Gloria Chadwick

     You might be wondering what Zen and coffee have in common. Maybe it's a koan. Zen and coffee don't seem to blend well together. Or do they? How can caffeine and calm, poured into the same cup, help you mindfully meditate? How can coffee jazz your mind and bring you inner peace at the same time? Zen Coffee: A Guide to Mindful Meditation

     I've just finished writing a book about Zen coffee and would like to perk your interest. I used to work in a coffee shop and I meditate every day; somewhere along the way I discovered the koan of meditating by coffee. Perhaps you might like to wander through the Coffee Zendo in search of the answer. When you're done looking through the coffees and the books, you can come back here or you might discover a doorway that leads you into exploring coffee and mindfulness by clicking on the items in the coffee zendo. As a Zen master once said, 'wherever you go, there you are.'

     You have so many choices along the way; you may decide to go in a different direction altogether by following a four-way portal into Zen coffee, wandering through www.coffeegeek.com, www.starbucks.com, www.cariboucoffee.com, and www.peets.com. Or perhaps your search will lead you on an eight-fold path toward enlightenment by walking mindfully through www.buddha101.com, www.dailyzen.com, www.maximumbliss.com, www.freemeditations.com/zen_meditation.html, and flowing gently through www.buddhanet.net, www.bkwsu.org, http://fwbo.org, and www.wildmind.org. Or you may find that your path will lead you within. Wherever your journey takes you, you'll always be in the right place at the right time.

     But before you go, here's a White-Lite Mocha that may help you solve the koan: Put one squirt white chocolate syrup into the bottom of your coffee cup. Steam enough milk (2% or skim) to fill the cup three-quarters full. Make the espresso shot and pour it into the cup, stirring it gently into the syrup. Add the milk slowly, in a swirling pattern, leaving enough room to top the drink with whipped cream, chocolate shavings, and an espresso bean.

     To make a totally wonderful cup of coffee, whether it's brewed just right, or it's a cappuccino, latte, frappuccino, or something else entirely, start with freshly roasted and ground coffee beans. Maybe you won't need anything or maybe you'd like to have a coffee maker or an espresso machine accompanied by a steaming pitcher and thermometer. You may want to read a book of coffee drink recipes and look through a book on mindfully meditating before you feel ready to sit and enjoy a cup of Zen coffee in a calm, peaceful frame of mind. Wherever you are, please enjoy a cup of coffee ... and ponder the koan of meditating by coffee.

    While you're pondering this, maybe you'd like to come over for a cup of coffee and conversation at my Zen Coffee blog or wander over to Mystical Mindscapes to read what the book is about.