An Evening of Poetry and Music – Traces of Previous Lives and Love Songs for the Homeland, Part 3 of a Multi-part Series

This human quality, this nostalgia, are still visible even after the renunciate has attained enlightenment and come down the mountain to begin Her new spiritual journey. In the poem “Descending from the Mountain,” the poet wrote: “My heart was like an autumn leaf Half reluctant to fall, half waiting to depart. Farewell monastery, farewell friends, farewell my mentors Farewell tiny Zen-hut, filled with blissful memoirs. Reluctant to the world, with mundane sojourn Light-hearted still in a state of Zen-dream!” Supreme Master Ching Hai’s poetry flows naturally, freely, without metaphor or concealment. In addition to the simple love poems which I’ve just mentioned, sometimes people can also read Supreme Master Ching Hai’s poems that echo the pride and loftiness of poet Vũ Hoàng Chương, as in the poem “Forever Still” with the passage: “A hundred years on this meaningless stage, Face upturned, I laugh aloud in the midst of love. Heaven and Earth revolve eternally, just let it be! Night or dawn, it doesn’t really matter to me...” In addition, the following verses in the poem “Eternal Beloved” also have an atmosphere of the “other world,” very similar to poet Đinh Hùng’s style: “Where have you gone amidst the tangle of trails? Do you remember a glorious incarnation beckoning? An instant of illusory thoughts, thousands of affinities arise With this physical self, all solemn promises buried. Know you not beloved, that I have arrived? A pink lotus blossom is still by my side Waiting for you through countless lifetimes, heart unwavering Remember, my love, you promised to return?” In order for you to fully enjoy the sound, which bears a striking resemblance to Đinh Hùng, I would like to invite artist Đan Hùng to recite the entire poem “Eternal Beloved.”

Ladies and gentlemen, the poems presented previously contain flowery and abstract images, but not many poems in the entire 5-CD poetry collection of Supreme Master Ching Hai follow this pattern. Most of the remaining poems retain their original style with the characteristics of innocence, humanity, simplicity and realism. As an admirer of poet Vũ Hoàng Chương and poet Đinh Hùng since 30-40 years ago, I was very touched when I could listen again to the poems of these two great poets on two CDs recited by the Zen Master (Supreme Master Ching Hai) Herself. Today, Phạm Duy will talk about poetry and spiritual songs. Composer Phạm Duy, please come to the stage. “Indeed, we have used music to nourish the Earthly people with all the emotions: happiness, anger, love, and hate. But until now, we have rarely had music festivals that mainly focus on spirituality, like today’s program.”