This is a half day of Zen meditation and tea ceremony held in the beautiful Boulder Tea Hut. It is a time to give yourself the gift of a morning away from the busyness of the world, and to focus on your Heart, in the present moment. These opportunities give you the chance to develop a clarity and depth in your meditation practice that you can take back into your life. Whether you create space to notice a moment of natural beauty arising spontaneously, or cultivate the discipline to down-regulate yourself in the face of life’s difficulties, there is something available for everyone here.
We will be sitting in Zazen meditation for about 2 hours prior to having tea. The Zazen periods will consist of 30 minutes of still and silent meditation practice followed by 10 minutes of walking meditation practice. Instruction in the form will be given at the beginning of the day, and there will be opportunities during the day for further guidance. We sit before tea in order to give ourselves some time to let our minds calm down, and let space open up to take in the beauty of where we are sitting.
After a few hours of refining attention and presence, we will take a dive into the wonderful world of Gong Fu Cha. Tea and meditation have a long history together, and for good reason. Every tea will have its own unique effect on your awareness. Tea practice all on its own is an incredibly deep and subtle practice. By combining tea and meditation, we can open some doorways into truly lovely experiences.
We will take some time to dive into exceptionally fine and living teas on these days. The tea ceremony itself should be thought of as a moving meditation. It is a chance to begin to bring your meditative awareness off the cushion and into the world, where it matters most. After the silent component of the tea ceremony there will be time to share in conversation with tea medicine floating through our Hearts.
To take a deeper dive into the world of tea, I recommend that you check out GlobalTeaHut.org for much more information, fine teaware, and even finer teas.
There is a suggested donation of $50 or more. Feel free to donate more or less. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds. Due to the size of the teahouse, we are limited to 6 people. We will go from 8:30am-1:00pm. Once you make your commitment to joining, more information will follow.
It is currently best to email Rev. Bu Nan Daiko at BunanBrown@gmail.com to reserve your spot. Please ask if you have any questions.