About our sessions called “Sa-en Shizukanari”.
Our sessions, called Sa-en Shizukanari, focus on the historical fact that tea and Zen were brought to Japan together.
In this session, after inhaling tea in the form of smoke, we do zazen while the caffeine from the tea is acting on the brain.
It is a mechanism to facilitate the experience of zazen in a state of deep concentration, even if one is not a practitioner.
Zen was introduced to Japan about 800 years ago by a Japanese monk named Eisai, who studied Zen in China.
The core of Zen practice is a meditation method called zazen.
Zazen, as I understand it, is the art of sitting still, creating a state of ultimate calm, observing oneself and the reality around one's surroundings, and trying to get to know human beings and the world.
By the way, practicing zazen often makes us sleepy.
Therefore, Eisai brought something back to Japan from China to accompany Zen.
That is tea. It is believed that the caffeine in tea helps to keep you awake during zazen and reinforces your concentration.
Today in Japan, all kinds of ways to enjoy tea have been studied, and there is even a sophisticated system of tea ceremony, but tea was originally brought from China as a medicine to assist in the practice of zazen.
Therefore, in Zen monasteries, the custom of sipping tea several times a day still exists today. Today, however, we do not drink tea so strong that the caffeine acts on the brain.
In “Sa-en Shizukanari”, tea leaves (especially high-quality Japanese tea called gyokuro) are heated instead of tobacco using the principle of a water pipe used in shisha (a Middle Eastern smoking device), and the smoke is passed once through water, allowing the water to absorb the excess ingredients, and then the tea smoke is inhaled through the mouth.
The tea smoke that enters the mouth is very smooth and has a strong aromatic tea flavor.
Unlike drinking tea in its liquid state, smoking and inhaling tea does not upset the stomach or make one feel close to the toilet. In addition, there is a sensation of caffeine acting on the brain faster than if it were ingested through the stomach.
Then, after inhaling the tea, one does zazen with the caffeine from the tea acting on the brain.
Historically, we ingested the caffeine in tea by “drinking” it, but we ingest caffeine by “inhaling” tea. We then guide you into a deep meditative experience as you feel the effects of the tea, and this is the session we conduct, called “Sa-en Shizukanari”.
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