At an even deeper level, the connection between tea and Chan may not simply be about quietness.
It may be about not doing anything unnecessary.
Boil the water.
Measure the tea.
Pour the water.
Serve the tea.
Drink.
Nothing extra is required.
This simplicity comes very close to an important quality of Chan practice: not trying to manufacture a special spiritual state, but instead being completely present with what is happening now.
The point is not to make tea appear “Zen.”
The point is not to perform calmness.
It is simply to give full attention to the action itself.
When unnecessary movement, judgment, and conceptual thinking begin to fall away, the boundaries between ordinary activity and spiritual practice also begin to soften.
And perhaps this is the deepest meaning of “Tea and Chan are of one taste.”
It does not necessarily mean that tea has some hidden spiritual flavor.
Rather, when the discriminating mind becomes quiet, even for a moment, drinking tea and practicing the Way no longer seem like two separate things.