Exquisite January 2017

TravelIndonesia
Start the Lunar New Year stress free with Chao Dao or literally:
the way of tea.
Tea Master and Zen monk, Wu De will lead a number of tea
ceremonies at COMO Shambhala Estate – COMO Hotels and
Resorts’ flagship wellness retreat in Bali. What a wonderful
way to welcome in the Lunar New Year from 23 January to 1
February 2017.
During Wu De’s travels through India, Burma, Japan and
Thailand, he learnt to prepare tea as fuel for intensive
meditation. He then began studying Chinese Gong Fu (the art
of doing something well) tea ceremonies under Master Lin Ping
Xiang, after being ordained as a minister of Soto Zen. Gong
Fu teaches us that the ultimate tea experience is to be found
through the application of time, dedication and effort.
COMO Shambhala Estate’s Chao Dao and Gong Fu Tea
Ceremonies include a Chao Dao Tea Ceremony group session
on 28 January (the night of the Lunar New Year), and daily
Kedara Water Gathering and Purification rituals. Wu De will
also provide private Gong Fu Tea Ceremonies for those of
you seeking to immerse themselves deeper into this ancient
practice.
Wu De will choose a special wild or organic living tea for every
guest, based on his tea selecting intuition refined through years
of intense study. For one guest he may choose a beautifully
roasted oolong; for another guest, he may recommend an aged
Puerh or a radiantly fresh green tea. After this sacred ceremony,
Wu De will give a talk on the relationship between Zen and tea,
explaining how guests can incorporate the spirit of tea into their
daily lives.
Tea has been used medicinally for millennia to calm the heart,
brighten the spirit, circulate energy and harmonise the body.
Wu De’s ceremonies will create a space for anybody wanting to
experience a deeper sense of clarity through tea drinking.
Wu De will be available for a number of group or private
sessions from 23 January to 1 February 2017. These include:
Cha Dao Tea Ceremony Group Session 90 minutes/ IDR
600,000
Wu De will use his intuition to select a tea appropriate for the
day of the tea session. He will serve guests in silence, allowing
everyone to experience a deep inner peace. After serving
and drinking the tea, he will give a short talk. By the end,
participants will have sharpened their senses to life around
them and experienced the alchemy and magic of Cha Dao tea
in the presence of a man who has dedicated his life to the leaf.
Gong Fu Tea Ceremony Private Session 90 minutes/ IDR
4,455,000
In this private workshop Wu De will share the art of the Gong Fu
tea ceremony, guiding his guests through every step of brewing
Gong Fu tea gracefully. This is a meditative and instructive
experience, for guests wanting to deepen their knowledge of
tea preparation.
Kedara Water Gathering and Purification 60 minutes/
IDR 400,000
Recognised as one of Bali’s eight holy water sources, COMO
Shambhala Estate’s spring is used regularly by local villagers
who make pilgrimages to the spring to collect water for their
ceremonies. Each day Wu De collects the water here to be
used in his tea ceremonies. Having collected the water, it is
brought to the Estate’s temple, Padma Sana, where a Balinese
blessing ceremony takes place and prayers are performed by
the Begawan village priest.
All prices are in Indonesian Rupiah and subject to 21 per cent
government tax and service charge.
COMO Shambhala Estate is a residential health retreat with
luxury villa-style accommodation near Ubud, Bali. This ‘retreat
for change’ is a place to relax and improve wellbeing. State-ofthe-art
wellness facilities include a vitality pool, treatment areas
both indoors and outdoors near to the Ayung River, a rock
climbing wall, two gyms, Pilates studio and two yoga venues
(pavilion and bale). The Estate’s resident experts, who all
support the 360-degree approach to wellness, include a yoga
instructor, Ayurvedic doctor and oriental medicine masters,
with nutritional menus by COMO Shambhala Cuisine.
Compiled by Susanna Ping
www.comohotels.com
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EXQUISITE | 95