improvisation fits in to your practice at GTH? In my experience, a focus on a prescribed list of steps and motions has the *potential* to become dogma, which in turn can kill the spontaneity and joyful spirit of a practice. In short, how do you avoid the "ceremony" becoming the star of the show, rather than the tea itself? Thanks, and happy tea drinking.
This is a HUGE question! Any training happens in three phases: copying/following, breaking the rules and abandoning. All three are necessary. You are absolutely right that form can become dogma, done without understanding. That is the essence of the "breaking" stage, which means finding the exceptions, knowing when to break rules and also understanding experientially why things are done a certain way. Then abandoning means becoming, spontaneously manifesting, without any more training or guidelines, form at all. But you cannot skip to this stage!!!! Westerners always want the freedom without the form, which is just chaos. Sure, a star athlete or epic dancer are free on stage, but so are kindergarteners wiggling around loosely. The difference between them is lineage and years of training. True freedom is in and through the form. Become it, then release it.... Tea is not more the star of the show because one is sloppy and has no form, neither, as you say, should the form detract from the experience of drinking tea at all... I think those who have attended our tea ceremonies know that our form rarely gets in the way of one's conversation with tea, though in this setting as we teach that form, this may seem a possibility... This question goes on for many more pages...
Also, as mentioned in the video. Bowl tea can be any bowl, any leaves and any water and no need for the form...
P.S. just to be clear, by "Westerner" I also include my own silly self/silly mind :)
Thanks for your thoughts! From the videos I've seen on your channel, the "ceremony" seems a way to bring greater mindfulness to tea making, which is wonderful. I'd contrast that with what has become popular sometimes in Taiwan for "gongfu" tea to be done by pretty girls with a bunch of graceful choreography that comes across as equal parts performance and tea practice (likely much often heavier on performance). As visually pleasing as that is, I'd rather sit down for tea with a bunch of old timers who don't give a damn about appearance and focus on the tea any day. Thanks for keeping a true tea practice alive, and showing that to the Western world. Keep making these great videos! Cheers!
Love this so much! Just wondering when you say tradition, which one are you referring to? I’m a little bit confused as to the name of this tea ceremony and it’s roots.
Thanks for your kind words and inspiration! You can read our magazine or visit one of our locations to learn more.
Thank you for this. I have just begun my tea journey through a month-long online retreat for Leaves in a Bowl. I have a question about the washing of the bowls... is this the only washing they have? Do you serve them again without any further washing? Or do you also wash them with soap and water?
we wash in between sessions. But only with water. Never soap on teaware :)
Beautiful video! Thank you so much for sharing. I noticed the amount of tea leaves you use for each bowl is smaller that what you usually have for gong fu brewing. What's the approximate ratio of tea leaves and water you recommend? Thank you!
Depends a lot on the tea. Start with less. n You can always add more, but it is messy and a waste to take them out :) So work your way up to teh right amount. That is good advice for all brewing methods really...
@@globalteahut thank you! I will do that. Awesome videos, I have learned a lot. Many thanks for sharing!
Question for you Wu De - I'm curious why you wouldn't use water to remove the leaves from the bowl instead of your hands?
Hard to get them all out that way. You would need a lot of water. We prefer to remove them and then wash the bowls again. With some practice, you can remove the leaves without even touching the bowl, just the slightest scrape. If you used water you would have to spin the leaves to unstick them from the bottom and then very quickly pour the whole of it out, which would often be awkward--at least for many of the large, striped leaves we like to use in this brewing method.
Hownice. !
Love this video.. just a question out of curiosity, I have a feeling that I would love to pour the water either completely from the right to left or from left to right. So it would resemble a swipe of a brush. Of course making pauses between bowls. Should I practise it the way you're doing it in the video?
That is more for gongfu tea
This is more than tea...
Do you think that leaves in a bowl ceremony can take place in a christian and religious context ? I would say yes but I want to have some thinks too :) !
And about the tea itself what are the best types of tea to enjoy with during this ceremony ?
There is no reason why it can not be celebrated by Christians. Tea transcends religion as one's practice is experienced through ones' set of beliefs. A group of Buddhists will approach a tea practice from a Buddhist perspective and a group of Christians will approach tea from a Christian perspective. If you are concerned about it being Biblical or not, keep in mind that Genesis introduces God as the creator or source of all things in the world, which includes the tea plant. So by taking time to focus upon an aspect of God's work you are honoring God in the process.