Tea--Bodhidharma

JAPANESE TEA CEREMONY – BODHI DHARMA-  SHAOLIN TEMPLE KUNGFU - URUMI SWORD- SWASTIKA TEA LEAF READING CUPS


 i used to watch a programme on HISTORY CHANNEL.


it was about 2 professional american fighters, going to all corners of the world to learn a martial art , say for 2 weeks. then one of them will challenge the top most fighter of that strain ( karate/ kungfu/ judo etc ).

they were tough and no pushovers. i remember their names bill duff and jason. both were very likable characters , with no ego.


they went to the top secret shaolin temple in china. they were afforded a peek into the forbidden for foreigners, inner sanctum ALONG with history channel video camera--the first time ever--


and guess what-- BODHI DHARMA'S coloured portrait was there- with hairy barrel chest and all.

in 520 AD this mallu , seen in picture above( speaking my mother tongue malayalam ) residing in kerala ( voted by natural geographic / word traveller -- as one of the 5 top beautiful places on the planet ) , travelled to canton china-- and there he taught the monks in shaolin temple--KALARI --  our ancient 6000 year old martial art--- founded by warrior sage Parashurama..

today they call it kung-fu there.


all this is on camera-- the chief priest was proud to admit.


our swords were far superior -- 4 metres long -- double edged and serrated -- sometimes 4 pronged to stave off arrows -- worn around the waist like a belt-- laden with metallurgical poisons like mercury/ arsenic/ lead-- called URUMI


IT BROKE MACH ONE ( SPEED OF SOUND ) . ( no other weapon can do this!-- hence this deadly Urumi demoralises the enemy )

you can crack a whip--the crack is the edge of the whip breaking the sound barrier!


all you need was to nick and draw blood-- we still have it in our temples-- taken out on special occasions--


kalari warriors kept several tourniquets tied around their waist and knees, along with turmeric based blood clotting powder.

not many people know that bodhi dharma went into a meditative trance for 9 years, staring at a cave wall. once when he fell asleep, in a fit of self infliction , he cut off both his eyelids and threw them away.

the chinks watched that SPOT closely --and then took a plant which grew next to it and boiled it, hoping that they wont fall asleep , while meditating.


THIS IS THE TEA-- the whole world drinks. even today drinking tea is a meditative experience for all far east people--

nobody knows the reason for an elaborate tea drinking ritual – even today in japan etc.


japanese call bodhi dharma -- daruma.  

A tea ceremony is an aesthetic way of entertaining guests, in which everything is done according to an established order.  


The tea ceremony emphasized the following four qualities: harmony between the guests and the implements used; respect, not only among the participants but also for the utensils; cleanliness, derived from Shintō practices and requiring participants to wash their hands and rinse their mouths as symbolic gestures of cleansing before entering the cha-shitsu; and tranquillity, which is imparted through long and caring use of each article of the tea ceremony.

TEA LEAF READERS- - NEXT TIME READ IN A TEA BOWL WITH SWASTIKA PLACED AT THE BOTTOM.