Tea and Zen

4 days ago | teaandzen.substack.com | Nigel Lott

There is no shame in laying down the sword. Not every path is meant to be fought for. Sometimes the deeper wisdom is to let the stream flow softly around the stone —To rest this weary heart awhile,And trust that life will bring the next wave in its own time. I am enough. The path is unfolding — still and always. Nigel Lott teaandzen.org“If these writings nourish your soul, consider becoming a contributer below to the charity behind Tea And Zen.

5 days ago | teaandzen.substack.com | Nigel Lott

I was sitting in the quiet this morning, reflecting on how so many of us—often without even realizing—hand over our integrity, our inner compass, out of fear that something we need or love might be taken from us. We become afraid: If I do not please, if I do not comply, if I do not bend… will I lose what sustains me? One of the most subtle and insidious ways this shows up is in our relationship with money.

1 week ago | teaandzen.substack.com | Nigel Lott

A few days ago, I was called to sit with a man named Bart. He was nearing the end of his life. There was nothing for me to do. No task to accomplish. No words to speak that would matter more than presence itself. I was there simply to sit beside him—to offer presence, to rest in stillness, to send the light. To be a spiritual companion for him in those final days. And so I did. Bart was mostly sleeping.

1 week ago | teaandzen.substack.com | Nigel Lott

Echoes of the Infinite #2Let us sit quietly now. Let the breath find its own rhythm, unforced, unhurried. Let the body rest upon the earth as it always has—held, supported, safe. Let your awareness soften like petals opening to the morning sun. And now, from this place within, let this truth rise: I know how precious life is in this moment. Not as an idea. Not as a concept. But as a direct experience—like the hush before a dawn or the hush after a prayer. This moment is not waiting to be filled.

2 weeks ago | teaandzen.substack.com | Nigel Lott

I didn’t know Richie well, not on a human to human level. I have known him most through his sister Ann and her experience over the years. We shared only a few weeks together back in 1975—just a brief crossing of paths whilst he was digging for gold on the Smith River in Northern California, a blink in the long span of years. And yet, here I am, nearly half a century later, remembering him with a deep love and reverence.