Song of Tea by Lu Tung
The first cup moistens my lips and throat.
The second cup breaks my loneliness
The third cup searches my barren entrail,
but to find within some thousand volumes of odd ideographs.
The fourth cup raises a slight perspiration;
all the wrongs of Life pass out through my pores
At the fifth cup I am purified.
The sixt cup calls me out to the realm of the immortals.
The seventh cup, ahh but I could take no more!
I only feel the breath of a cool wind that raises in my sleeve
Where is paradise? Let me ride on this sweet breeze and want away tither.
(written in the 9th century by a Taoist monk and tea connoisseur)
I was introduced to this poem this morning while I was ironically drinking my tea and while I was listening to Alan Watts in the below linked recording. Both drinking tea and listening to wise words are part of my daily sadhana. Watts was talking about his love of water and mentioned that he seeks the ocean to "wash all the wrongs of life from my pores". The line stuck for all kinds of reasons. It seems to be my main motivation in life...to wash away the wrongs of Life from my body and mind, to purify. So, I was inspired from one poet (this recording from Watts is very poetic) to seek the wisdom from another. I looked up that line to find the poem from which it came. ...all while I was drinking my tea. :)
Like Lu Tung, I do want to purify. I see the stages so poetically described with each cup. First, we get a taste of what a deeper way of being can offer us. Then we see how it makes us question our separateness, From there, we discover a host of images and concepts, beliefs and conditioning blocking a channel that is meant to be free and clear. We, then, begin to sweat out the impurities- the samskaras begin to rise to the surface for release. We are cleansed by the fifth cup and in contact with the unseen by the sixth. Finally, if we dare to drink the seventh cup, we will be merged into the oneness of what is.
Though I could never drink seven cups of tea at one sitting lol, I want this purification, I do. I am assuming and hoping that this intention I have to purify, and possibly touch the fringes of enlightenment, is as pure as the tea Lu Tung received as a gift. (It is definitely purer than the over processed stuff I am drinking.) As I sip my second cup of tea breaking through this idea of my separateness and finding all the conditioning and stuffed and stored images blocking what should be a free-flowing canal for energy to flow through, I question how pure my intention is.
I was asked in a round about way yesterday...if I could intend anything in this lifetime...and receive it, what would it be? I was directed to be as specific as possible. Of course, I always answer first from my spiritual ego and say: to enlighten, to tap into the truth of Life, to finally know God. I do want that because I do know, beyond this ego level, that being in the 'realm of the immortals' will "solve" all these minor issues this human seems to be experiencing. So, there is truth in that answer...there is...but I also know that is only a truly pure answer when it comes from someone who has escaped the shell of ego...which I have yet to do.
Ego is still around and it wants certain things. What I really intend, even in that above expression, is to "solve all these minor issues this human is experiencing". I want to make living more comfortable and peaceful for this human. That is an ego thing, isn't it?
Lynn Taggart recites studies that show that selfless altruism is one of the most effective ingredients in intention. My intentions are not that altruistic or selfless. If I am being honest with myself, I would also intend, if not outwardly and all that consciously, for other things besides transcendence too. I do want to experience the end of "suffering" (not necessarily the pain or discomfort which I know are necessary components of Life) for this human I call "me". I would vaguely intend that circumstances lighten up and become easier for all. Not specific enough, is it?
I would intend that those around me that are suffering would have access to, accept, and get the help they need. That is not all that altruistic as it seems. I selfishly want the suffering I experience watching them suffer ...the being pulled into that drama... to end. This human's experience of living is so attached to the suffering others' experience of living. When they have moments of expressed peace, I have peace. When they have moments of expressed pain and discontent for Life, I suffer in a myriad of ways. Instead of accepting their suffering as a part of "my" little experience, as a human who was truly seeking transcendence above all else would do,...allowing it to come in, making peace with it, learning and growing from it...I resist it and I pray and intend at some level that it stop. I would intend that they find peace from suffering...even if this intention does not have the most wholesome of roots.
Should I intend instead, an ability to find peace regardless of their circumstances as I maintain love, compassion and empathy for their life experiences ...which I know now ...have little to do with this "me"? I don't know.
I would also selfishly intend a better guided and directed version of Life for this human I call me. One where trusting something greater is not met with so many obstacles. I would intend for more direction and guidance in what I do or don't do in this lifetime. I would intend for obvious answers to these questions: Where should I be focusing my energy? What am I meant to give and offer the world? I would intend for validation... a few obvious miracles and blessings to show up in my Life experience that would allow me to see, without a doubt, that I am on the right path. A break with the writing, maybe...some validation there. Or some opportunities to teach in a different platform what I am learning etc. I write and I share everyday all this amazing stuff I am learning. It fills me with so much internal motivation and purpose but it doesn't seem to go beyond this "me". If it is a wholesome service, isn't it supposed to go beyond this me? What I offer in terms of these words, these books I have written, my authentic desire to help in this way seems to be going nowhere and that is okay if that is the way it is supposed to be for this human. I would just like to know somehow if that is the way it is meant to be so I can fall into the flow of it or so I can turn in another direction. I don't like not knowing if I am actually helping. I worry that I might even be hurting others in some way if my focus of attention is in the wrong direction. It is uncomfortable living with this not knowing if I am helping or hurting? That is pretty selfish and "me-me" focused, isn't it?
If I dare to get really honest and selfish, I would also intend for a better income so there was less stress in this version of life. I don't like worrying about debt. I keep assuming that would make my life better?? With a better income, I could also do more for others like get a loved one into an expensive treatment program. Again, this is not as selfless or altruistic as it may seem...Though I sincerely want the well being of my loved ones and all suffering humans, as a matter of fact, I make this specific intention for selfish reasons as well. I want to know I did or am doing everything I could as a human to help.,
As I sip my tea (still on my second cup and its cold) I contemplate all this. I also imagine Alan Watts sitting on his houseboat in 1963 (my birth year) contemplating the non-duality of Life as he gently rocks back and forth on the breath of eternity.
...the movement of water is like the breathing of eternity
I may never know exactly the 'how- to' or the 'what-for' of intention in this little lifetime. I may never know, as long as I am wearing this shell of ego, if my intentions are pure enough to be answered, but it is all good. I will just sip my tea, ride on the sweet breeze, and wait for purification.
All is well.
Be Here Now Network ( 2025) Alan Watts: Love of water: Being in the way Podcast Episode 27 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LWaWxr9p2c
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