“When the mind is truly at peace, wherever you are is pleasant, whether you live in a marketplace or in a mountain hermitage.”
― Baisao, The Old Tea Seller

Tea gathering /

Let us gather around a cup of tea, fine pu'erh from an ancient brick.

Let us sip, in silence and stillness.

Slow down.

Breathing, bring attention to your breath.

Slow down.

Slow down, until the world stands still.

At this stopping place, the winds of time stop, falling into stillness.

Listen.

Listen without a listener.

The listening is enough. It doesn't need a you.

Hearing the sipping, the breath, the beating of a heart, ask… who is listening?

If we find someone listening, we ask… who am I?

We stop, as the I falls into the stillness, and fall into rest here.

This is not our end point, nor even our start point. No I is left here. Only the stillness from which she rises and falls.

Listening still, from here, look, is there a listener?

Stop, and sip tea with me a while.

In the silent stillness that we are.

This meditation arose spontaneously this morning. Enjoy your day. Take time out. Find your own peace. Stop, and it will find you.