Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage. It has been an integral part in the development of Eastern religion and thought for centuries, and has traveled the distances of time and space to reach our steaming cups. However, the brilliance of a simple cup of tea is often forgotten, and in our hectic lives, it is reduced to simply being a beverage.
“Teaism” is a Japanese movement founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It is about purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual feelings and the romanticism of the social world. It is described as being essentially a worship of the imperfect — a tender celebration of accepting uncertainty. Sipping a simple cup of tea is seen as pausing to see the greatness in the little things of life, and the littleness in the so called great things.
From a Confucius perspective, tea means harmony, calm, etiquette and optimism. In eighth century China, tea was so greatly valued it was considered to have entered the realm of poetry. Sipping tea brought people together, creating a space in which to reflect and imagine.
The philosophy of tea is not mere aestheticism. It is also tied to ethics, religion and an entirely unique point of view about man and nature. It requires cleanliness, it economically shows comfort in simplicity rather than in the complex and costly, and it explores our sense of proportion to the universe.
This may sound like empty philosophizing about “just a cup of tea,” but Kakuzo Okakura makes a point in his article “The Book of Tea” when he says, “The average Westerner, in his sleek complacency, will see in the tea ceremony but another instance of the thousand and one oddities which constitute the quaintness and childishness of the East to him.” He continues saying, “When will the West understand, or try to understand, the East? We Asiatics are often appalled by the curious web of facts and fancies which has been woven concerning us.”
A lot of harm in the world’s history has been done already by the mutual misunderstanding of the New World and the Old, the East and the West. We have failed to see that the lessons that can be found in Eastern philosophy are often just what we as Westerners are lacking — they are cultures often perfectly complimentary. Our own culture is rich with knowledge, technology and arts that undoubtedly bring benefits to many Asiatic cultures. A Spanish traveler I spoke to on the way to Beijing through Mongolia crossing over the East-West divide by train, said he considers himself a global citizen simply because “we are humans.”
In our quest for function and efficiency, perhaps the simple cup of tea is just what we need. It is so easy to become caught up in linear lives in which we just keep running along, constantly occupied. Taking more breaks with a cup of tea could be the cure to the stress-related illness and unhappiness that permeates much of society.
So forget agnosticism, mysticism or Buddhism: I’m going with Teaism.