Chinese Art Of Tea As Sadhana

In my previous article, in the Yoga and Total Health (August 2019), I discussed the similarities of Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga and the Japanese tea ceremony.

- Luke Au Yeung 

This time I would like to take the opportunity to talk about how to practise the Chinese art of tea as a yoga Sadhana. Like the Japanese tea ceremony, many participants regard it as a performance rather than Sadhana. The situation is similar to modern yoga practice where many people consider yoga as a way to promote physical and mental well-being instead of self-realization.

In the Japanese tea ceremony students learn to walk, sit and prepare tea. These steps would transform his/her personality as what would happen in hatha yoga. On the contrary, students of the Chinese art of tea learn about self-discipline and personal qualities from the very beginning before embarking on the sequence of preparing tea. This situation is similar to the Raja yoga of Patanjali in which the Yama and Niyama serve as the foundation of the Yogic path.