Brewed Musings

Brewed Beverage of Choice: A Cup of Guayaki Mate Tea (I was watching PBS…)

Hello everyone to the new Brewed Musings with a new look and a new address. It took a while to get in the making and please be patient whilst I still go through the new construction. It is as new to me as it is to you.

I know what you are thinking. What is with the name change? Why did you change from Zen Brewer to Confucian Brewer? Are those not two different religions? Do you change philosophies as often as you change your shirt? We are confused Mr. Zen Brewer or Confucian Brewer or whatever your new name is.

All this brings me back to my days at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. Even though I was studying Native American history, there were only so many classes offered in that area. Plus the department was quite adament that I study some other histories to round out my experience. Following their recommendations I enrolled in many East Asian history courses. It was my belief that studying the history of those living in the Far East would aide in my studies of the Tribal people of this Hemisphere. That and the fact that I had studied enough European history and found that it tended to bore me.

It was in one of these classes, The History of Buddhism, where I met a wise professor of East Asian philosophy by the name of Dirk Vorenkamp. (Not really a name you would expect of a professor on the History of Buddhism.) In the first class he digressed into a very interesting and relevant side story, a style of teaching I found exciting and one he had mastered by the time I took his class. The story, he theorized, tried to explain the vast number of Buddhists, Confucianists, and Taoists throughout the world.

There was a census taken several years prior to this class and the census takers were trying to figure out why there were so many Buddhists, Confucianist, and Taoists in the world when the population numbers seemed to contradict the findings. It seemed that the lay people of the continent of Asia do not see themselves as being of one religion. The lay folk had beliefs that were Buddhist, some that were Confucianist, and some that were Taoists, etc. So on the census form they would check all the religions they believed they were. To them there was no conflict and they need not be confined to one set of beliefs. That, they felt, shall be left to the monks who studied and lived their monastic life.

Since that fateful class I have done some studying on Buddhism and much more on Confucianism. I have never seen myself as completely Confucianist despite the fact that most of my belief system follow that path. Buddhism has its hold in areas. To this day Catholicism still has a healthy role in my life even though I consider myself a recovering Catholic and have not been to mass since 1990. The saints still amaze me and before every brew I make a small “prayer” to Saint Arnold of Metz, the patron Saint of Brewers. (Side thought - Anyone who was raised Catholic will still feel its affects no matter how far they have distanced themselves from the religion and the church. Any person who says differently is only fooling themselves.)

So yes I did change my moniker to Confucian Brewer and Brewed Musings has moved to confucianbrewer.com, but I am still Zen Brewer, Franciscan Brewer, and Taoist Brewer in addition to my Confucianist roots. To limit myself to one religion, to one philosophy, is to put limitations on who I can become and how far I grow while I am still wandering the planet on trains, busses and bicycles. Tunnel vision will only allow you to see grey concrete walls and a blinding, distorting light.

Prost!!!

the confucian brewer