A Pot of Boiling Water, a Floating Life
I once heard a story:
A young man, depressed and unhappy, confided in a revered master:
'Life is always unsatisfactory, surrounded by difficulties and setbacks. Is this all there is to my life?'
The master smiled, picked up a water jug, and prepared a cup of tea for the young man, asking him to taste it first.
The young man took a sip and said, 'Master, this tea has no tea fragrance at all.'
The master said, 'This is a top-grade Tieguanyin. How could it not have a fragrance?'
The young man took up the cup and tasted it again, confidently saying, 'It truly has no fragrance.'
The master smiled calmly and instructed his disciple, 'Go boil a pot of boiling water.'
Then he picked up a cup and refilled it with the same amount of tea leaves.
Soon, boiling water arrived. The master poured the boiling water into the cup, then presented it to the young man. He looked at it and saw the tea leaves swirling up and down in the cup, and a wisp of fragrant steam rose.
The young man was about to lift the cup to taste it when the master said, 'Please wait a moment.'
He poured more boiling water into the cup, and the tea leaves stirred even more vigorously. A richer, more intoxicating fragrance rose.
He repeated this six times, and when the cup was full, the fragrance filled the entire room.
The secret was that the first brewing used a pot of warm water. Warm water brewed tea, the tea leaves gently floated on the surface, without swirling and churning, they did not release their fragrance.
Using boiling water repeatedly to brew the tea, the tea leaves underwent a process of swirling and sinking, and only then could they release their fragrant aroma.
Life is like a tea leaf.
Just like this single tea leaf, our fate is like this hot or cold pot of water. If you are good tea, you shouldn't crave warm water.
Those who have not experienced hardship and setbacks are like tea leaves brewed in warm water; their lives are calm and quiet, without any swirling and churning, and they cannot release their life's fragrance.
They might be top-quality tea, but they fade their fragrance in a seemingly smooth life.
