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As mentioned in a previous newsletter, this October we had once again the tremendeous pleasure and honor of having Wu De over in Estonia to share tea and Her wisdom with us. These tightly packed two weeks were filled with (obviously) stunning teas, wonderful communal meals, profound discussions as well as silly jokes and hearty laughs that went along. It was breathtaking to see (and take part in) the touching of so many hearts here in Estonia, a country that until very recent years has rather homogeneously seen tea as something belonging in a comfy bag in a mug next to a big plate with two ham-and-cheese sandwiches.
This year we managed to spread the roots a bit wider, further away from the capital to the southern center of the country - my hometown of one hundred thousand people, Tartu. Being a quiet little university town where everything is pretty much within walking distance, filled with a lot of parks and green areas, one would think it to be the perfect spot for tea to work its magic. During two days we held a half-day seminar and a couple of tea drinking sessions. I felt extremely excited, privileged and grateful for the opportunity to bring this tradition, which has had such a great impact on me, back home and share it with my friends and family - something I hadn't imagined in my wildest dreams - and I truly feel that the experience has brought us closer together. Since the beginning of September I have been organizing weekly tea gatherings at my home, simple offerings of quiet tea and space. After initial insecurity when confronted with restless people, I'm happy to say that after Wu De's visit the sessions have obtained a more relaxed and natural glow. There is usually a small core group of people who come most weeks, having taken part in the seminar they help to hold up the atmosphere beautifully. Just the other day some people wanted to join me gathering the water, so we drove outside town and spent a serene, cripsy morning together. More and more friends of mine are serving tea to each other. Tea is reaching out to people and people are picking up the bowl.
Day by day, I'm feeling tea in more things I do and the way I am, dripping deeper and stretching to the more challenging aspects of my life, pointing out truth and healing along the way. I feel the visit has made us stronger as a community and helped us realize the need to support each other in all the ways we can, starting by putting the kettle back on and placing some leaves in a bowl...
This year, we are going to start building the world's best and only free tea center (other than Tea Sage Hut, of course). Amazing things are in store. It is our long term goal to build smaller tea centers in Los Angeles and Estonia in the near future as well. Like our center here, they will be places where tea lovers can come share tea together freely, and not to promote any way of tea brewing, any ideology or worldview. We have only these goals: To awaken a greater love for Mother Earth, to share a love of tea and to help people connect to each other in heart space.
