Art Exhibition of Supreme Master Ching Hai’s Creative Works at Loving the Silent Tears

A selection of her elevating works was presented for all to enjoy in the Art Exhibition at the Shrine Auditorium Exposition Hall, held in conjunction with the Loving the Silent Tears premiere to celebrate the 19th Anniversary of Supreme Master Ching Hai Day.

Theatergoers visited the exhibition prior to and after the musical performance, which brought together world-class artists to honor Supreme Master Ching Hai as a poet and humanitarian, as well as a spiritual teacher. Her poetry from Silent Tears was set into awe-inspiring songs by acclaimed, award-winning Broadway and Hollywood composers.

Upon entering the welcoming atmosphere, one attendee named Tony Castro expressed, “Very serene and simple, and that’s good. That’s what we need in our lives, simple.”

In addition to imparting a meditation method for reconnecting with our inner love and greatness, Supreme Master Ching Hai encourages efforts to beautify the world we live in. Although she has never received formal training in the arts, Supreme Master Ching Hai’s aesthetic creations reveal the latent talents she has realized spontaneously through meditation. These include her oil paintings, fan paintings, decorative lamps, jewelry and clothing designs, culinary art, architecture and landscape designs, as well as her poetry and musical compositions. As she does not accept any form of donation, Supreme Master Ching Hai’s artistic works provide an independent source of funding for her worldwide humanitarian efforts. Those who have the pleasure of seeing her exquisite creations joyously discover their profound expressions of truth, virtue, beauty, and love.

Elegant Roman pillars and arches formed the main decorative theme. A set of eight goddess statues stood at a gateway leading to the exhibit area. Soothing water flowed through the vessels held up in two of the goddesses’ hands. The central lintel was glazed in golden color with Supreme Master Ching Hai’s slogan: Be Vegan, Make Peace. The royal red carpeting of the expo hall brought out highlights of white and gold, which were the theme colors of the exhibition.

Artworks were displayed on ethereal curved arrangements, which gave a sense of the harmony inherent in Supreme Master Ching Hai’s style. Looking around in wonderment, one attendee commented, “It’s just all such beautiful work! It’s amazing. Yes, everything’s so beautiful here.”

Jacqueline, another visitor, shared, “I live about three hours north of San Francisco at an ashram. I saw her art for the first time in person and her jewelry and her clothes, and I just felt her presence and I was moved to tears. I understand because I have a Master. My Master is not in the body anymore and so I feel very much drawn to her [Supreme Master Ching Hai], and I understand her and the work she's doing, and I am just eternally grateful.”

The exhibit was a collection of almost all types of Supreme Master Ching Hai’s loving works from over the years.

Among them were Celestial Clothes, Celestial Jewelries, Longevity Lamps, paintings, artistic fans, and photographic prints. In addition, large mural photographs showed her ingenious sculpted, architectural, and interior designs, such as her simple yet elegant cave for meditation, hand-painted paperweight stones, and the colorful Phoenix building she designed for spiritual practitioners.

Vegan
fur

Supreme Master Ching Hai’s versatile creations are radiant on display.

Supreme Master Ching Hai’s Silent Tears poetry collection was the inspiration for the musical.

One attendee, a vegan named Terry Flores, said, “We looked all around the exhibitions, wonderful gallery. They’ve got some nice statues over there – but most of all, pictures of Master Ching Hai. I really liked her photo over there, where she’s in like a stone temple, like kind of a getaway to the past.”

There were also artistic and spiritual publications in the forms of books and DVD albums. Visitors were drawn to the multi-media center to enjoy watching videos, as well.

Supreme Master Ching Hai’s poetry book Silent Tears was the highlight of the book section. Hardcover copies of the anthology were available in English, Chinese, Spanish, Aulacese, and Korean translations.

Supreme Master Ching Hai originally wrote Silent Tears in English and personally translated the collection into Aulacese and Chinese. During a videoconference with Supreme Master Television staff on December 22, 2012, Supreme Master Ching Hai recounted: “I just wrote it for myself like a diary. And then one day, the people, disciples read it, they discovered it and they wanted to print some out of it. So it was copied the way I wrote it and printed it out the way I wrote it, by copying my writing. So, if you see the old copy it is like children’s writing, because that kind of pen (dip pen), the more you use it, the more supple it becomes and the more you can write nicely. But the new pen is always too hard. So anyway, I couldn’t bother because I never thought it’s going to be for anybody, so I wrote it for myself. And then later they copied exactly how I wrote it using copy style and then printed it into some books and then gave it to disciples.”

While I am athirst in the desert of existence,

You’re drinking Nectar somewhere in the heavenly abode!

If only I knew the road,

I’d go up there and snatch it immediately.

O Master,

Gloriest of all Glory!

Wouldn’t You consider it fair

To spill down just a few drops

For me?

—Excerpt from Silent Tears poetry collection

By Supreme Master Ching Hai

Formosa - 1980s

Many people stopped to read Supreme Master Ching Hai’s poems, thus gaining insight into the songs that would be presented in the musical. One of the attendees named Suzy expressed, “My background is in musical theatre and in art. And I have an appreciation, of course, for anything along those lines. And the poetry – just beautifully presented, just beautiful!”

Usually completed in a single, inspired session, the artist’s paintings are purely intuitive in their brushstrokes, and rich in the positive essence of the subjects portrayed. Art critics are often amazed at both the exceptional skill and effortlessness found in Supreme Master Ching Hai’s spiritually meaningful paintings and drawings.


Harmonious paintings imbued with spiritual meaning	The fan paintings, another visual delight for guests

One of the paintings on display was titled, “Desert Flowers.” Supreme Master Ching Hai said of this piece, created in California, USA in March 1994: “They’re beautiful. These flowers look very dry but they’re not dry. The plants are still very green inside. That’s the way some desert flowers are. All flowers, when they’re in different conditions, have different colors and different forms. We are similar. All people in different situations and different circumstances appear different, from the outside and sometimes from the inside. I don’t mean the inside soul or the original, eternal person. I mean the character of the person: the personalities and habits he or she acquires through contact with the environment or his/her background. But they are still beautiful, just like desert flowers.”

One visitor, Gavin Glynn, said, “The paintings in the back wall, just the use of watercolors, and how they’re just popping off the paper, it’s just very easy and very tranquil. Everything’s very tranquil here. Very Zen!”

Supreme Master Ching Hai has created a series of special fan paintings using a simple set of materials. A limitless creativity bursts forth from these representations of wisdom, childlike innocence, and joy. For instance, one fan painting titled “Luck” depicts, as the artist explained, a rainbow and a sky filled with stars, both auspicious omens that symbolize the inner Light.

Visitor Helene Silber responded, “I’ve been walking around, kind of like ‘ah!’ I love fashion and so some of the clothes that are shown here… The artwork’s really wonderful and so interesting because some of it is very old fashioned, some of it so modern. And it looks so complicated to put it all together. There’s so many things here I want to reach out to touch, but I wouldn’t dare, like the fans! It’s quite exquisite.”

A selection from the artist’s
Longevity Lamp collection


The Real Love musical book and DVD	Photos from Supreme Master Ching Hai’s #1 international bestselling book The Noble Wilds

Each of Supreme Master Ching Hai’s decorative lamps represents a wondrous spiritual concept and is carefully handcrafted out of all-natural materials. The designer has called these uniquely shaped sources of light, “Longevity Lamps,” as they symbolize the Eternal Light of the Divine.

One example is the lamp she has named “At One With All Creation,” depicting many smaller planets interconnected with one large planet. The sphere and circles represent the perfection and oneness of creation.

While some are made of bamboo, other lamps are constructed with pieces of stone, such as “The Four Kindness.” The solid and powerful feel from the use of stones reminds us that the inner Master’s power protects at all times.

In a softly illuminated area were presented the DVDs and newly released hardcover books of the 2011 musical The Real Love, which included photos from the live event, music sheets, and the full libretto. The musical was a collaborative work of Hollywood and Broadway talents, with lyrical poems by Supreme Master Ching Hai. The Real Love depicted the heart-touching love story of a Red Cross worker who courageously sacrificed her happy married life to seek enlightenment for the greater benefit of humankind. The high-caliber production was in fact based on Supreme Master Ching Hai’s real life experiences.

“The Supreme Master does an elegant, beautiful job – the detail and the artwork. Also the way it’s been presented here tonight, it shows the respect and the presence. The diversity of the jewelry and clothing and artwork – it’s just beautiful and elegantly displayed. It’s a class act (work of superb quality).”

—Randy Olsen, CEO / Consultant of Celebrity International Entertainment;
from Palm Springs, California, USA

One section titled “Rhythm of Silence” presented enlarged photographs taken by Supreme Master Ching Hai of wildlife she had intimately come to know, the charming residents of a place she called Lake Amoura. These photographs were published in Supreme Master Ching Hai’s #1 international bestselling book, The Noble Wilds.

Supreme Master Ching Hai’s other fascinating animal books, The Dogs in My Life and The Birds in My Life, both also #1 international bestsellers, were on display, as well. These three engaging volumes encourage readers to rediscover pure love, wisdom, and friendship as demonstrated by these animal friends.

Supreme Master Ching Hai has created countless unique clothing designs. Elegant, ethereal, vibrant, and fun, S.M. Celestial Clothes are intended to bring out one’s inner beauty. In 1995, a number of these original dresses toured the world’s fashion capitals on runways in Paris, London, New York, and Milan, and were highly praised.

At the center of the exhibition area were two staggered C-shaped stages forming an “S” together. On the stages stood ten poised mannequins donning elegant Celestial Clothes designed by Supreme Master Ching Hai. The costumes featured gentle curves, exquisite layers of highest quality fabrics, and balanced colors emphasizing bright golden, yellow, and white.

Supreme Master Ching Hai’s designs of vegan “fur” also showed the artist’s practice of compassion.

Appearing as if illuminated from within, every handmade piece of S.M. Celestial Jewelry is given a specific name given by Supreme Master Ching Hai. Many of her jewelry designs have been showcased and highly acclaimed at world-class exhibition shows in Basel, Switzerland and Paris, France.


New jewelry design: Series XV / “Eternal Life”	Series III / “To the Other Shore”

The jewelry display next to the fashion area was always enveloped by a crowd of admirers. Of particular significance is the newly released 15th generation set of Celestial Jewelry named “Eternal Life.” There were three versions of this design, each crafted with gold, diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. A central theme is the pattern of the tree of life with ruby and green leaves springing forth from a large central diamond encircled by a ring of smaller ones. The design shows a spiritual level where one is connected with the infinite divine power, and therefore blessed with boundless love, wisdom, and creativity. One visitor named Antoine Walker enthused on his favorite section of the exhibit, “Mainly the jewelry, just how she took her time to design all that wonderful jewelry.”

Visitors admire Supreme Master Ching Hai’s brilliant jewelry designs.

A very special highlight of this art show was a set of the artist’s original hand drawings of jewelry, clothing, and lamp designs. From these precious sketches, one could glimpse the initial stages of the creation of masterpieces.

Like the uplifting musical, Loving the Silent Tears, its accompanying art exhibition brought a heart-warming breeze of tranquility and heavenly beauty for all who were present.

“We’re walking around, browsing, and checking out all the different exhibits,” said theatergoing guest Crista Cotton. “It’s really nice! It’s been a great adventure.”

As Supreme Master Ching Hai once said, “We are here to learn, to learn to grow as well as to learn to use our power, our limitless power of love and creativity, to make the world a better place wherever we happen to be incarnated.” May we all open our wellspring of creativity and bring Heaven to Earth.