An Evening of Poetry and Music – Traces of Previous Lives and Love Songs for the Homeland, Part 5 of a Multi-part Series

In my wish for social and human harmony, I have set to music Supreme Master Ching Hai’s poem “Existence and Nothingness.” Once again, ladies and gentlemen, Duy Quang. “Passing by this way, The view reminds me of you. Snow drapes everywhere, the sky in gloom! A hundred years concluded in one second. Some people are gone, while others still remain. Life is such a meaningless, poignant dream! One step forward is to arrive at the Origin, One inch back is to return to the suffering! Year after year, it’s just the same. Not much difference between this mundane Earth and home of the Saints... I always thought Nirvana is so and so, Had no idea I was wrong all along! At the moment of enlightenment, where are the four elements? Alas, the cosmos is but a very long dream! Now I understand the Buddha’s silence for forty years. Bodhidharma also spoke not a word. In the future, where do I turn for liberation? Where are the sentient beings to be saved from reincarnation? In the future, where do I turn for liberation? Where are the sentient beings to be saved from reincarnation?”

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s welcome singer Lê Uyên. Ladies and gentlemen, 5 years ago, by good fortune, I met the poet Supreme Master Ching Hai. What remained with me after that meeting was truly unforgettable. The poem talks about the desire to escape the constraints of life and damnation. We invite you all to listen to the poem “Like the Clouds High Above.” The poem, written by Supreme Master Ching Hai, set to music by musician Lê Dinh, and arranged by Duy Cường and Lê Uyên, will be presented to you now. “O Buddha on the radiant dais high above, I’m so lost, stumbling through the dark road! I want to be devout, but it seems beyond my reach, Wanting to be virtuous, yet always deep in blunders and misdeeds. Many times I tell myself to repent, But binding ties beckon me toward the reincarnate existence. My earthly garment tattered in the wind and lightning, How I long to clutch a corner of Buddha’s saintly raiment! Many times I want to sever all attachments But my heart clings to old karmic attractions. Passion weaves its web, daily survival ties my limbs! The harder the struggle, the deeper the entanglement... O Buddha on the miraculous dais, In the dark night, please guide my path Please light the way and illuminate my steps Fragile, I kneel by the Buddha’s dais.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, the MC with us today may be new to all of you, but she was very famous in the film industry in Vietnam during the 1980s, actress Mai Phương. Ladies and gentlemen, let me present to you the musician Lê Uyên Phương. Ladies and gentlemen, there are two program booklets. These booklets contain the poems of the poet Supreme Master Ching Hai, which were translated into English and Chinese.