Tree in My Tea

TREE IN MY TEA
by Linda Anderson Krech

Last week we conducted our 2025 Residential Certification Program in Japanese Psychology here at the ToDo Institute, with 12 people and one dog occupying all corners of this house.   Since Saturday, when the program ended, Gregg and I have been busy restoring the house to its normal state.  The laundry has all been completed, the kitchen has been reorganized, and the program materials have been filed, but we ourselves are different, thanks to the experiences we had during the program.  

We have conducted this program almost every year since 1992, minus the covid years.  And yet, despite this long-standing history, I am always struck by the unique nature of these gatherings and immensely grateful to offer and participate in them.  I’m particularly grateful to each of our participants for their confidence in us and for their courage, stepping into a house of strangers, with a wholehearted willingness to participate in the experience.

Though the days were long and full – with meditation, Naikan, heartful discussions, private sessions, manual work, meal preparations, humor, music, poetry, film, hiking, fireside moth stories, and a picnic at our beloved Mt. Philo –  the principles of Japanese Psychology kept us all engaged with its illuminating wisdom, relevant for each of us in our own unique ways. 

This eclectic group, from age 34 to 78, included:  two acupuncturists from Ireland and the Netherlands, a Zen priest from NY, a retired air force colonel from Pennsylvania, a mental health professional from Illinois, a psychologist from Turkey, a New York retiree from the insurance industry/ lifelong philosopher, and an elementary school educator/psychotherapist from Canada, in addition to two assistants from NY and Canada, along with me and Gregg and Betty.

Together we studied the material and applied it to our real life experience during the program, with snoring roommates or food cravings or anxiety while making a presentation.  The community experience was fertile ground for trying on the principles and working with the practices.  Rather than dogma, this approach relies on personal research to discover the value and benefits of the practice in your own immediate experience.

Thanks to the program, I am personally re-inspired to set up a more regular Naikan practice again, and to share my reflections with a Naikan partner who will be doing the same.  Thanks to the emphasis on sensory experience, I’ve been tuning in to the sound of my footsteps in the woods, and to the designs of shadows on the wall, and to the gleam of the sun on my tea cup.  

In fact, when I was savoring my tea outside this morning, I discovered a tree in my tea. It’s probably been there many times before but I didn’t see it until today.  If I could choose, I would much prefer the delight of finding a tree in my tea than the tedium of my self-absorption chatter.  And actually, I do get to choose.  I just need to remember.  Lucky me and lucky you (if you like trees in your tea too).