Dragon Teapot

Yutang Lin

Artistic pot of purple sand contains a hidden Dragon.
Drinking tea from it, one seems to smell Dragon drip.
Rejoicing beyond expectations, we looked for clues.
Only then did we realize the depth of Dragon grace.

Comment:

A few months ago a Buddhist friend during his trip to China asked his acquaintances there to look for a fine teapot made of purple sand for me to enjoy tea. Unexpectedly, on the bottom inside the pot there is a carved Dragon. We were all overjoyed beyond expectations then, and exclaimed that it was truly a rare and auspicious sign. Recently this friend visited China again, and only then learned that the artist that made the pot had had a dream, in the dream the Dragon King asked him to do so, and that was why there was such a Dragon teapot. As a humble practitioner I have never sustained any expectation that the Dragon King would be so diligent and thoughtful in prompting and arranging for such an extraordinary offering. It is not only profound connections with Dragons (once I wrote a poem on this) but also bathing in layer over layer of heavy Dragon grace.

Written in Chinese on January 31, 2004
Translated on February 2, 2004

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