漫谈禅茶之道～用身体读茶
通常人们体会的论茗之境界，可以有三种层次：识茶、品茶、悟茶，第一个层次，是体现经验性、知识技艺性的，即所谓的“评茶”。第二种层次，涉及到审美、艺术创造。与茶为友，与茶偕行。快哉斯人，快哉斯茗，乐哉其情，乐哉其景！第三个层次，此中有真意，欲辨已忘言，目击道存，不存思量，自谙个中滋味，暗自点头，因人而宜的对茶之意会了。
多年来，我本着虔心悟茶之道，云游广识，以禅茶来修行养德育爱心而得其三昧。古人品茶知晓养身、修性。今人除品茶外，应更加注重健康，用身体去读茶，以达茶之养生之效。那么，如何品茶、读茶、禅茶呢？以下禅茶之“身体读茶法”希望能给大家带来全新健康理念，并与之分享。
宁静方能致远，禅茶通神。禅茶主要讲究一个“静”。在舒适优雅的环境之中，茶友不语，可禅坐或静坐。首先让心安静下来，其次放松身体，静而得其神，得其慧，得其趣。特别是冲茶者心要平和，平静，要以正念、正定的心境，集中精神，保持对茶品的关注度，使用温和的茶艺手法，使其达到人茶对话的交流境界，这样茶之汤色品靓至淳。
茶汤要趁热喝，才可以体会到“品味”、“品气”两个方面。首先来讲“品味”主要是一个感官的享受过程，因为感官的体会是可以制作出来的，也是可以引导的。一道好茶喝下去真正的好，应该是对身体有益的，不会让胃部、喉部等身体各部位觉得不舒服。人们品茶时对茶的口感的喜好是可以引导的，但是茶在身体内的反映却是最为真实无欺的，所以品茶时，体感应重于口感，用身体的感觉去感受茶的味道。其次，身体读茶的关键是“品气”，将有形的茶通过无形的气进入人体内部，运行于经络之中、作用到人体相关部位而引起的人体知觉的变化。一般地，由这种知觉的变化大小来确定茶气的强弱。茶之气如果达到了一定强度感觉，促使人体微循环运转得以改善，从而使得品茗者除能够感受到强劲口腔感觉外，还能感受到热气在体内温流、激荡升腾、毛孔松驰微张、微汗、打嗝、排气等身体感觉，并在品饮后有一种浸沐在愉悦轻松、飘然安舒的意境感受中，称为茶气强。相反，如果喝茶品茗时上述感受不强烈则称为茶气弱。直观的讲,茶汤和茶气同时从喉咙滑到胃部，在胃里形成一股热气，然后下行至腹部,在腹部形成强大的热量并使之持续翻滚，然后像云雾一样由下往上升腾，直冲脑门,如此循环。用身体读茶一定要注意体察茶的“茶气”。茶气对多数的品茗者来说，一直还是很含糊的概念。茶气是无形的，但茶气是客观存在的，有经验的品茗者都是有体会的。人说一个人思维敏捷，就是说这个人思维运动的节奏快，或是频率高。当他在社会生活中陷于事务性的工作的时候，他的思维的频率往往受到周围事物频率的干扰，他的思维频率就不能辐射很远。如果这个人通过打禅或喝茶，把他的思维频率从周围相对纷杂的事物中脱离出来，回归自然。他的思维就能够与大自然的频率相吻合、协调、和谐，并产生共振，故他的思想就会想得很远。
近年来，随着品茶的兴起，茶叶的大肆采摘和化肥催长等因素，茶叶本身的品质是越来越差，加上商品化的生产，能够经得起时间考验的精品普洱茶更是越来越少。如何在市场上能挑选到品质上乘的好茶，就要靠我们用身体去读茶了。
如何判断茶本身的好坏呢？这里我举一例：大家可找几个廋小的、未长好的杨桃来试下口感，好好品它其中的果涩味就是类似茶青的正常涩味，入口后是可以化掉的涩，但如果是茶树施放化肥、农药的话，茶叶冲泡后的涩味和果涩味不同，涩味较重且持久不散、不化。从医学上来讲，饮茶有行散的作用，散来自于辛，辛则散，散则行，行则血脉通，这就是气通。饮茶能使体气通顺，反映出人身体的微循环正常运转起来了。可以看出，饮茶对人身体的健康所起的作用非同寻常。如果从文化上来讲，精、气、神是我中华文化总体之根源，诸如武术、医学、哲学乃至于算命卜运以及饮食起居，无不受其直接或间接影响。一般较为深入内层地欣赏中华文化，或诠释中华文化的常规及发展，都应以精气神作为其根本的起点。所以茶气于茶决非无稽之谈。茶有“三气”，一曰：“地气”，乃该茶之本味，什么地方产什么样的茶。二曰：“茶气”，乃该茶所具有的能量，茶气就像酒气，酒气足的酒必是正宗老酒，而茶气足的茶必是正宗老茶，而非正茶的茶气不足，是不会升发的，所以气的重要之处在于判断茶的陈化环境与氧化时间的长短，茶气也代表着茶本身经长年累月陈放之环境空间与时间所表现的好坏真伪了。但是“茶气”又有别于“茶味”，“茶气”是一种抽象无形的感觉，是需要用身体用心才能感受到的, 而“茶味”是一种具体的味觉。三曰“人气”，即我们共同喝这泡茶的人所形成的气场，茶是很会吸收附近的味道的，这点应是众所周知的现象，每到一个地方因为人不同“人气”也会不同，因此，同一壶茶对不同的人有不同的经验，不同的感受，不同的故事，不同的历史，不同的见证。茶之“三气”可谓是“天时，地利，人和”。
用身体读茶除了能让我们静心，修心，养心，去静观和觉察自己而外最终目的就是要达到和谐，自身的和谐，与大自然宇宙的和谐。用心用身体读茶，才能读懂茶，读懂自己，真正领会真善美之统一，而又超乎其上，必以至真、至善、至美为上；我即茶，茶即我；我非茶，茶非我；圆融无碍，物我两忘，道通为一，空乐不二。禅茶的最终目的在于明心见性，健康养身。希望天下的茶友，在品茶、读茶时，能够将茶道与对释、道、儒法的领悟有机的结合，茶承禅意，禅存茶中，以茶助缘打坐、以气冲而通灵、周身舒畅、心生喜悦，以达澄澈宁神之妙用，领略“禅茶一味”之真谛。
~~~茶人李彦锋于 2009-10-31
此文09年发表于第四届世界禪茶论文集,被誉为当今世界禅茶实修实证之典范．
Tea God talks about Tea: Zen the Tea—Read the Tea with Your Body
“Normally when people talk about levels of appreciating tea, there are three levels: know the tea, taste the tea, Zen the tea. For the first level, it is about experience and knowledge on tea, in other words, it is “describing the tea”. The second level, it is about art and aesthetics, to make friends with tea, enjoy the companionship, enjoy the tea, enjoy the moment and the ambience. The third level is to understand the Tao of Tea, acknowledge and appreciate, each individual has his/her own understanding of Zen of Tea.
For many years, I have been loyal to the practice of Zen Tea, learning from others and taking it as a means of spiritual enlightenment. Our ancestors would say: taste the tea, you would know the path to health and enlightenment. People nowadays on top of tasting the tea, should put more attention to health, use your body to read the tea, use the tea to boost your health. So how do you taste, read and Zen the Tea? Read the explanation below on “Read The Tea With Your Body”.
Tranquillity yields transcendence, Zen Tea enlightens. Zen Tea promotes “quietness”. Sitting in a cosy elegant environment, tea drinkers keep silent in lotus sitting pose or meditate. Next, relax your body, obtain energy, wisdom and joy in the quietness. The person who serves the tea needs to be gentle, peaceful, positive, calm, focused to ensure full attention to the tea, using gentle tea serving method to achieve a communication between tea and people, the tea then shows its purest colour and taste.
The tea needs to be drank while served hot to experience “feel the taste, feel the Chi”. Let’s first talk about “taste”. It’s a process of physical sensation, this sensation can be manufactured or guided. If it’s a genuinely good tea, it benefits the tea drinker, it won’t feel harsh to the stomach, throat or any other part of the body. The taste experience can be guided, however, what the tea does inside of your body is true, hence what your body feels is more important than what your mouth tastes, pay attention to the sensations of your body. Secondly, Read the Tea With Your Body is key in “feeling the Chi”, transforming the tangible tea into your meridians in the formless tea Chi, penetrating to different parts of your body and allowing the sensations to surface. Normally, the strength of the Tea Chi can be determined by the magnitude of sensations it introduces. If the Tea Chi improves the body’s micro circulation, tea drinkers may feel hot Chi running through and steaming up in their body. Your pores are open with minor perspiration. You may burp, you may fart. After the tea session, you may feel that you have had a pleasant bath, feeling cosy, comfortable and relaxed. This is considered Tea with strong Chi. On the contrary, if nothing happens, it’s considered weak in Tea Chi. To make it simple, both the tea and the Chi flow through the throat to the stomach, form a hot steam in the stomach, and then travels down the lower abdomen and form hot energy there with turbulent motion. Then the Chi goes up like steam all the way to your head, and continues this process. Tea drinkers will need to give attention and feel this tea Chi. To most of the tea drinkers, Tea Chi is still a vague concept. Tea Chi is formless (like air), but it does exist. Experienced tea drinkers understand this. In daily life, people are so busy, their thoughts are constantly interrupted by their surroundings and will not travel far. However, if the person through Zen Tea or meditation, frees his mind from the daily chaos, his thoughts then can be reconnected with nature, more in harmony, more in the zone, and his thoughts would travel very far.
In recent years, tea gets more and more popular, the tea industry uses fertilisers and chemicals to boost the production and business, which damages the quality of the tea, making it harder to find high class Pu’er Tea that can pass the test of time. The only way to identify good quality tea is to read the tea with our bodies.
How do we determine whether the tea is good or bad? Let me give you an example: you may find some skinny unripe peach to taste, feel the astringent taste of the fruit, this astringent taste is similar to fresh green tea. The astringent taste will eventually melt away in your mouth. However, if the tea plant was treated with chemicals, pesticides, the astringent taste would be different from the astringent taste of a fresh fruit, it lasts for a long time and does not go away. From the medical point of view, tea promotes circulation, it comes from bitterness, and bitterness spreads, and the spreading drives motion in blood vessels, this means body Chi is unblocked. Tea promotes this micro circulation; hence tea has a unique role in keeping people healthy. From the culture perspective, Energy, Chi, Spirit are the roots of what Chinese culture is based upon, things like martial arts, TCM, philosophy and even fortune-telling and daily living, are all related to it directly or indirectly. To appreciate Chinese culture in depth and understand its development, Energy, Chi, Spirit should be the starting point. Hence Tea Chi is a natural part of tea. There are three Chi in tea: 1. Earth Chi, refers to the authentic taste of the tea, each location has its own unique tea. 2. Tea Chi, this is the energy brought by the tea itself, Tea Chi is just like the spirit of alcohol, aged alcohol carries strong aroma, likewise, tea with strong Chi would be properly aged tea. Improperly prepared tea, the Chi would evaporate away. Hence Chi is depending on the storage environment for aging and duration for oxidation, tea Chi also tells whether it is authentic or fake. Note that tea Chi is different from tea taste, its formless and abstract, you could only feel it with your body when given attention, while tea taste is literally from your mouth. 3. People Chi, refers to the energy aura formed by the group of tea drinkers gathered to enjoy this same tea. It is known that the tea is able to absorb smells from surrounding environment fast. People Chi differs with different group of people. As a result, for the same pot of tea, each individual experience different sensation, story, history, wisdom. The three Chi of tea is indeed conditioned to its favourable climactic geographical and human situation (right time, right place and right people).
Read the Tea with Your Body helps us quiet down our mind, grow our spirit, observe and experience oneself to achieve a harmonious state between oneself and the universe. Give full attention to Read the Tea with Your Body, and then you will understand the tea, understand yourself, understand the harmony of truth, the good and the beautiful, and to be the utmost truth, and the utmost goodness, and the utmost beautiful; I am the tea, and the tea is me; I am not the tea, the tea is not me; or connected seamlessly, all is one, into the bliss of emptiness. The ultimate goal of zen tea is to be enlightened, to be healthy. I wish all tea drinkers, when you taste tea and read tea, you can connect the dots of the Tao of Tea with Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism. Tea carries Zen, and Zen lives in tea, drink tea to help with your meditation, connect with your soul, experience total relaxation and bliss, to be fully enlightened, understand the true meaning of “the Oneness of Zen and Tea”.
(Article published in The 4th World Zen Tea Album, considered as the model of current zen tea cultivation practice)
With many years of studying tea, all the tea collected by Mr. Li are Pu’re tea from pure dry storage environment: year 2001-Yiwu, year 1993-Gold Melon, year1998-Red Stamp; year 1988-Gold Ball, year 78,68 and 50s- out of production Green Stamp and Paperless Red Stamp; year 40s- “Big” round cake; 40s- Tongxing and Henei; year 30s- Hong Tai Chang etc. Mr. Li gives out tea as charity, his sole purpose is to share good tea to promote health, and to educate people with the correct tea drinking knowledge.
