无不 "There is none" means "There is"

As I have mentiond in my last post, where there is no tea it only means that there is tea. Actually it is amazing how I was made fully aware of that reasoning by a child in fifth grade where I was working in school as assisting teacher.

Swedish winter can really be cold, and yet it never stopped amazing me how swedish dare to go out in that cold, specially children, and with lighter clothes on only! Something I have only learned to do in my later stay in Sweden, and only after hearing this wise reasoning from a child.

It happened one winter at the school I was working, a child asked me why I seldom go out and play with snow or take a looooong walk like others do. I said it´s because I´m asian and am not use to cold. How about you, don´t you think it´s cold outside? I asked the child back. And the child said: Yes, it´s cold, but how can you ever feel warm, if you won´t feel the cold outside. Well, I was speechless for a loooong looong time, but since then it has change all my attitude towards the swedish winter, and never had problem going out in cold anymore.

Anyway, aside from being made aware, by this scandinavian winter philosophy, of what is amazingly a similar old zen teaching from my homeland, but which only never put into practice until then, I nowadays also apply the reasoning even with teas.

When "there is no tea", it means "there is tea". And this philosophic reasoning comes specially during my morning, one and only, cup of coffee for the whole day. And also when some of my teahouse´s guest come forward with some guilt of being a coffee drinker.

This what makes our teahouse a bit different from mostly probably. We sell original coffee too, directly from the farmer of our source. Aside from the fact that these coffee are actually good, the point is: We never tell our guest to give up coffee just to be able to drink tea. It is actually alright to have both if you feel like it. They are great compliment to each other, as a dear friend who is a coffee and tea expert told me once.

And for those who are coffee drinker, but wish to completely convert to tea drinking but is having a hard because of what they are right now: No hurry, continue drinking your coffee for the time being. If you can´t drink tea, that only means you can drink tea. If in your life right now you´d say that there is no tea, it only means there is tea when you´re ready for it.

And speaking about coffee, tea and being open minded about them. These pictures were taken from a lovely, unique and very friendly chinese coffee bar in Houtong in Beijing. It has a chinese interior yet international. They serve tea, coffee, american and chinese breakfast. The service personell are all very friendly, specially one of them who turned out to have come from the same province as my father´s and mother´s, in Xiamen.

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... för Chadao

- 黄琼丝

Foto: En Kopp Zen Tehus