To Chao-Chou, a famous dharma master, the commonality between preaching Buddha's teaching and having a cup of tea was the removal of selection, which became the philosophical foundation of the one-taste of truth and seon (zen; ch'en). The greatest encumbrance in ch'en(zen) philosophy is the dualistic thought dividing subject and object and the mind differentiating this from that. Selection comes from differentiating things and in sentient beings this becomes the very obstacle to attaining Buddhahood. The 3rd dharma master of Chinese seon (zen) Buddhism, Seng-ts'an, said that “the ultimate tao (path) is not difficult, but will be achievable only if you avoid selection”, and Chao-Chou faithfully conformed to his saying. If we change the subject matter in his teaching of ‘avoidance of selection’ into tea, it can be expressed as ‘having a cup of tea.’ The most important point in the expression, “having a cup of tea”, is not the tea itself or the person having tea, but throwing the selection away. This is the philosophical core of he Chinese seon (zen) Buddhism tradition and also the philosophical core of the “one taste of tea and seon (zen)”.
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