Go Drink Some Tea

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai,
Florida, USA, February 14, 1999 (Originally in English) Videotape #633b

There once was a Chinese master, and whenever someone came to visit him he’d invite them to drink tea. So if a person came along, the master would say, “Have you been to our center before?” And when the person said, “No,” the master would say, “OK, go drink some tea.”

Then a monk would come. So the master would say, “Have you been here before?” And when the monk said, “Oh, yes. I’ve been here a couple of times,” the master would say, “OK, go drink some tea.”

But the abbot of that temple felt strange about this. So he came to the master and asked him, “Master, why do you say ‘Go drink tea’ to everyone? You tell a guy who’s been here before to go drink tea and you also tell one who’s never been here before to go drink tea. Why is that?”

So the master said to the abbot, “Abbot, go drink tea.”

Then the abbot asked, “What’s wrong with you, Master?”

And the master replied, “What’s wrong with you!”

Similarly, you sometimes ask me so many nonsensical questions that I have a hard time finding nonsensical answers for you. So in keeping with your standards I have to invent something or say just anything. Because if I kept saying “Go drink tea!” all the time, you’d wonder why and think something was wrong with me. Or, you’d think that saying “Go drink tea!” was the best answer you could give anyone.

Really, it means that you can relax. You’re already the Buddha. The whole universe knows that but if you don’t know it, it’s OK. It doesn’t matter. Sooner or later you’ll know.