During the month of May, we enter the fire season with the arrival of summer. The transition from wood to fire is about moving fully into the light and yang time of the year, characterized by outward expansion. The rapid, erratic, upwards energy of wood levels out. The intensity of germinating sprouts transitions to stable mature plants in the plant kingdom. Life slows down as days become long and more relaxed. The Chinese character for fire represents flames moving outwards in all directions like a child running with their arms outstretched, thus evincing the innocent joy, virtue and play of children. Children are unbiased, unprejudiced and lack the egoic perspective of superiority or inferiority. As one of my teachers in Chinese medicine taught, children are pure yang: bright, expansive, active, constantly growing. Their capacity for ebullient, open-hearted connection represents a sort of innocent virtue that is closer to our true nature. This essential nature is uninhibited by the restrictions of social conditioning and assumed identities. When we meet an elder who has that child-like twinkle in their eye, it’s often the result of all the work they’ve done to unlearn social norms and identification with roles. Childlike freedom and spontaneity capture the spirit of the summer as well as the fire element.
While an extensive exploration of seasonal and elemental changes may seem “much ado about nothing,” and rather obvious, I find over the years that this exploration becomes increasingly subtle and profound. On one level, it’s obvious. We drink water, bath ourselves, swim in bodies of water, appreciate the falling of afternoon summer rain. We invite the warmth of the sun during the warmer months, cook food over stovetop flame and appreciate electricity to light and heat our homes, wash our clothes and dishes, and power our devices. We often take for granted how convenient it has become to access and use the elements, and thus we’ve forgotten our interdependent relationship with the natural world. We often fail to live with gratitude for the simple gifts that the elements provide in enrichening our lives.
On a deeper level, actively engaging the elements is the key that opens the doorway to the mysteries of emotional, psychosomatic and psychospiritual transformation. This engagement also becomes the foundation for understanding seasonal health, the impact of climactic changes on our physiology, and living in harmony with the macrocosm of the earth. We learn to reverently steward the earthship, rather than the current default relationship of extraction, transaction and consumption.
Virtuous Relationships
The fire element is all about the state of your relationships, the health of discernment in relationships, propriety or appropriateness, guardedness and openness. This is mimicked in the heart pump opening and closing. In exploring the fire element, we reflect on intimacy, sociability, discrimination, communication, awareness, spontaneity, self-expression, laughter, and joy. Do you experience warmth, passion, and vulnerability in your relationships? What is the state of your heart? Is it open or closed? This fundamental question can bring great depth to your tea sessions with a loved one. Do you allow yourself to feel vulnerable, which is the foundation for intimacy?
The heart is considered the supreme intelligence in the body. In Taoist understanding, the heart and small intestines are associated with the fire element. The virtuous path of navigating relationship difficulties is to surrender them to the heart. The heart knows how to simply BE, and in that place of being there are no veils distorting the truth of ourselves or others. This is the virtue that we might learn from children and in doing so, relearn the essence of what it means to love one another. I recently read a poignant quote from Krishnamurti: “Why is there this everlasting craving to be loved? You want to be loved because you do not love; but the moment you love, it is finished, you are no longer inquiring whether or not somebody loves you. As long as you demand to be loved, there is no love in you; and if you feel no love, you are ugly and brutish, so why should you be loved? Without love you are a dead thing; and when the dead thing asks for love, it is still dead. Whereas, if your heart is full of love, then you never ask to be loved, you never put out your begging bowl for someone to fill it.” When we have a loving, kind, respectful relationship with ourselves, this becomes the foundation for our relationship with others. What does your relationship to self-love look like? Consider keeping a journal that focuses explicitly on your relationship with yourself. As a daily practice, list three things you are grateful for and why. This practice helps you stay open to the gifts of your life.
List compliments you get and all the things that people appreciate about you. What do you appreciate about yourself? Are you sharing your gifts? What makes you feel good about yourself? Are you prioritizing those things. While a daily “self” journal may sound trite or silly, most people have an ambivalent relationship to themselves. We often spend so much time wanting to feel love, but we aren’t giving much out. Then, we wonder why it isn’t returned to us. People who receive a lot of love and acknowledgement generally give a lot. People who live with an awakened heart find it easy to make connections, to give freely and to find a place of belonging in the world. Offering the gift of tea ceremony is one of the purest and simplest gifts that one can offer another.
Lamp Unto Oneself
In Taoist medicine, the heart is the fire at the center of our being, from which Spirit or Shen radiates. The spirit of the heart is both the seat of our awareness and wisdom. The pericardium protects the heart and acts as a shock absorber between the outside and inside world. However, in our world, many people live in a numbed-out, hyper-stimulated, distracted, addicted, unconscious state, which is disassociated from the source of wisdom in the heart. Part of the reason is that modern life is intense. We live in a violent world where movies, tv, newspapers, processed sugary foods, pornography, artificial lights, forever wars, economic disparity, struggle, survival, and objectification of the self through social media surround us. The human body is objectified because sex sells, and thus we lose touch with intimacy and vulnerability as sacred. The delicate Shen needs tranquility and peace to guide us. Tea practice, alone or with others, provides the sanctuary for the emergence of the Shen. This inner light is so essential in the fast-paced, desensitized world we now live in. We must learn to be a lamp unto ourselves, as the Buddha said.
The spring and summer represent the return of the light. We must come to understand that the real light is within us. When we nourish our inner light and awaken the heart, we become a lighthouse for others. Bodhicitta is an important concept in the Buddhist tradition. Bodhi means “awake” or “wakeful” and citta means “heart,” so bodhicitta means “awakened heart.” Such awakened heart comes from being willing to face our state of mind and emotions. How many times have you truly and fully connected with your heart? Do you turn away, dismiss, or discredit your emotions and why? Do you frequently turn and face yourself fully and fearlessly? Do you frequently check-out through distraction, or do you work to wake up to the moment? How much have you connected with yourself at all in your whole life? These are important questions in the path of the awakened heart. I recently read a book that has been very helpful in exploring these questions: Shambala- The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa. Consider exploring this text over the summer. It illuminates the idea that the sacred warrior conquers the world not through violence or aggression, but through gentleness, courage, and self-knowledge.
Tea, Food, and Heart Health
The vision of spring informs the growth of summer and connection with others who are part of the vision. For a tea person, this time of the year marks a shift in lifestyle, activity, and orientation. During the summer, we recommend drinking teas that are mildly bitter to clear heat, uplifting to support greater activity, sweet to harmonize digestion, and aromatic to open the senses. We generally explore more gongfu cha, brewing these delicate teas in small zisha pots with small porcelain cups, honing the craft of the perfect brew.
During the summer, we also shift our focus to cardiovascular health. Cardiovascular disease is the leading health problem in the Western world and is the number-one cause of death in most of these countries, taking the lives of more than seven hundred thousand people every year. Cardiovascular disease is not an inevitable result of ageing. Here are some preventative measures: stop smoking, lower your blood pressure through lifestyle and dietary changes, participate in aerobic exercise, lower LDL cholesterol by reducing weight, reduce consumption of animal fats and trans fats, minimize alcohol intake, improve hearth health by eating more omega-3 fatty acids like fish oil, chia seeds, flaxseeds, walnuts and soybeans, reduce stress through meditation, yoga, nature and anything that slows you down. Finally, the color red is associated with the fire element and many red foods benefit cardiovascular health as a result of the presence of lycopene, a carotenoid that is a powerful antioxidant. This organic pigment reduces cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, infertility and prostate cancer. So, don’t be shy with the berries, watermelon, grapes, cranberries, plums, apples, papaya, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, chilies, radishes, beets and onions.