Teaism is Related to Taoism and Zennism

Author Okakura makes it abundantly clear that the basic concepts of Teaism and the tea ceremony come from the older philosophies of both Taoism and Zennism. The first and most obvious connection is the legends handed down from generation to generation. The first tea ceremony is said to have involved Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism. Additionally, monks in Zen monasteries are known to have involved tea in their religious rituals, offering the drink to statues of their gods.

However, the more important associations between Teaism and Taoism/Zennism involve the underlying philosophies. Taoism and Zennism both involve an emphasis on the individual, unlike Confucianism and Buddhism. The power of the human mind is held in very high esteem; in fact, at the extreme, nothing exists except what is experienced in the mind. Teaism gets much of its aesthetic groundwork from Taoism...