Three cups of tea

Joshu asked two newly arrived monks, "Have you been here before?"

One monk said, "No, I haven't."

Joshu said, "Go and have some tea."

Then he asked the other one, "Have you been here before?"

The monk said, "I have."

Joshu said, "Go and have some tea."

The head monk asked, "Master, you told the monk who has never been here before to go have some tea. I will say nothing of this. But why did you tell the monk who has been here before to go have some tea?"

Joshu said, "Head monk!"

The head monk answered the call.

Joshu said, "Go have some tea."

-- Sayings of Joshu

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My comment

The most interesting thing when reading this case is the role of tea in Chinese society at that time.

Joshu is thought to have been born in 778BC, about 100 years after tea had become a "social beverage" in the Tang Dynasty (rather than a pleasure reserved for royalty, or for medicinal purposes).

If you think about it, it's essentially about 150 years after tea had become "cool". So it's not hip anymore, it's not the new craze. It's mainstream.

So why does Joshu send all these monks away to drink tea?

Is he asking them to go away and do what's socially hip, to fit in? As we've seen already, probably not. That wouldn't make any sense, in light of the evidence.

Is he asking them essentially to fuck off and leave him alone? I kindly doubt it - he's not a misanthrope.

So what's he doing? Who is best placed to explain why Master Joshu wants everyone to go drink tea?

Step forth.

Submitted June 14, 2022 at 05:27AM by Jamalwherewithall https://ift.tt/LX3OMi6