What is Cha Dao?

茶道

Cha Dao, with Cha is Tea and Dao is The Way in Chinese, means The Way of Tea. It is a practice that is rooted in the philosophy of Dao, Daoism in China.

The Chinese character for tea is 茶 recorded in the eighth-century treatise on tea The Classic of Tea by Lu Yu. This character has three parts: the top part 艹 refers to leaves or plants, the middle part 人 represents person and the bottom part 木 means wood or "being rooted".  Each of these parts reminds us of the essential factors for harvesting and creating tea: trees, people, and leaves. In the book "Cha Dao", author Solala Towler shared, "Thus the true meaning of cha or tea could mean something like the plant that gives human a sense of being rooted or balanced."

Daoism (or Taoism) is the native philosophy from ancient China, dating back thousands of years. It was the philosophy that Chan Buddhism was influenced by. Chan Buddhism is an early form of Zen Buddhism in the ancient time. Zen and its ideas can be traced back to Daoism and Mahayana Buddhism.

Cha Dao, the Way of Tea, goes beyond just a hot cup of tea. It is a way of living in harmony with nature and following the natural flow of the universe. The practice of tea in Cha Dao is all about listening—not only with our sense of hearing, but with our whole being. It is through deep listening that we can connect more profoundly to our true essence and to the world around us. The Way of Tea encourages a slower pace of life, one that is in tune with the rhythm of nature, honoring our deep bonds with life itself, and being fully engaged while letting go of personal judgments and the need to control.

What does a daily practice of Cha Dao (The Way of Tea) embody?

Since Cha Dao is the way of living following the natural flow of life (or the universe), there are a few key principles in the practice:

• Slowing living & being present: A Cha Dao practice helps us cultivate mindfulness and honor life in every single moment. It is a practice that encourages us to use our senses to be more fully present in our bodies and in the moment, with greater ease.
• Finding & following the least resistant path (The Watercourse Way in Daoism): Water always flows to the lowest point, following the path of least resistance. Yet, with its resilience and patience, it can cut through rocks and stones. Water is a metaphor for leaning into your nature, using softness and flexibility as strengths, and being humble in life. This can be practiced during a tea sitting, and importantly, throughout every waking moment of our lives.
• The joy of being simple and unpolished (The Uncarved Block or P'u in Daoism): It is the concept of living simply, naturally, uncluttered, and unpolished. Solala Towler, in Cha Dao, mentioned, 'It is when we allow outside pressures and complications to take up residence within us that we run into trouble and lose our sense of safety and spontaneity, which to Daoists is very serious indeed.' This can be practiced in our daily lives and in every decision we make. With the intention of living simply, without cluttering our outer or inner world, we can find ourselves subtracting and doing less, rather than accumulating and always wanting more.

A daily mindfulness practice with tea:

A daily mindfulness practice with tea is, for me, an integral part of my daily meditation. This practice can be very simple — all you need is some tea and a bowl or a glass to start. Tea equipment varies, with the simplest being a bowl or a glass, or a more elaborate tea set. In my personal practice, I keep it very simple.

The most important aspect of a tea sitting is to meditate through every single moment, from setting up the tea space, preparing and brewing the tea, to serving it and cleaning up afterward.

Ideally, a mindfulness tea session should be done in silence, allowing you to fully rest in the present moment and listen. In a previous article, I shared about "connecting with your senses in a mindfulness practice with tea." You can read more about it here.

Similar to any meditation practice, the mind naturally generates thoughts. This happens almost all the time—it's a natural part of being human. One common misunderstanding about meditation is the belief that you must empty your mind of all thoughts. What’s crucial about meditation is not forcing an empty mind, but learning to let go of personal judgments about how things should be. It’s about releasing expectations. So, let go of the need to control your practice and the goal of having a completely empty mind.

In a tea meditation practice, the actions of making the tea and using your senses as anchors help train your mind to focus on the task at hand. This is the first step in meditation. The second step is to keep returning to your anchors again and again. Whenever your mind wanders, gently bring it back.

Three bowls of tea are suggested for the practice. With each bowl, allow yourself time to enjoy it slowly. You will notice that the longer your tea sitting lasts, the calmer your mind becomes.

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Mindfulness practice with tea at The Grounded Circle in Auckland Central

In Auckland Central, I host monthly mindfulness tea sessions at The Grounded Circle, a community I founded in 2022. In our tea mindfulness practice, everyone is welcome (including children aged 16 and above), as the essence of gathering with tea is to bring the community together. Around the tea table, there is no indication of hierarchy, and every guest is equally unique and important.

We typically share different teas in different seasons to honor the natural cycles of all living beings. During a tea session, we usually share bowls or cups of tea together in noble silence.

There are 3 types of tea traditions that we serve at the our tea mindfulness sessions:

- Gongfu cha (a popular tea tradition from Southern China) with small tea pot and little tea cups.

- Side handle pot & bowl (an ancient ritual of drinking tea from a bowl), this practice was recently being put together into a bowl tea ceremony by Master Wu De from an organisation named Global Tea Hut. So the ritual and the way of bowl tea drinking is ancient, but the hand movements in this ceremony were put together by Master Wu De.

- Bowl Tea meditation (an ancient way of brewing tea) with no "ceremonial" rules. The essence of this practice lies in its simplicity, allowing us to deepen our meditation practice without the performance aspect of a tea ceremony. Master Wu De from Global Tea Hut has also created a Bowl Tea Ceremony with beautiful movements. In our practice at The Grounded Circle, I prefer to keep it very basic and simple, reducing the performance aspect and focusing solely on the mindfulness and meditation practice with tea.

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Slow Living: The Way of Tea Colouring Book

In November 2024, I published The Way of Tea Colouring Book as part of the Slow Living Series (which consists of 3 books). This book contains 45 illustrations, ranging from bold and simple to detailed and intricate, allowing you to enjoy the relaxing, meditative act of colouring. This book is available on Amazon.