Go drink tea！

Master Zhaozhou Congshen was a highly influential Chinese Chan Buddhist master of the Tang Dynasty. A key disciple of Master Nanquan Puyuan, he is celebrated for his profound yet unconventional wisdom expressed through paradoxical actions and dialogues (koans).

Once, two monks traveled from afar to seek Chan (Zen) teachings from Master Zhaozhou. Zhaozhou asked the first monk, “Have you been here before?”
The monk replied, “No, I haven’t.”
Zhaozhou said: “Go drink tea!”.
He then turned to the second monk: “Have you been here before?”
The monk answered, “Yes, I have.”
Zhaozhou again declared: “Go drink tea!”
The monastic steward, who had brought the monks, asked in confusion: “Master, why did you tell both the one who has been here and the one who hasn’t to ‘go drink tea’?”
Zhaozhou called the steward’s name. When the steward responded, Zhaozhou commanded:
“Go drink tea!”

Cultural & Philosophical Notes

Transcending discriminative thinking:

Zhaozhou’s identical reply to “visited/not visited” and even the steward dissolves all dualities (self/other, past/present). It exposes how labels hinder awakening. In Chan Buddhism, such distinctions are seen as major obstacles to practice. Only by overcoming these attachments of mind can one truly realize the essence of Chan.

Pointing to the immediacy of daily life:

“Go drink tea!” redirects focus from abstract “Zen” to embodied practice. By using the ordinary act of drinking tea as a teaching moment, Master Zhaozhou suggested that the way of Chan is not found in complex theories or distant ideals, but in the ordinary mind — like he had said once ‘eating when hungry, sleeping when tired’. Cultivation does not mean escaping from life, but seeing every small act as an opportunity for awakening.

Tea as a medium for Zen:

The mundane act of drinking tea embodies suchness. By sipping tea mindfully, one tastes Buddha-nature. No metaphysics needed. In this story, tea becomes a medium for enlightenment, guiding practitioners to realize their own nature in every movement — whether walking, resting, sitting, or lying down.