This tea ceremony has been enjoyed by my wife Kristen and I. The kids are sleeping peacefully. The ceremony is dedicated to peace and harmony.
It starts off by creating an atmosphere of calm and peace. The sun has gone down and I am lighting a green tea incense and a tea candle held by a Buddha. The wonderful smell of the tea incense fills the air and the candle light reveals the stage: a large bamboo tray.
The actors are already here: my new Yixing tea pot, a smelling cup and a few drinking cups to serve the tea. As with all of my tea ceremonies, they are happy to be out of their Chinese silk boxes and participate in this ceremony.
When I was a little kid we often would take the train from Berlin, East Germany to St. Petersburg, Russia, – a two day journey. On this trip it had been my job to get the tea for the family and I remember this procedure vividly: a strong black tea in a glass mug in a heavy iron casing with a long piece of sugar. I had to make a few trips, for a little kid in a fast moving train not an easy task. But it left something in me, a sort of family tradition.