I’ve seen quotes from Thick Nhat Hanh from time to time but never really took the time to read his writings until recently. No Mud, No Lotus was added to my Kindle after seeing it mentioned in a blog post from +Bonnie Eng. I was delighted to find several references to tea in my latest read. The basics of this book are about slowing down and taking the time to savor everything we eat or drink. When we take a bite of bread, do we stop to think about everything that went into making that loaf? Without being preachy, there are many important points made about gratitude and only taking as much as we need. Although the author is a Zen Buddhist teacher I think his writings can be helpful to people from all walks of life.

As I read, I couldn’t help but think that the philosophy being explained is part of the reason that westerners like myself find ourselves drawn to the gongfu method of preparing tea and Chanoyu. American food culture is often about making everything bigger and better. If something tastes good we pile on more bacon, even more cheese and then deep fry it. This girl loves bacon just as much as the next person but sometimes it can all be a little much. Taking the time to prepare tea with intention, drinking it in slow sips, is a dramatic shift from the rat race of every day life. For many of us I think it is a form of meditation.

I took some of the highlights from my Kindle and turned them into some shareable graphics. They’re perfectly sized for Instagram. I hope that you all enjoy them!

You can find out more about this book here.