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As this project grows, those who have been attracted to this Hut to share together grow closer and more tightknit. Do you feel the family here? Have you begun sharing these bowls beyond this ring of tea brothers and sisters? Fellowships of tea lovers are growing in various cities around the world, like the bright and shiny seasoning on a worn old teapot - each a highlight of a unique and wonderful tea session. Allow this gathering to be a sacred space. Try sharing these teas with others, so the magic spreads, having a greater effect on the consciousness of the world. The giving and receiving of these sacred teas is truly life-changing.
The energy you provide in the form of money is going really far. In Taiwan, the cost of living is lower, which means that all of you can actually fund a burgeoning and very active tea center. We have been receiving guests en masse from all around the world, and so many more of you are emailing to announce forthcoming trips. If you are new here, you should really have a look at all the back issues and understand the way in which this Hut functions. It is very much like the central hut of a Native American village, the hut reserved for gift-giving. The teas we send each month represent the hard work of organic, sustainable farmers who very much want and need a voice in the world, beyond Asia. They are very proud to donate their tea to so many brothers and sisters around the world. And all the work that has gone into these newsletters has also been voluntary, as with the packaging and gifts. Simply put, there is a great gift exchange in this hut: tea, gifts, money, energy, prayers and love...
This next year will be a huge one for us all. There are a tremendous amount of visitors coming here, including so many of you. We also think that this will be the year we finally get some mountain land and begin building our permanent center. We hope to hold very large, annual gatherings of ten days once a year after the center is built, which will be a time for us all to gather in person, share great tea, food and some meditative space together - family reunions! Imagine looking around at all the people gathered here drinking tea in person - finally! - and giving each one a hug.
As we travel the world, and this community grows, we more and more have the feeling that we are all coming together not for the first time, and that we've known each other so much longer than the ten months that we've been meeting here. There are new students coming to stay in Taiwan long-term and serve in the building of our new center. This growing local community feels deeper and more connected than it would seem from the surface, as if this is but the continuation of a deeper, longer-lasting work that began long before we all met. Many of our satellite communities in LA, Spain, Estonia and Russia are also headed by students with very deep connections to this tradition - people who we feel we have loved long before we ever met in person. A student in Russia told us recently that he felt a huge surge of warmth the first time this tradition and work was mentioned to him, and a compulsion to seek us out. Others have found us through equally poignant twists of Fate that cannot be random. We recently had a very special visit from our Spanish brother, who we have known for five or more years but had never met in person. The moment our eyes locked, we were brothers. It took only five minutes to get to know one another, and another five to be lifelong friends...
It has been so tear-jerkingly amazing to read and hear about how so many of you are changing through these monthly tea sessions, and the impossible ways that you found us, and each other. Again and again the story is the same: one of deep connection to Nature, to ourselves and to each other through tea. We are blessed to have this hut to meet in every month, drop the burdens we carry in our daily lives and share some great teas together.
May the loving-kindness in this project envelop you as this brown package was filled with Tea and Heart. May such connection spread to those whose paths you cross, steeped and poured again and again until all of the suffering around the world has had a large, healing draught and been reminded of our origin, presence and star-borne destiny above...
