Zen & Tea: Meditation Retreat with Wu De
October 1st to 9th, 2018.
Deepen your meditation practice and the Way of Tea (Cha Dao) with the zen monk, Wu De (Aaron Fisher).
Join Wu De (Aaron Fisher), zen monk, tea master, founder of Tea Sage Hut and the non-profit organization Global Tea Hut and author of books such as The Way of Tea, Zen and Tea One Flavor, Tea Wisdom and Tea Medicine, on a retreat with the purpose of deepening your meditation and Cha Dao (The Way of Tea). We’ll delve into the ancient tradition that unites Zen and Tea and discover how tea can help us live more consciously in our daily lives.
Throughout the week, Wu De will guide us towards understanding the meaning of the famous Zen saying, “Zen and Tea have the same flavor.” He’ll instruct us on meditation and its relationship with tea. We’ll learn how our Zen mind affects our tea and how to prepare tea in a Zen state so we can then extrapolate the teachings to our daily lives.
We’ll rise early each day and begin with morning chanting and, since water plays such a fundamental role in tea preparation and tea ceremony, we’ll benefit from the magic, beauty and purity of being at the largest calcareous mountain range in Europe and each day embark on walking meditations to a very special fountain to bring back the day’s water. Throughout the week we’ll also take a couple of longer hikes to enjoy outdoors tea sessions in pristine natural environment making tea with the pure water that we gather.
Throughout the week there will be classes and talks teaching us about the importance of Water and Bowl Tea (the art of the simplicity of a bowl of tea)
There will be moments each day for questions and answering and also moments for Dokusan (private meeting between student and master). There will also be time for sharing our Zen by preparing tea with other participants and moments for receiving advice and tips on how to improve our tea service.
FACILITATOR
Wu De (Aaron Fisher)
Author and teacher Wu De is a true Chajin (tea person). He has been a practitioner of Cha Dao (The Way of Tea) for over 20 years, and he has reached over 100,000 people through his writings, classes, workshops, seminars and interviews.
Born Aaron Daniel Fisher in rural Ohio, Wu De knew from an early age that his interests lay to the East. His martial arts practice began at an early age, and led him to discover the wisdom locked inside tea leaves when he was a teenager.
Upon graduating from university with a degree in anthropology and philosophy, he moved to India, where he lived and worked in a meditation center for some years. During this time, he prepared tea daily as fuel for his intensive meditation practice, and he laid the groundwork for his later work with tea as a spiritual vehicle.
Wu De then left India to study meditation in Burma, Thailand and eventually Japan. Working closely with a Zen teacher who often used tea ceremonies as a way of conveying Zen wisdom, his insights into The Way of Tea and the ability of tea to convey deep peace were strengthened.
After being ordained in the Soto Zen tradition, he began studying gongfu tea under Master Lin Ping Xiang in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Master Lin taught Wu De about how to serve tea with more skill and focus.
For the last decade, Wu De has been teaching the ancient practice of serving tea from a Zen and tea center in Taiwan, known as Tea Sage Hut. In the last three years, the center’s monthly magazine and organic tea mailing, Global Tea Hut has swelled to connect hundreds of tea lovers and spiritual seekers in over 30 countries. Meanwhile, Tea Sage Hut now houses five long-term students and hosts hundreds of guests per year, sharing The Way of Tea and a more connected way of living and being with each person who joins a tea session there.
In addition to running Tea Sage Hut in Taiwan, Wu De leads tea workshops and seminars around the world. Learn more about him at: teasagehut.org
Location
Casa Cuadrau is an ecologic Yoga, Art and Nature retreat center, in a majestic corner of the Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park. In a high and open valley with beautiful mountains in all directions, lies the tiny village of Vio. In thissurpassing setting, a unique retreat experience is offered.
Vio is a village at the doors of the Ordesa & Monte Perdido National Park, Spanish Pyrenees. It is about 40 minutes drive from Ainsa (Huesca).
For more info, prices and reservations please visit: http://www.casacuadrau.org/en/destinations-view/zen-tea-meditation-retreat-wu-de/
For Wu De’s complete Barcelona event calendar click here: https://teabarcelona.com/en/september-october-retreat-events-with-tea-and-zen-monk-wu/