“The Real Love” – A Musical that Unites Hearts, Part 18 of a Multi-part Series

Now, Supreme Master Ching Hai also received a heartfelt letter from award-winning actress Ms. Joanna Ampil, who played the role of Thanh in the musical. Following is an excerpt: Dear Supreme Master Ching Hai, My name is Joanna Ampil and I have the honor of portraying Thanh in “The Real Love” musical. I feel the urge to write to You because I am overflowing with a wonderful feeling which I'm afraid cannot be expressed in words alone, especially when I sing Your poems. I am so touched by them that I keep having to suppress the tears just to be able to get my voice out and sing those beautiful tunes. Playing the role is an absolute joy. I am in the process of also getting to know myself and what I really want in life. What a life changing experience this is turning out to be. I have never felt so at peace and so happy in a role before. I haven't met You yet, but I somehow feel Your presence like an angel guiding my every move during rehearsals. This beautiful journey of getting to know Thanh is the highlight of my career. I have been placed here for a more profound reason. Whether or not I'll have the pleasure of meeting You, I just want You to know how grateful I am to be playing the most beautiful character ever and meeting a bunch of talented actors and creative team that I could only dream of working with. With love and admiration, Jo. In Her letter of reply, Supreme Master Ching Hai had written: Loved Jo, the honor is mine. If you only knew how I’d love to attend and how sorry I can’t. Your passion and dedication touches me so much. God bless you and all your sweet dreams. You’ll be glorious in your performance. Embrace you with love and admiration, CH

The musical, “The Real Love,” could portray only a small part of Supreme Master Ching Hai’s incredible life and spiritual journey. “I cleaned all the night pots and cleaned the whole ward. All the patients I take care. And I worked in the hospital voluntarily. I was only fifteen.” “So he said, ‘OK, then I take you out for a dinner, OK?’ I said, ‘I am a vegetarian.’ At that time, he was not a vegetarian, but from then on, he is.” “When I first left my husband to go to the Himalayas, it was painful too. But because I saw that the whole world had more pain than I did, that made my pain very small in comparison to the whole world’s suffering. So I continued to walk my way.”

“(It’s out of a love story, it’s out of fiction, but the fiction is real. And it’s an absolutely fascinating story. There’s a great diversity in Her poems. Sometimes when I was reading Supreme Master’s poems, they just came out with a musicality. It was just going along like this is a character singing. Supreme Master’s poems just sing. It's much deeper than a lot of lyrics go.)”