Part I — Stories from 28 October 2006

My tea and coffee experiences

Many times I have told about my tea and coffee experiences in this lifetime. In my Chittagong life, tea and coffee were forbidden. Nobody drank tea or coffee in the family. Only when guests came, they were served tea. So we never had the taste of tea or coffee.

When I was in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, secretly I took tea twice in twenty years. The first time, I did not like it. The second time, I asked for a little more sugar. I was denied. So that was the end of my tea experiences.

Then, when I came to America, I became fully acquainted with tea and coffee. I even went so far as espresso! I read and also I heard that Indian doctors say if you have a little fever, then tea is very good. So I started drinking tea, since it has a medicinal effect. Alas, alas, when you start some bad habit, it is very difficult to stop. So I took tea mostly four or five times a day, up to a maximum of eight times. Bad habit, bad habit!

It is said that tea will give you strength and energy. Many people believe that God gave tea some hidden strength. God alone knows!

Let us not try to discover
Instant God-realisation,
Like instant coffee.
Let us only bring to the fore
Our heart’s sincere inner cry.