07/25/2026
"At home, I just poured boiling water on the leaves, waited for the color, and drank it. That was tea to me."
That's what one of our guests told us after the Jing Si tea ceremony at Tzu Chi San Francisco. She wasn't the only one. One after another, neighbors said some version of the same thing: nobody had ever shown them there was more to it.
Here they learned that tea asks for a little patience. The water has a right temperature. The leaves need time to open. The pour wants a steady hand. And behind each movement sits an old teaching — six virtues, one for every step, from laying the table to sharing out the last cup.
Three sips, three wishes. First sip: a kind thought. Second sip: a kind word. Third sip: a kind deed.
"There is Zen in the tea, and stillness in the Zen," one guest said. Holding a warm cup with both hands, she felt something she rarely feels in a busy week — that she was simply, fully there.
Another guest was already making plans for Mid-Autumn Festival: the whole family under the full moon, mooncakes on the table, and tea brewed slowly, the way they learned here. No rushing. Warm cups, long conversation.
In this video, our guests share what the afternoon meant to them, in their own words and their own languages. Turn the sound on — even if you don't catch every word, you'll hear it.
📍 Tzu Chi San Francisco
2901 Irving St., San Francisco, CA 94122
📞 (415) 682-0566
Video｜Lulu Lin, Cisy Ling
