Plum Village (France) | Drink Your Tea - 22 Jun, 2023

This little path connects Son Ha and Upper Hamlet. From Son Ha, it takes approximately 20 minutes to walk up the hill through the wooded area to Upper Hamlet. The path begins immediately across from Son Ha dining hall and is one of the only paved paths.

A curious thing happened to me while I was at Plum Village. And I began noticing the change almost immediately after arriving. Though noticeable the entire time I was there, it was most intense a few days into my retreat. I have never immersed myself in an environment of equanimity for a prolonged period. I realized that I had gifted myself the space and time to be curious, reflective, and present with feelings and experiences I frequently overlooked before arriving here..What does this all mean, and how did it manifest itself? I'll attempt to describe it by sharing a few key moments during my retreat.

For several mornings, before and sometimes after breakfast, I spent considerable time admiring the path in the photo above. Often I would examine the path from different positions. Sometimes I shifted my position relative to the path by only a step or two. With each subtle movement, I noticed I saw more or less of the path. I then became curious about what I now saw before me. What intrigued me most was how I felt relative to where I stood. Over several days, I developed a deep admiration for the little paved path. 

What did this little path have to teach me? What did it have in common with other paths I have taken? Is this a reflection of where I am going, where I've been in the past, or where I am in the present? What feelings rise up when I see less of the path? When have I felt this way in the past? What other times have I encountered paths that were obscured? 

When I was younger, I could see the paths that lay before me with great clarity. I not only knew where the paths led, but I could also see most of the path. This was especially true when it came to employment. In recent years, this has changed. I no longer have this ability. It is one of the hurdles I have been unable to overcome as it pertains to transitioning to a different career despite knowing that it is something I desire to do. Am I holding on to an outdated model? Am I keeping myself from moving forward? How can this path help me? Near the end of the week, I finally understood why this path resonated with me and what it had to teach me.  

An important tradition at Plum Village is drinking tea. Fortunately for me, I love tea! I haven't drunk coffee in nearly 25 years, but I love a good cup of tea. While I was at Plum Village, I discovered I was quite good at drinking tea. In fact, I noticed I could take an excess of 20 minutes to drink a single cup of tea. During this time, I noticed I had no desire to move. I simply immersed myself in the pleasure of my cup of tea. 😊 Towards the end of the week, I came across another of Ty's calligraphy. This one pertained to tea.

Once per week, the Monastics have a Lazy Day. The only schedule is preparing meals. It is a day that is cherished by the Monastics. They have complete freedom to do as they wish. There are no scheduled meditations. This treat is shared with Laypeople a few days into the retreat. While there, I enjoyed watching how I and my cohort navigated this day. Nowhere to go, nothing to do...

For me, my lazy morning began after breakfast. I stood in front of the tea cabinet, which consisted of three shelves filled with what must have been 20 to 30 different teas. When I arrived, I was surprised by the state of this cabinet. Not only could I not see what tea was there, but it appeared that neither could anyone else. I love variety, so I was trying to identify a different tea. I began exploring what was there by pulling out a few bags of tea. I soon found that there were multiple bags of the same tea opened. I got curious about what else lay buried on the shelves. Soon I had half the cabinet emptied. Might as well. So I listened to my heart and decided to clean and organize the cabinet. After wiping the shelves, I placed all the Green, Rooibos, Black, and Herbals teas together. Each had its place now. I also combined remnants with similar teas and discarded emptied cartons and bags.

Brother Dihn Thàn walked by and looked at me with a puzzling inquisitive look. I laughed and said I couldn't find a tea I liked. Plus, I have the time today. 😂 He didn't say a word. Then Phillip, from Belgium, approached me. "Thank you for doing this. This cabinet was driving me nuts. It needed to be done," he said. We begin discussing the merits of having Lazy Days at work and wondering why more employers don't do this. Then Daniel, from London, joins us. The three of us continued the discussion. We spend an hour and a half in the same place, only a few feet from the tea cabinet. We drank tea as we chatted, refilling our cups when they were empty. "You know Google gives their employees one free day per week. The employees can work on anything they want on that day. Business or personal, they still get paid," says Daniel. That's right! That is how they developed Gmail. It started as a side project on a Lazy Day. Now it has revolutionized email, I say. "Think of the benefits to employers if they enabled their employees to be Lazy on purpose," says Phillip.

As the morning moved on, I resisted the desire to DO. I felt a strong desire to simply BE. To BE in a state of contemplation, to BE curious, BE present with what I felt. I found a bench outside and sat. I felt the warmth of the sun as it climbed into the sky. I listened to the birds singing. Then Micheal, from Germany, walked by. Where are you off to? I asked. "I'm going for a walk. I need to do something. I'm going to go crazy not doing anything today. I am walking the 3.5 km (2 mi) to Lower Hamlet to explore it," he says. It is a great day for a walk, enjoy! 👍

In the evening, I notice a desire to return to my Yoga practice arise. Since I began traveling, I have let my Yoga practice wane. But today, I felt the pull to return to my Yin Yoga Practice. Yin is a deeply contemplative practice that targets deep tissue, ligaments, and connective tissues. This desire to reconnect with my practice intrigued me. Sitting with this feeling, I realized Yin Yoga aligned with my ideal Lazy Day. Additionally, the stretching would allow me to BE with my body. So I spend 40 minutes reconnecting with my practice before dinner.

After dinner, I felt a desire to return to my sitting meditation. So I walked into the meditation hall. Not another person here, perfect! Sitting on my meditation cushion, I noticed I was in a complete state of equanimity. The state was easy to achieve because I had been there all day. 

My favorite way to meditate is to simply BE. I enjoy meditating until I feel my meditation is complete. I gave up on timers a long time ago. Seldom do I meditate for a predetermined period. I soon close my eyes and begin my meditation. As I breathe in, I am aware of my body. As I exhale, I smile at my body. Soon I am in a deep meditative state. When I am in this state, I am fully aware and am ONE within my body. When the sensation ceases, I return to a state where I am once again aware of the parts of my body (e.g., arms, fingers, legs). This is when I end my meditation. When I leave the meditation hall, I notice I have been meditating for over an hour. WOW! It has been a long time since I sat on a cushion for this long. It feels GREAT! 😀



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