The poem "Drink Your Tea" captures the essence of Thich Nhat Hahn's philosophy. He believes you should learn to be present at all times and move through the world with peace in every step. The entire poem can be summarized in the line "Live the actual moment," which can also act as its central idea or theme. In his opinion, this is where life and the universe exist as one.

This line, "live the actual moment," closely resembles the common inspirational phrase "live in the moment." At first glance, they may feel the same, but "living in the moment" and living "the actual moment" have two different meanings.

When we say "live in the moment," it means we should focus on what we are doing when we are doing it. Living in the moment implies we are mindful of our actions and feelings as they are happening. But "live the actual moment" feels deeper. It feels as though instead of being this thing that is existing and acknowledging said existence at a particular time, we instead ARE that existence. When we "live the actual moment," we negate having to think or feel or detach; we simply are the experience of living. We become one with the world which connects to the simile of the world's axis in the first few lines.

When we break down the poem, we learn that his words are more than a poem; it's actually a direct message. The poem directs us to "Drink [our] tea slowly and reverently," because if we do, it means we are completing this action with compassion and divine intention. In this "command," it's implied that we do so "without rushing toward the future."

It seems within this command, we are asked to make a choice to exist in a way that allows us to become one with the world. The choice is to slow down, become mindful, and slip into the beauty that is each moment. It presupposes that people rarely do—that they drink their tea as a thing that will lead to another thing instead of appreciating the moment of the tea and the enjoyment that naturally follows. Thich Nhat Hahn asks us to slow down, acknowledge the present, and become one with it.