Cofftea said

The Vow of Chastity for Tea Drinking

From Adagio’s April TeaMuse:
“The Vow of Chastity for Tea Drinking” (my comments are in bold)

I swear to submit to the following set of rules drawn up and confirmed by the Arizona Buddhist Militia:

Drinking must be done in one’s natural location, home, work, or neighborhood. …Never drinking tea on vacation? sob…

No special lighting, background music, or other artificial changes of mood shall take place during tea drinking.

One must avoid exoticism at all costs. Well that eliminates 52teas lol… And oddly enough Adagio’s savory teas

Superficial devices and equipment, such as thermometers, kettles, spoons, should be kept to a minimum. Gasp… I’m a tea gadget queen

Special designs and ornamentation without personal meaning on tea cups and pots should be avoided.

No tea ritual should be done which is not part of a person’s authentic lived experience. No tea ritual should be performed just because of history or popularity in a past historical period. The tea drinking ritual must be true to one’s class and geographic location. I’m a white middle class woman from the midwest- I guess according to this I’m not meant to drink tea

One should avoid the fetish of “quality”, or “trophy” teas, owned for prestige or extravagance. One’s best teas should be shared.

The number of types of teas one owns at any time should be kept to a minimum. This is not me… I have an “OMgosh I GOTTA TRY EVERYTHING!” attitude when it comes to tea

Teas should be purchased based on reaction to the individual batch, not the reputation of the tea’s name, type, or previous experience.

Avoid the dreaded under-dose. what do they mean by “under-dose”?

No claims should be made about the superiority of types of clay, material, design, or shape of pots.

In all of one’s tea drinking, no principle is sacred, no matter how noble its lineage—be it wabi, yixing, gungfu. This goes for the Vow of Chastity as well.
Violation of any of these vows is acceptable if done so in the spirit of the rules taken as a whole and confessed publicly.

15 Replies
Lori said

Hmmm- this would be a near impossible vow for any one of us to follow!

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Miss Sweet said

Haha I definitely couldn’t take that vow. Especially “The number of types of teas one owns at any time should be kept to a minimum”, considering my full-to-bursting tea cabinet!

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The only thing I agree on is:

One’s best teas should be shared.

…and I will leave it at that! That vow leaves me feeling as if I should be branded with a Scarlet T on my dress!

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Cait select said

Well, by naming themselves the “Arizona Buddhist Militia” and calling this list “vows” the authors are making this pretty clearly tongue in cheek. Still, most of these points strike me as pretty classically Zen Buddhist (despite being exaggerated for effect) and fairly sensible in spirit. In particular, the point that they make about avoiding exoticizing (in the sense of culturally fetishizing) tea is an important one to me as an American — my country has a long and unpleasant history of marketing everything as if everyone here were both white and culturally stupid.

I think we’ve all known people like the “Arizona Buddhist Militia” :)

Stephanie said

Well said, Cait! :)

I think you put your finger on it with the exoticism, Cait; when I first starting getting into loose leaf teas I found all of these blogs and shops that made me wonder if I needed a particular pot, if I was “doing it wrong,” if “real tea drinkers” always replicated a Japanese ceremony or used a gaiwan, etc. It was a great relief to realize some people just like drinking it!

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Erin said

I believe that by “underdose” they mean not using enough leaf when preparing your tea. Just a guess…

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I confess!!

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Meghann M said

I could never take this oath, I have become too much of a tea hoarder because I would like to try every tea that is out there that I think I might like (although cannot financially afford to try EVERY tea). Too many companies offer tea only by the 2oz size when I’d really like to try only 2-4 teaspoons to try it hot and iced. Thus, I am hoarding tea right now.

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Lori said
So true- soon enough there will be a reality TV show , interventions, rehab, 12 step groups for tea addictions!

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Lynxiebrat said

Bump! Agreed with most people here….I couldn’t take that vow either, even in jest. I do like and agree with this:
One should avoid the fetish of “quality”, or “trophy” teas, owned for prestige or extravagance. One’s best teas should be shared.
Though I am not sure I could completely avoid that…if I had the money. At any rate would like to try some trophy teas just to say that I did. And come here to post a review of course!

So agree. I certainly enjoy tea most when I’m drinking it with others.

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I viewed this post but do not comprehend it fully since I did not read it for comprehension. I drink my teas alone mainly except for when having dinner. Tea for one!

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