To brew a good cup of green puer, you need a bigger pot. Use less leaves and steep the tea longer. The liquor should be deep golden brown. Pour the brew into a wide rim teacup and let it cool. It best drunk when its is tepid.

The best teapot are the brownish purple clay variety. The pot should be highly fired to achieve this colour. when hit the pot should produce a high pitch resonant tone.

Water from a slight hard source are the best. The water should be boiled in a heavy base kettle over slow heat to prevent the lost of chi in the water. A good kettle will produce small bubble when the water is boiling.

Tea Tea Tea

Just bought a new tea plate for my Teochew pot. It is of unglazed stoneware and white in colour. The matt white of the pot complements the ebony of the pot very well.

Ajahn Chah

Today is the first day of the fourth lunar month. As you look up to the night sky tonight you will see the waxing moon. Lets us share some Dharma. Ajahn Chah is one of the most notable Thai Forest Tradition Masters that have helped spread the Buddha Teachings to the western world. More importantly he demystify the teachings and made it so practical for every practioner, be it the monks or the layity. His penetrating insight and widsom into the our daily life and practices has made Buddhism applicable in every moment of our sojurns into the samsara. The rigour in his teachings have remained even so he is no longer with us.  

http://www.ajahnchah.org/

Antique Teapots

Each of these teapots are at least 100 years old. The teapots were made for the Kingdom of Siam, present day Thailand. The Thais prefer the glossy surface and the Yixing potters had polished the unbaked teapots with river pebbles until they shine. The teapots are then fire baked to its present state. Most of the teapots has rather thin walls and are very delicate. To protect its thin edges from chipping the red clay teapots on the left had metal rim placed on them. If you noticed carefully the one on the lower left is embellished with gold trimmings.  You admire them when you sipped your tea but use at your own risk. A good friend of mine have cracked one of his when he poured hot water over it to brew tea. 

Healing Music

This is good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLxlc_83zU0&feature=channel

Listen with Your Heart

Krishnamurthi speaks on Why don't you change?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEIfMqM5wnM&feature=related

Yunnan Views

This was a photo I took of a big rock found in the middle of the Yang Tze River source in Yunnan. The water swirled and churned around it. The rock just remain steadfast. Do we learn from the rock andbe steadfast in the midst of all obstacles. Or do we learn from the water and it resourcefulness and wear down the rock eventually?

All for a Cup of Tea

There are a few variants of the Chinese Tea ceremony. Long ago people in China drank tea in a very casual manner. During the Tang Dynasty the method of brewing tea was stylized. It was very much like what we see in the Japanese Tea ceremony. In fact the Japanese Tea ceremony was derived from the Chinese Tea ceremony of the Tang Dynasty. The tea drunk then was powdered green tea.

However among the commoners tea is simply brewed and drunk with no consideration for any of the stylized movements. During the late Ming Dynasty the method for processing Oolong tea leaves was discovered and a new way of brewing was also used for the new tea. This is the forerunner of the KungFu Tea technique. This method won favour because of the superior fragrance of the Oolong tea elicits by the KungFu Tea method. Most Chinese nowadays do not really brew tea according to this method. The just chuck the tea into a pot and add hot water. What a waste of the five thousand years of Chinese civilization. 

Everyone can use the The KungFu Tea method to brew tea but to brew a good cup of tea that is befitting the quality of the tea leaves is another matter altogether. That is why it is called the KungFu brew...it is an art of tea brewing that one will need to master.  It will much practice before you can make a good cup of tea. Once mastered, a fine cup of tea will be all it take to satiate one’s wanderlust into tea connoisseur haven.

The Ghost Bulb has been destroyed by a group of scouts chopping bamboo for thier activities. Man has not cease to be destructive even when they are learning.....