The drinking of tea is said to be the world's second oldest profession. The Japanese created a whole ceremony around it — a ritual designed to engage all the senses and create a feeling of harmony and tranquility. Bruce and Shelley Richardson own Elmwood Inn Fine Teas, which blends and sells fine tea at retail establishments and tea rooms throughout the United States. This charming volume offers a look at some Asian tea estates and the people who work there. Bruce Richardson took photographs in India and Sri Lanka. Shelly Richardson then provided the spiritual meditations about these places and tea workers.
In many religious traditions, we are asked to picture in our minds all the people who have labored to bring us the liquids we drink and the food we eat. The point is to acknowledge our debt to the contributions of others to our pleasures. Savor the photographs of families on tea plantations, women who pick the tea, those who work in the offices at the tea factory, a tea taster, and a shot of a cupping room. Look at the two women on the side of this page and then think about all the energy and beauty that was invested in making it possible for you to enjoy a simple cup of tea. Then think about the following meditation, which accompanies a woman in the field picking tea. It is called "Offering."
This work I do is an offering
from my hand and heart.
Let imagination awaken the power
that is within each leaf,
releasing healing communion
throughout the world.
