Today’s A Journey through Aesthetic Realms will be presented in Aulacese (Vietnamese), with subtitles in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

Âu Lạc (Vietnam) is a nation with a long-standing traditional culture. Aulacese musical heritage is bountiful; since ancient times, many soul-stirring musical instruments have been created with diverse sounds like those of the copper drum, gong, lithophone, bamboo xylophone, cymbals, and panpipe.

In 2003, Elegant Music, a style of Huế royal court music, was recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an intangible cultural heritage of the world. Âu Lạc’s music represents the unique features of each region, for example, Quan Họ folksongs in the north, Huế tunes in the central, and modern folk opera in the south. In addition, there are many other forms of music, including hò, lý, ceremonial songs, Aulacese classical theatre, chèo traditional opera, hồ quảng opera, and so on.

Indeed, the essence of music is imbued in the hearts of people in this beautiful country, and has been cultivated until this day.

In Aulacese (Vietnamese) traditional folk music, lý is a singing genre that is mostly based on folk poetry in the form of six-eight couplets. The rhythm varies between fast and slow in a recital style, so lý singing genre has hundreds of different tunes. Through simple lyrics, lý songs often describe images and feelings as experienced in life.

Enhanced by tender melodies, lý is very accessible and therefore quite popular. We now invite you to listen to a song of the lý genre entitled “For the One Who Stayed Behind,” composed and performed by Supreme Master Ching Hai. “For the One Who Stayed Behind” is adapted from a poem written by Supreme Master Ching Hai in Munich, Germany during her younger years, at a time when she was about to forsake her happy marriage in search of Truth.

The bond between husband and wife is the deepest in terms of human emotions; there is thus no separation without agony. This was particularly true for the spouse whom she wholeheartedly loved and respected. For the happiness of all beings and due to her immense love, the Buddha’s heart had chosen the noble path of sacrifice, but the human heart had its own poignance and anguish.

The first time she sang this song and revisited past feelings, she was profoundly moved. A Buddha does not become wood or stone; on the contrary, she still retains the emotions that everyone experiences, to recognize and understand in-depth all human anxieties and suffering. With Supreme Master Ching Hai’s precious permission, we will present an excerpt of the song entitled “For the One Who Stayed Behind,” sung by the author herself during the first recording, when she was filled with emotion. This will be followed by the song in its entirety, her second recording of this song. Let us listen together.

Please lift your heart out of the blue web So my mind will also be lightened be lightened when we are apart when we are apart.

Praised be the Buddha whose light guides my way, And protects you

in your lonely days in your lonely days.

When you come home, There will be only grass and flowers Greeting your footsteps! The garden sheds her evening dews, The house bows weighed in loneliness, Murmuring farewell!

Even if my heart was made of stone And my feeling of brass, They would be softened and melt softened and melt Thinking of the pain I've left you! the pain I've left you!

Why were we born in this world of woe For you to pine,

for me to taste sorrow!? for me to taste sorrow!?

Since which era have we pledged our faithful vows, Thus bind ourselves bind ourselves in matrimony now? in matrimony now?

Please lift your heart out of the blue web So my mind will also be lightened be lightened when we are apart when we are apart.

Praised be the Buddha whose light guides my way, And protects you And protects you in your lonely days in your lonely days.

One day, I'll be enlightened and bring illumination to the world, We will be together We will be together for eternity... for eternity...

You’ve just enjoyed the lý song “For the One Who Stayed Behind,” written and performed by Supreme Master Ching Hai.

We thank Supreme Master Ching Hai for the special permission to share this priceless and moving song on A Journey through Aesthetic Realms. The sacrifice and limitless love of a Master since your days of youth cannot be comprehended fully by the people in this world. Despite that, year after year, you have continued to grace all beings silently, patiently and unconditionally.

We are grateful to you for always being a shining example to encourage all that is noble, beautiful and elevating, like the verses of poetry, the sound of music and the emotions that are expressed from the human heart exquisitely created by the Divine.

Huế singing is a form of music with unique characteristics of the people from Âu Lạc’s ancient capital. With elegant, expressive phonology and intonation, Huế singing, in the old time, was performed only for the royal family and royal court, but now has become a traditional art representative of the idyllic Huế city in central Âu Lạc.

The setting to enjoy Huế singing is often a small, cozy room; a charming corner in the garden; or a boat’s cabin on the peaceful Perfume River. Huế songs convey deep and earnest sentiments. They describe the joy and sorrow of a human life and praise nature’s beauty, using outside scenery to express inner thoughts. Huế singing has many different tunes such as Cổ Bản, Phú Lục, Long Ngâm, Hành Vân, Nam Ai, and Lovelorn.

“Life is like the bubbles of an evening rain If we don’t practice spiritually now, For what lifetime are we waiting?” A human life is often replete with sorrow and losses. Only the realization of the illuminating Truth through our fruitful spiritual practice shall bring us back to the realm of eternal bliss.

To begin our program, we invite you to enjoy a song suite in Huế singing style, entitled “Advice for Spiritual Practice.” This song was adapted from the poems “Sympathy,” “A Visit to Dharma Flower Temple,” “Awaiting Death ,” and “Advice for Spiritual Practice,” written by Supreme Master Ching Hai under the pen name Wu Tzu, with vocal performance by Hoàng Hằng.

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! Returning home, there’s no joy within me. Balancing worldly life and Zen, it’s just sad and lonely. Before being born into this material plane, I’ve acquired unending debt from previous existence.

Visiting the temple, my heart is light in meditation Returning home, my shoulders weigh heavy with desolation... I wait for death each second of the day Like an expectant mother waiting for the moment of delivery! Why am I still young, yet to grow wiser? Ever close to misery, so far from Nirvana... A hundred years are but a series of struggles Gold and brass are well-muddled, It’s difficult to know which is counterfeit! Life is like the bubbles of an evening rain If we don’t practice spiritually now, For what lifetime are we waiting?

Under the bright moonlight, melodious music harmonized with rhythmic dances during a village festival enhances villagers’ neighborly bond. This cheerful atmosphere is reflected in “Hò Hụi Singing from Quảng Nam,” with vocals by Thu Hương, Phương Thủy, Văn Quý, and Văn Nhanh. Please enjoy.

Dancing under the moon

Singing

Dancing under the moon

We sing and dance

Our hearts

Our hearts are rapturous.

Playing the flute on the Lam Mountain

Listening

to the sound of the flute under the moon.

Music soars then falls

melodiously,

spreading far and wide.

Dancing under the moon

Singing

Dancing under the moon

We sing and dance

Our hearts

Our hearts are rapturous.

Playing the flute on the Lam Mountain

Listening

to the sound of the flute under the moon.

Music soars then falls

melodiously,

spreading far and wide.

In the quiet stretches of mountains and hills, the animals’ plaintive calling sounds sadden the one staying behind and evoke longing in the one away from home.

“As I gaze at the scenery from the mountain pass, pine trees are whistling at yonder. Oh, how I miss my motherland!” And now is a Thừa Thiên Huế folk song, entitled “Crossing the Mountain Pass,” with vocal performance by singer Thu Thủy. Please enjoy.

In the evening, as I help Grandma cross the mountain pass, birds are calling out at yonder

and gibbons climbing on the other side. As I gaze at the scenery from the mountain pass, pine trees are whistling at yonder.

Oh, how I miss my motherland! The sun is shining on the bridge. Who went away to the other side,

leaving me heartbroken on this side? Far away from the motherland, I yearn for you unendingly.

Oh, how very heart-rending! Oh, how very heart-rending!

Supreme Master Ching Hai lovingly sent gifts to the artists in the Aulacese traditional folk music on Supreme Master Television. Singer Thu Thủy, who presented the song “Crossing the Mountain Pass,” shared her thoughts as follows:

Today, I’m very honored that Supreme Master Ching Hai sent me a gift which is very meaningful to me. Knowing that Supreme Master Television is a humanitarian channel, I feel very honored to be able to contribute a small part to this program. I’d like to thank Supreme Master Ching Hai and wish Master good health.

And now, I’d like to dedicate to Master and Supreme Master Television a Huế singing melody, conveying feelings of an imperial maid in the forbidden palace of the past.

It is called the lovelorn tune. Lonely in my chamber, I play the lute. A sad and solemn tune rends my heart, spurring on my melancholy. I sit waiting for my beloved, yet he’s unseen under the sky and clouds. A pair of swallows separated O such tragic love! What karmic debt did I incur in past life to weep tears of sorrow now because of someone’s unfaithfulness? Fresh still is our vow of yore. Why is Heaven teasing us heartlessly? Tired I am of a love unrequited! What good is it to meet then part? What good is it to meet then part?

Singer Hoàng Hằng, who performed the song “Advice for Spiritual Practice,” adapted from Supreme Master Ching Hai’s poems, also received Master’s gift and well wishes.

Thank you for watching our program today. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television for more traditional folk music programs in the future. Coming up next is Vegetarianism: The Noble Way of Living, after Noteworthy News. Farewell for now.