The tagline of a famous coffee brand: a lot happens over coffee, is penned by my friend, a former ad man. With a proclivity for tea, I said in jest: More happens over tea. “What’s the more?” he asked.
For that, I delve into a facet that no other beverage possesses — mysticism. Tea is associated with the ‘great awakening’ of Chinese Buddhism, which believes tea drinking helps sippers “calm the mind”, “achieve self-enlightenment”, “revive from sleep and confusion,” “part with annoyance,” and “regain consciousness”. Zen Buddhism seeks tea to get in touch with the inner workings of the self in the most direct way; Chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony, being the most practised form. This I see as the more in tea.
And yet, this attribute is esoteric and limits itself to a few practitioners and to the connoisseurs of the brew. This more is therefore less. It lost to the zillions who savour their cuppa as just an eye-opener. My cup of tea; God’s in heaven; all’s well with the world.
But where more is truly more is in the sheer number of cups drunk daily. Tea consumption equals all other manufactured drinks in the world — including coffee, chocolate, soft drinks, and alcohol — put together. Here it is an obvious more.
At all this my friend looked thoughtful and we had some tea reading Kenneth Cohen’s The Buddha In A Cup of Tea
I am not I, and tea is not tea!...
What is tea? Just this, just this, just this…
Some more, I asked.
Much more, he said.
