Let’s Reach Enlightenment Through Tea

Tea Meditation Coaching Templestay at Jabiseonsa Temple in Seongju

The Tea Loved by a Monastic

“Drinking tea without tea.” Is this a joke? It seems to mean that even if I drink tea without tea, it feels like I’m drinking tea. Is that possible? If it is difficult to imagine this because the subject is “tea,” try substituting the word “lemon.” The thought of eating a lemon without the lemon will make your mouth water. “Contact” is not something that occurs solely in the realm of the senses. The brain barely distinguishes between imaginary experiences and actual ones, and the images created by the mind even induce feelings and subsequent processes. If our activities extend beyond simply enjoying the senses, we can experience drinking tea without tea, and do “tea meditation” without tea. Where? At Jabiseonsa Temple in Seongju.

Among the many forms of Compassion Seon meditation, “Jabi-Daseon (Compassionate Tea and Seon)” is a meditation method that uses tea as a medium. The name suggests a connection with tea, but Jiwoon Seunim has no comment to make on the subject. In fact, he is quite indifferent. When asked, “How would you describe Jabiseonsa Temple in a few words?" he answers, “It is a temple that practices Compassionate Seon.” Then, he simply sips his tea, followed by silence. The tea served to guests is made from Gimhae Jangguncha tea, unique because the leaves are not crushed in the rolling process, which leaves them more or less whole. Its flavor is deep, refreshing, and sweet without being bitter. Jiwoon Seunim processed the tea himself.

Tea for Practice, Not for Pleasure

Behind Daeungjeon Hall is a tea field centered around a three-story stone pagoda built from stacked natural stones. Templestay participants in May and June can experience picking tea leaves here. Despite the staff’s explanation that the experience of touching and feeling the raw tea leaves is highly appreciated by the participants, Jiwoon Seunim remains silent for a moment. Then, surprisingly, he explains that he doesn’t enjoy tea for pleasure.

He says: “I don’t grow and drink tea because I love it. Tea is connected to Buddhist practice. When you do Buddhist practice after drinking tea, you attain pliancy, meaning that your mind is happy and stable, and your body feels light. That confirms that you are practicing correctly.” This refers to the seven factors of enlightenment, factors the Buddha emphasized when explaining the path to nirvana. Tea farming is hard work, but he says the reason for tending the tea fields is for the benefit of the practitioners. Why is tea so beneficial to one’s practice?

Jiwoon Seunim answers: “Coffee beans have convergent properties, while tea leaves have radiant properties. Tea opens the energy channels of our body. Thoughts are driven by energy. By opening the body’s energy and acupoints, the body becomes lighter and less delusional. A lighter body and less delusional thoughts result in more freedom. I want to be free, not tied down. Isn’t that wonderful? Tea cultivation isn’t about enjoying the tea’s taste; it’s incredibly beneficial to practice. It’s for the practitioner.”

Tea, a Medium for Arousing Compassion

As the signature program of Jabiseonsa Temple, the Jabi-Daseon tea meditation program began in 1998. When Jiwoon Seunim taught meditation to the student monks of Songgwangsa Temple, they found it difficult to immediately begin practicing. Thus, he explained meditation through tea, a common object in their everyday life. Counting quickly, he’s been teaching almost 30 years. In that time, Jabi-Daseon has evolved and contributed to his practice and propagation work. He calls it a “comprehensive gift set of meditation.”

He further elaborates: “Tea meditation is neither the “way of tea” nor a tea ceremony. While meditation requires no specific tools, it can be challenging for beginners, so I use tea as a medium to aid understanding. Through the color, aroma, and taste of tea, one can expand their consciousness and achieve enlightenment. One can work toward transcending birth and death.”

You can drink tea when you go to a Templestay. You can also drink tea at Jabiseonsa Temple. However, the emphasis at Jabiseonsa Temple is not on drinking tea, but rather on tea being a path to meditation. It could be seen as a place for exploring various forms of tea meditations, just as one might taste various teas. His book, Meditation, Discussing Tea (3) Haengda Seon (2020, Yeonkkothosu), presents over 60 forms of tea meditation. Ultimately, the goal of tea meditation is to dismantle entangled and complex mental structures and reveal one’s inherent compassion. Furthermore, it aims to help people experience the principle of emptiness which the Buddha awakened to.

Tasting Meditation Like Tasting Tea

Jabiseonsa Temple is one of the most revisited places among Templestay participants. Many people come here after seeing it online, thanks to its reputation as a “temple specializing in meditation.” Most visitors are young people who seek out meditation to resolve their own problems in life.

The meditation choices aren’t limited to tea. While it may seem like the temple offers all sorts of meditation techniques—like walking meditation and Ganhwa Seon meditation—Jiwoon Seunim explains that the goal of meditation ultimately lies in penetrating the very core of the mind. At Jabiseonsa Temple are various meditation programs: Jabi Gyeongseon (walking meditation), Sori Seon (sound meditation), and Jabi Sugwan (Contemplation with Compassionate Hands), as well as a Tea Meditation Coaching course that trains Jabi-Daseon masters. This means there are a wide range of Templestay programs to choose from.

Jiwoon Seunim adds: “Jabi Gyeongseon, a walking meditation, is effective for those suffering from depression or anger. For those who have been emotionally wounded, Jabi Gyeongseon acts as a way to expand consciousness. This expanded consciousness brings freedom. I encourage those who are bothered by noise from their upstairs neighbors or in poor interpersonal relationships to experience Sori Seon meditation. Understanding that sounds come and go, but the nature of listening is always present, you can free yourself from your sensitivity to sound.”

“Returning to the Taste of Change”

I’m a Buddhist in my own right, and I have my own relationship with tea. But I’ve always pondered the saying, “Daseon Ilmi (Tea and Seon are of one taste).” It feels like a hwadu, but it’s a mystery I can’t quite grasp. Suddenly, I feel an urge to get some insight. “Seunim, what does Daseon Ilmi mean?” With a smile he responds: “People say, ‘Tea and Seon are of one taste,’ right? To say that tea and Seon have the same taste is absurd. It means that drinking tea returns everything to a single flavor. The only taste is the taste of change. The tongue, the water, and the gustatory consciousness must be interdependent to perceive the taste of tea. Interdependence is the absence of substance. The absence of substance is emptiness. Drinking tea is not something only practitioners do. Anyone can achieve enlightenment through tea meditation.” “Drinking Sweet Nectar Tea” involves visualizing the drinking of tea and absorbing it, and is also practiced on this basis. Jiwoon Seunim guides the meditation as follows:

“Close your eyes and visualize a specific tea room. In your imagination, open the lid of the teapot, add the tea leaves, and pour in the water. Pour the tea into a pitcher bowl to cool, then into a cup. Just as you would when drinking it, savor the color, aroma, and taste of the tea. Imagine the volume of the tea as it passes through your throat. Imagine it flowing down your throat like a stream. Imagine the tea permeating your body like mist.”

Knowing that what passes won’t return allows us to experience the wisdom of impermanence. Knowing that we cannot possess something because it will change, we gain the wisdom of dissatisfaction, and thus, desires cease. Knowing that we cannot change birth and death at will allows us to attain the wisdom of non-self. There is no deviation from the Three Dharma Seals. On my way out with a warm send-off, I recall a long conversation. My focus returns to one sentence: I asked, “What kind of temple is Jabiseonsa?” and the answer was, “It’s a place where compassionate Seon is practiced.” Sweet saliva wells in my mouth as it does after drinking delicious tea.