As soon as you notice that you are acting unconsciously, stop! Don't be a robot. Drink a cup of tea, wake up - then act mindfully.
Tea is a symbol of mindfulness in Zen because tea tones you up, makes you more alert, more aware. Tea was discovered by Buddhists and they have used it as an aid in meditation for centuries. And tea is a helper.
The story claims that Bodhidharma went to a cave and there, facing the wall, he spent 9 years in a sitting meditation position. Bodhidharma was a great meditator. He plunged into a state of deep introspection and meditated 18 hours a day. But one day his eyelids drooped and he fell asleep. Waking up, in anger at himself, he tore out his eyelids and threw them to the ground. Now it became impossible to close my eyes. And his eyelids fell to the ground, turned into seeds, and the first bushes of fragrant tea grew from them. Bodhidharma prepared the world's first tea, and he was amazed to find that if he took the leaves and drank the infusion from them, he could remain alert for a longer period. So for centuries Zen people have been drinking tea to invigorate the mind, and in China tea has become a very, very sacred drink.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru