Aaron Fisher > Quotes

“A Thousand mountains will greet my departing friend,
When the spring teas blossom again.
With such breadth and wisdom,
Serenely picking tea—
Through morning mists
Or crimson evening clouds—
His solitary journey is my envy.
We rendezvous at a remote mountain temple,
Where we enjoy tea by a clear pebble fountain.
In that silent night,
Lit only by candlelight,
I struck a marble bell—
Its chime carrying me
A hidden man
Deep into thoughts of ages past.

— "The Day I Saw Lu Yu off to Pick Tea”
― Aaron Fisher, The Way of Tea: Reflections on a Life with Tea

“Ichigo ichie,” which means “one encounter, one chance.” It means that this meeting of people in the tearoom is unique. It will never happen in this way again. Even if we have tea with the same people every day of our lives, each encounter is a unique, bright and shining moment that will never occur again. These diamond moments are our ownmost. They are more precious than gold, for in their totality they are all that we are, you and I.”
― Aaron Fisher, Way of Tea: Health, Harmony, and Inner Calm

“And that is what so much of Cha Tao is about: the elevation of the simplest aspects of life—the veneration of the smallest moments that we walk this Earth. We are learning to live: to live without any drama or effort, like the leaves themselves.”
― Aaron Fisher, Way of Tea: Health, Harmony, and Inner Calm

“As the leaves of this tree are,
I too am made of the water, the sky, sun, and stars;
I share this essence with all the Ten-thousand Things.
And in so doing, empty myself and my cup.
As tea, I am now free to transcend the moment,
Finding Heaven in a leaf.
I ride the cinnabar mists
Beyond the temple stairs
And blue peaks
To soar beneath the unveiled moon,
Glancing downwards but once
When the temple bells chimed.”
― Aaron Fisher, Way of Tea: Health, Harmony, and Inner Calm