Tea or coffee?

[Aemilius]

It is well known that Bodhidharma and Zen-tradition are closely connected with the origin drinking tea, well known is also that Sufism is closely connected with the origin of drinking coffee, ( this is ofcourse disputed for the normal nationalistic & propaganda purposes), here is a source telling the sufist origin of coffee http://www.superluminal.com/cookbook/ in the section Food and Festivals

[Individual]

I believe this is legend. People starting drinking tea and coffee because of religion?

I'd abstain from both because of the caffeine. Maybe that's just a bit extreme, though. Definitely abstain from coffee. Don't know about tea.

[spiritnoname]

I drink almost only tea.

[Individual]

I drink almost only tea.

Hot drinks are good for the digestive system, apparently.

I think hot water may be often better than hot tea, though.

[Aemilius]

I believe this is legend. People starting drinking tea and coffee because of religion?

I'd abstain from both because of the caffeine. Maybe that's just a bit extreme, though. Definitely abstain from coffee. Don't know about tea.

It is a bit mythical, the story goes that the habit of drinking tea first developed in Zen monasteries, then it spread to the laity, and so on..., likewise the habit of drinking coffee developed in the Schools of Wisdom of Islam, which denotes the mystical branch, i.e. the sufis. There are different versions of both stories,... Things start from little seeds, then they spread gradually over vast areas,

[Sonrisa]

I drink almost only tea.

Hot drinks are good for the digestive system, apparently.

I think hot water may be often better than hot tea, though.

I heard that often too that with hot drinks, one can digest easily as opposed to cold drinks. If I am having a cold drink, I will gulp it down because it's soooooo delicious and as a consequence, I will get full. A hot drink, will help me to drink slowly (I dont want to get burned ).

Now I always wondered why Indians always drink tea when they are eating. My Indian neighbors often invite me for lunch, snack, or tea time. We always have hot delicious Indian tea. Maybe because the food is so darn spicy that the milky tea helps to cool the spiciness down perhaps?

Personally, Im a tea drinker. I will only drink coffee if it is from a Latin American country..I know Im biased but I find their coffee much more natural that overly sweeten ones like Vienna, etc. I just love the slightly sweet and bitter taste. Oooh, especially in the morning with some sweet bread, oh goodness!

[seagrace]

I drink tea mostly while at work. Black in the morning and green in the afternoon. Weekends I drink coffee because I can control the quality and taste.

[dechen_namdrol]

I drink tea and water almost exclusively. I'll rarely have a coffee as a treat.

[MJH]

coffee coffee coffee for me! Now to start another pot!!

[Mr. G]

coffee coffee coffee for me! Now to start another pot!!

+1

[Jikan]

Coffee. Black.

Context:

Every morning during gyo*, hours before dawn, we get up in silence and quickly assemble in the kitchen, preparing for the cold-water purification and, after that, a silent and vigorous walking meditation in the woods, by sipping coffee together. These have been among the most tranquil and graceful moments I've experienced.


*Gyo means period of training. It's like a retreat, but without the connotations of relaxing... the pedagogy is dynamic, shall we say. I think a better translation would be "intensive." some information:

http://www.tendai.org/index.php?id=46

[Madeliaette]

I am also one of the coffee mob. (Black, strong, and HOT, please!) I do limit myself to no more than two mugs per day, though.

[Mr. G]

[gnegirl]

Im a pitta, so i'm not supposed to have coffee....


but i do...

[Karma Yeshe]

"Tea...Earl Grey...Hot"

Capt. Jean Luc Picard

[gregkavarnos]

If you are a coffee fan, and a fan of Jim Jarmusch, then "The Limits of Control" is your movie (and let's not forget his all time classic: Coffee and Cigarettes).
Me? Lots of green tea in the morning, caffe latte midday and afternoon.

[sweetadeline]

Matcha Tea for me, please!

[Quiet Heart]

I associate Zen with Green Tea...the froth of the liquid Jade...as it was called.
In my working life, before I retired, I've worked in countries where both Tea and coffee were big items.
When I worked in Turkey I remember getting up very early...about 3 in the morning ...for trip a trip to another city.
About 6 a.m. we were halfway there and stopped at a little roadside shop in a small Turkish village.
We had tea and fresh baked rolls with honey. In Turkey you drink tea from a small shot-glass, poured boiling hot from the pot. No sugar in the Tea, but you get one or two sugar cubes on a plate with your tea. You place one of the sugar cubes between your teeth and sip the very hot tea letting the sugar cube slowly dissolve in your mouth with the tea. Often they also give you a slice of lemon, which you squeeze into the tea before you drink it. At least this was how it was done then outside the big westernised cities in Turky around 1990...not sure if it is still the custom now.
By the way, just to continue the "tourist" stories, I actually visted Konya to see the Sufi's dance, they were incorrectly called the "whirling dervishes" by the first Europeans who saw them. It was a tourist thing around 1990, but I'm not sure they still do it. Turkey has changed drastically since 1990.
Then when I was in the mideast, Saudi Arabia to be exact, if you went into a shop to buy something they would absolutely insist of serving you small china cups of dark, bitter and strong, Arabic coffee before they wanted to talk about price. It just wasn't polite not too offer that coffee before talking price.
So both tea and coffee both hold memories for me.

[Adamantine]

tea is certainly a drink used by countless Buddhist practitioners worldwide-- vast cauldrons of butter salt tea in the Tibetan monasteries, green teas in the temples of China and Japan.. it seems often a useful tool to aid in meditative alertness during drowsy times of day, as well as general health.

Coffee however is like a hamfisted potent drug that agitates the nerves-- in other words I find it a caffeine overdose. And I have heard from some Lamas that it is bad for the subtle nerves, though there are other Lamas that drink it too. Regardless, the universe of tea is vast and exquisite, the flavors and effects vastly diverse but generally enriching and not depleting -- whereas coffee certainly can deplete the adrenals.

Here is a great book about the rich history of tea and the tea ceremony called simply The Book of Tea http://www.amazon.com/Book-Tea-Kakuzo-Okakura/dp/0486200701

and here's a great place to source fantastic varieties of rare teas http://www.inpursuitoftea.com/

[alpha]

a double expresso please .

coffee doesnt do any harm...
lots of lamas,teachers...drink strong cofee....