Column: A sip of wisdom

We’ve all been asked the question at least once.

“Are you a tea or coffee person?”

As someone who abhors narrow dichotomies — I can like both tea and coffee, just as I can like both meat and tofu — I tend to roll my eyes and respond by saying I appreciate both.

Though, if I’m being honest, I’m a self-professed tea girl. The 11 containers of different kinds of green tea and matcha kit I bought in Hiroshima that occupy a shelf of my bookcase expose me.

But more than any cup of tea or coffee, I like to break from America’s ritualistic guzzling of caffeine on the go and share light banter with someone over a warm beverage.

Be it tea, be it coffee.

So when Yuko Okumura, a cook I had corresponded with this summer, asked me to come to a talk and share a cup of tea at Sanshin Zen Community Center this Sunday morning, I set my alarm and had a Saturday night in.

I arrived at the sangha just before 10 a.m., and while walking inside, I met Yuko and followed her.

Once in the basement, I picked out a seating mat and pillow and awaited the entrance of Soto Zen priest.

He talked about the meaning of religion and how it translates in other languages. He also spoke of peace of mind, and that very peace reverberated throughout the room.

After the talk, Yuko brought in plates of  paw paws and red grapes, as well as two steaming teapots of jasmine and echinacea tea.

We all reached for teacups and teapots — my preference was for the jasmine tea — and held our hot cups of tea close.

Attendees circled the room, stopping to chat after spending the past hour in
silence.

I sipped my floral tea and chatted to Yuko about the potluck she was preparing.

No one was rushing, no one was anxious.

Though tea and coffee offer the great benefits of caffeine, as I know all too well, one should remember how the beverages were first enjoyed hundreds of years ago.

They were drunk slowly with groups of friends, colleagues and family. Meeting for beverages offered a break from everyday tasks, and the ritual was enjoyable.

Time may have passed, but this principle hasn’t lost any of its truth.

So, slow down one day. Think about the flavor of the drink, and enjoy the presence of another person or just yourself.

Whatever you do, don’t discriminate. Tea and coffee are both wonderful things.

­— acarnold@indiana.edu

Follow columnist Amanda Arnold on Twitter @Amanda_Arnold14.