A CUP OF TEA

Be a gardener,
dig and ditch,
toil and sweat,
and turn the earth upside down
and seek the deepness
and water the plants in time.
Continue this labor and make sweet floods to run
and noble and abundant fruits to spring.

Julian of Norwich

In my resting from recovering from a long journey to the other side of the planet, I find myself lingering over my morning cup of tea.  There is no particular type of tea:  it might be a green tea or a lovely herbal blend that a friend gave me that turns the water into a beautiful blue hue.  The cup of tea is more about having a few moments cradling the warmth from the cup between my hands.

While holding the cup, I often feel the grace and inter-weavings of existence.  Some of my feelings might be somewhat prayerful or reverential; for example, feeling endless lovingness sustaining my and all existence through cycle after cycle of giving and receiving.  The plants that have made the tea sprouted, grew, were cared for and harvested by strangers and then will return to the soil and the waters after nourishing my body.  Or, the feelings may be more sensuous, such as noticing the gentle resonance of the warmth and fluidity of my body as the watery heat seems to pulse through the surface of cup to the outer surface of my skin along my fingertips and palms.

Yesterday, I was drawn to simply sit and observe the movements outside the window.  The leaves and branches revealed the shifting tempo of the wind from slight breezes to brisk gusts.  The sparrows skirring around the deck to discover and eat seeds and other morsels revealed that the weather would likely change (indeed it did – the rains came later).  Then, there was a heightened and intense symphony of the sound of the local crows announcing a danger (for them) nearby, likely a hawk or neighborhood dog.

In the midst of my tuning into this seemingly beyond-human news, a full-bodied squirrel bounded into a flowerpot and began digging.  Flecks of dirt sprayed to the sides of the pot.  I could feel my mind momentarily ponder whether this was concerning, or not.  Almost as quickly as my mind ruminated the question, another thought appeared.  It was something to this effect: “Even though I had placed the soil in the pot for planting a daffodil bulb, the soil had her own sovereignty and was not mine.  The squirrel and I are earthly gardeners.”  As the mystic Julian of Norwich noted: Be a gardener, dig and ditch, toil and sweat, turn the earth upside down and seek the deepness . . . and make  … noble and abundant fruits to spring.

Simply pausing over a cup of tea has re-kindled my trust in the wisdom of the longest-standing cultures in making consistent efforts to live the cycle of earthly life with awareness and reverence for the sacredness of all existence – the planets, stars, clouds, rain, wind, soil, rocks, plants and all beings, non-human and human.   Within this fragment of embodiment, this means seeking to fully embrace and surrender into the light of awareness.  And, then living fully within the rising and falling of each breath, utterance and gesture as well as the rhythmic circling of the of the days, seasons and years, from darkness to light.

I feel pausing with a cup of tea is one of many informal moments within daily life for helping foster a more beneficial inner worldview, and adding support to more formal or structured practices, such as meditation.  My rationale for valuing informal moments of attentiveness is somewhat similar to the habit of dropping of a coin in a jar consistently every day, year-after-year, until eventually the jar is overflowing.   For me, the jar represents an inner worldview that has the infinite potential of overflowing with “noble fruits” (Julian of Norwich), which I feel is an orientation toward wholeness, reciprocity, truth, contentment, love, compassion, patience, kindness, freedom from ownership, and a humble sense of infinite and sacred consciousness beyond any understanding.

My sense is such a worldview offers a stronger foundation for living and being in a world that predominately regards the “noble fruits” as disposable in pursuit of the opposite.  Thus, it seems essential to figuratively “turn the earth upside down” (Julian of Norwich) by embracing and being embraced by the wisdom that transcends our temporal human constructs of boundaries and differences.  In some small way, yesterday’s cup of tea taught me that these “noble fruits” have been shared by all existence for all time.

Thus, I hope you will join me in daily pauses over a cup of tea, or any other informal way that supports sincere listening and communing with the subtler messages flowing within everyday moments.

Practice
This practice supports sensory awareness of the aliveness and peacefulness within everyday connections.  Here, it is with a living plant.

• Prepare–
  • Take a moment to remove any non-medical digital devices from the area where you are.  If in a room, please move them to another room.  Please consider also removing smart watches and other wrist devices.
  • If you are feeling distracted, consider moving around for several minutes, e.g., shake out your limbs, roll your shoulders and hips around, make faces, dance.
    • If the feeling of distraction is still there after a few minutes, please consider making this free movement your practice for today.  In doing so, you are honoring and connecting with the living presence of your body that holds and carries you through life.
  • Then, sit near a living plant.  If indoors, this could be a houseplant.  Once you are near the plant, take a moment to gently gaze at the plant, appreciating this is a living being who like you thrives on nourishment of water, minerals, air and even relationships.
• Practice –
  • Gently rub your palms together until you feel some warmth within your fingertips.
    • Then, lightly brush your face and body as though cleansing and inviting in a sense of openness (without judgement toward yourself or this practice) to the beginning of a new relationship with another living being – one which heretofore you may have considered inert or as part of your household décor.
    • Lightly, bring your fingertips to your main sensory organs – your nose (associated with smell – and breath), lips (associated with taste and voice), eyes (associated with sight), cheeks (symbolically of all of your skin associated with touch), and ears (associated with hearing).  Imagine you are re-kindling your awareness of your senses as doorways for sacred and peaceful communing with other living beings.
  • With awareness of these five ways you commune with other beings in the world, allow yourself to intuitively choose one of these senses as a way of being with the plant.  Then, pause and imagine that the plant is inviting you to go ahead and follow your instinct – connect with your plant for as long as you feel comfortable (or as your schedule allows).
    • If you are used to monitoring your world through a digital device, you might try making silly noises for a bit to allow the more intuitive, child-like part of you to move toward a sense of openness and playfulness.
  • If you are at a complete loss, consider trying one of the following:
    • MOUTH/SPEECH:  Talk to the plant with a gentle voice similar to when meeting someone you are drawn to spend more time with.  Perhaps say “thank you” with a sense of sincere gratitude: Latin gratus(thankful/pleasing); to have true appreciation.
    • HANDS/TOUCH:  Slowly reach out and touch this plant-being.  Touch in a way that would feel soothing to you, e.g., gently, lightly, prayerfully.  Without labeling, just notice the sensation and manner in which you are connecting with your plant through your fingertips.   Appreciate that plants have their own way of sensing and that it is a living being.
    • NOSE/BREATH:  Sit quietly in the presence of your plant. If comfortable, lightly close your eyes.  Slowly, invite your awareness of your breath.  Just noticing, sensing.   Then, two options:  a) If it feels okay, on your exhales softly blow through your lips feeling as though you are blowing a gentle kiss to your plan,t caressing it with your exhale. Allow your inhalations to just float in naturally.   b) Or, simply sit and breathing here in the presence of your plant.  As you breath in, the plant exhales and as you breathe out, the plant inhales.
    • NOSE/SMELL:  Perhaps notice any fragrance arising from the plant or the soil that it is planted in.
    • EYES/SIGHT:  Invite sense of looking throughyour eyes – almost as though your gaze comes from the back of your skull.  Then, simply observe your plant.  Perhaps notice the inner sensation of observing without naming, labeling – just lovingly observing as though you were simply appreciating its presence in the same way you would with a friend with whom you can sit quietly, not needing to say anything but still feeling content.  Invite a softness in your gaze and soak in the living presence of the plant.
    • EARS/LISTENING:  This is the most subtle way of communing with plants.  Most of us have lost this ability.  An Australian Aboriginal proverb offers, “plants and trees sing.”  Indigenous people from around the world suggest that if we slow down and truly spend time with a plant, we can hear the voices of our earthly family.
  • When you feel complete, consider offering the plant some words or gestures in appreciation of the moments you shared together.  Perhaps, pause with your eyes softly closed and relaxed, and invite a moment of reverence for the grace of all existence.
• Prepareto return to your day –
  • Sit quietly for a few moments.  If time allows, consider pausing long enough to simply be quietly present with this other living being.
  • If you wish, take your fingertips and base of the palms lightly together in front of your heart, and pause, before returning to your day.

H E A R T H reflections are offered on each Full and New Moon by Kate Vogt.  KateVogt©2024.

My Upcoming Courses:  If you are interested in joining one of my upcoming classes, please consider one of the following.  Both courses are via Zoom.  Registration begins in January through the College of Marin Community Education under their “literary courses.”  Until then, please pencil in the dates and times on your calendar.  My two Winter courses are:  “Transcendental Love,” Tuesdays, 1/28 – 2/25/2024, 3:10 – 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time;  and,  “Pathways to Peace: Truthfulness, Non-violence, Compassion and Other Universal Values,” Thursdays, 3/27 – 4/10/2025,  3:10-4:30 p.m., Pacific Time.