Supreme Master Ching Hai:
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 A
brief introduction of Supreme Master Ching Hai:  Supreme Master
Ching Hai was born in Au Lac. Since Her youth, She was already
gifted in poetry and literature which enabled Her to beautiful
elements of life, the upheavals of the country, the worldly
attachments, the ups and downs of life, the fragile hopes,
the limits of indulgence and awakening through the flow of
melodious and gentle verses. |
‧Love And Dreams
‧The Struggle Between Heaven And Earth
‧Leaving
The Ephemeral World To Enter The Buddha Land
‧The Characteristics of Supreme Master Ching Hai's Poetry
In Au Lac poetry and music, there has been a relatively large number of poems from spiritual practitioners praising the Buddha and Jesus Christ, but no one has ever read their love poems. Any verses with even a hint at a love story are usually prohibited by religions.
Supreme Master Ching Hai has stepped outside of this tradition. Recently, in the summer of 1996, She officially allowed the recitation, printing and publishing of more than 60 poems including both love and spiritual poems, which She wrote before and while actively pursuing spiritual practice. These poems are contained in five separate collections accompanied by five CDs: " Vo Tu I
For me, I can casually read spiritual poetry from a nun, however, reading love poems from a female spiritual Master is much more interesting. My curiosity stems from both an interest in the earthly and religious aspects. It is for this reason that I tried to enter the world created by Supreme Master Ching Hai's poetry with a level of receptivity and solemnity I felt was necessary. I was fearful that if I didn't proceed gently, I could destroy the emotive ambiance imbued in each and every verse by Supreme Master Ching Hai, particularly those of a passionate nature.
Just like any human being living in the secular world, Supreme Master Ching Hai traveled through the circle of love filled with happiness, anger, sympathy and resentment. She even burned Herself in the fire of passion and lived within a marriage filled with love and dreams. Finally disappointed, however, Supreme Master Ching Hai turned Her back on all the mundane sweetness and bitterness to enter the world of Buddhahood. Consequently, Her poetry is a mixture of conflicting emotions ranging from Her experience with worldly love to the pure Buddha-love attained through spiritual practice.
Love And Dreams
Supreme Master Ching Hai's love poems read like a classic love story with all the necessary qualities: resentful loneliness, nights of hopeless waiting and days of passion, et cetera. The only difference is that Supreme Master Ching Hai accepts all Her love stories under what She calls "the guiding light of enlightenment." Here Supreme Master Ching Hai expresses Her loneliness as She waits for Her beloved:
| ‧‧‧ "I felt lonely as I've never been so lonely. I felt sad as I've never been so sad... ‧‧‧ Tonight there is only the Muse and I. And tomorrow's far away, the night's so long. I lay with my soul hidden in a mass of entangled hair Hearing life falling on my shoulders..."
The Lonesome Night (Vo Tu I) |
Realizing Her beloved isn't returning, the lonely poet listens to the sound of the rain and the falling leaves, dreaming of memories of the past:
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‧‧‧ "Before my eyes there was nothing but a sad past, At the sound of falling rain I thought was your footstep coming. Autumn leaves took turns to bid farewell to the season, And my sad fingers collected the broken illusion piece by piece!..." ‧‧‧ The Passinq Passion (Traces of Previous Life II) |
The romance ends and the dream subsides, leaving Supreme Master Ching Hai to recall:
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‧‧‧ "You had promised to guide me from winter to summer, To transform the cycle of transmigration into a glorious paradise. You had acquainted me with passion and strange pleasures. You had rebuilt Eden with your wondrous fingers!" ‧‧‧ The Man Who Recreated Eden (Traces of Previous Life II) |
Even with the "guiding light of enlightenment", the poet couldn't forget the days of love and passion:
| ‧‧‧ "we soared together to the everlasting land. A thousand words halted between our lips, In loving embrace our passion radiated, Warm scented breath wafted over the entire existence" ‧‧‧ An Unexpected Day (Traces of Previous Life II) |
Although I knew that "Traces of the Previous Life" were a collection of romantic poems written by a person before they pursued spiritual practice, I was still a little surprised with the verses. Rather than merely satisfying my artistic curiosity, these poems touched me to the point where I felt sympathy for the poet. I treasured them as a dear friend's own unfinished love story.
The Struggle Between Heaven And Earth
This may be the first time that Au Lac cultural observers witness this revolutionary approach to poetry by a spiritual practitioner. The journey from ignorance to enlightenment, which the poet Supreme Master Ching Hai embarked on, depicts the often bitter, enduring and dramatic struggles between the alluring, yet ephemeral, worldly temptations and spiritual devotion that any Asian woman would have to deal with if she wishes to reach the shore of enlightenment:
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‧‧‧ "I wanted to believe like the faithful, yet so far away from Your sight. I wanted to be devout, yet kept on with my sinful deeds..." ‧‧‧ Like The Clouds Up In The Sky (Vo Tu II) |
I was very inspired to be able to follow this spiritual practitioner to the deepest and most private corners of Her being. The reader finds Her in love and passionate; in despair as well as in happiness, when the spirit gloriously shines to when the mind is engulfed by the fire of passion. I could feel the seemingly endless and dramatic inner struggle between ignorance and enlightenment, between the upward struggle of righteousness and the downward pull of enticement.
I no longer see the model of spiritual asceticism that leaves one desiccated due to abstinence as being correct for spiritual practitioners. On the contrary, I have seen clearly a refreshingly new image which is bright, innocent, and full of life. The poet refers to matters, that are normally seen as prohibited, in a carefree manner; mentions former loves with tranquillity; talks of passion with a pure heart; recalls all the sadness with a heart that is no longer sad; and talks of past despairs with a heart full of hope. This positive, relaxed and uninhibited attitude surely can only exist when a spiritual practitioner has reached the pinnacle of enlightenment.
No reader can avoid the heart-wrenching emotion when reading of the poet's uncertainty as She faces the struggle between staying with Her husband and renouncing the world:
| ‧‧‧ " I remain here with you Because the wind is cold outside. And where else could I go. Life's a long lonely road, besides. ‧‧‧ It's just the human's lot Like birds who must live in pairs Like animals who must have their lairs, I too need a mate " ‧‧‧ Acceptance (Traces of Previous Life II) |
Sometimes the poet just wanted to give up because She felt fettered by the monotonous daily activities of our ephemeral existence:
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‧‧‧ "Life is a prison, Food and clothes are debts. Human intimacy is a drug. I'm a person not fully alive" ‧‧‧ Powerless (Traces of Previous Life III) |
Sometimes She thought that She was progressing toward enlightenment, but She also knew that the journey to the Buddha Land is not an easy one, as Supreme Master Ching Hai often experienced:
| ‧‧‧ "One step forward we return to the original state. One step backward we go back to the world of dust!." ‧‧‧ Existence and Nothingness (Vo Tu I) |
She admitted to Herself that the main obstacles for spiritual practice were worldly love and the basic need for survival:
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Mundane obligations often grieved the poet and almost destroyed Her dream of renunciation:
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‧‧‧ "There were times the sun would not rise. I waited in vain for the future to arrive" ‧‧‧ Unfilled (Traces of Previous Life I) |
Leaving The Ephemeral World To Enter The Buddha Land
But finally, the blessing came. Thanks to the "guiding light of enlightenment", the poet untied all bindings to the ephemeral world and stepped into the Buddha Land. Supreme Master Ching Hai's poetry from this point on is full of life and it's enormously attractive:
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‧‧‧ "Don't think about, ask for, or even deny The lonely corners of our lives. The world turns in cycles: Sunshine after rain. Look at upheavals simply as a game!" ‧‧‧ Forever Will Be (Traces of Previous Life II) |
On the day She solemnly took the oath of spiritual devotion, unconcerned if the heavens shed tears, the heart of this spiritual practitioner rejoiced:
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‧‧‧ "The day I cut my hair to enter a religious existence Tears fell from the heavens, and the earth vowed to protect me! My heart rejoiced with the Budhic Festivity Inviting Buddhas everywhere to come witness this incident. From now on all passions will cease. Black hair fell down fertilizing the flowers in Avichi." Leaving Home To Lead A Religious Life (Vo Tu I) |
In reality, the soul of a spiritual practitioner is not naturally carefree, so what touches the reader is the humanistic essence of Supreme Master Ching Hai's poetry. Studying the following verses we can feel Her uneasiness; know how much Her loving memories mean to her; and even sense a touch of remorse when She leaves Her beloved husband to pledge Her devotion to the Buddha:
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‧‧‧ "Please try to not feel the pain my dear For the guilt abated and my conscience is clear. One had gone to seek guidance in the Golden Way The other returned to the world in his lonely day" ‧‧‧ For The One Who Stayed Behind (Vo Tu) |
This humanistic essence, the love and sense of remembrance still prevailed at journey's end when this spiritual practitioner left a temple to start Her spiritual mission:
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‧‧‧ "My heart felt the melancholy of the autumn leaves. Half of me wanted to slay, the other half couldn't wait to leave. Good-bye dear pagoda, dear Master, dear friends. Good-bye to this place of so many joyful sojourns With reluctant footsteps I returned to the dusty world Light-hearted still from remembrance of Buddha's world." ‧‧‧ Coming Down From The Mountain (Vo Tu) |
The Characteristics of Supreme Master Ching Hai's Poetry
This "human" essence is in each and every one of Supreme Master Ching Hai's poems. No doubt it is Her very human, very honest and simple approach that is the foundation for Supreme Master Ching Hai's poetry.
Indeed, Supreme Master Ching Hai writes Her poems just like people write their diary. She writes whatever comes to mind -- the verse and the thought arriving at the same moment, with no need for polishing. Rhyming and other elements sometimes are just secondary. Supreme Master Ching Hai's poetry flows naturally in a very relaxed way, with no hidden meaning, for there is nothing to hide. The six-and-eight word style (where a poem consists of multiple pairs of a six-word line followed by an eight-word line) in Supreme Master Ching Hai's compositions are as graceful and simple as those of Nguyen Binh, but are more refined and use more Buddhist terms and imagery.
The poem "An Abandoned Mansion", written in Rappallo, Italy reveals this unique six-and-eight word style:
‧‧‧ "I came upon a deserted silent mansion. Cobwebs covered the doorway, crickets chirping at its half-opened gate! The wind whistled passed a vacant chamber Ancient souls sighed, each in turn. perhaps..." ‧‧‧ An Abandoned Mansion (Vo Tu II) |
In comparison with Pham Thien Thu, a spiritual poet who wrote a number of poems containing well hidden meanings of romantic love over 30 years ago, Supreme Master Ching Hai's love poems are completely different in style. Pham Thien Thu only symbolically described a lover:
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‧‧‧ "Your hair, a fragrant forest Your slender arm, an ivory flower bud" ‧‧‧ |
In contrast, Supreme Master Ching Hai s portrayal of Her lover is very realistic:
‧‧‧ "Do you remember all the things you've said? The lips that flame like the blood in my vein! The eyes so blue as the horizon-sky, The beautiful hair, so precious like gold threads!" ‧‧‧ The Man Who Recreated Eden (Traces of Previous Life I) |
Apart from the poems describing worldly love, Supreme Master Ching Hai writes of spiritual ideals just like Ding Hung. The following extract from the poem "Eternal Beloved" represents a different style in Supreme Master Ching Hai's poems:
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‧‧‧ "Where have you gone at a thousand-forks road? Remember your past, remember my call? A nano-second dream, a thousand affinities came forth. With the body, all solemn promises still deeply buried" ‧‧‧ "I have arrived do you not know? With me still always the pink lotus flower. Awaiting you, eons have passed. Promise to return, do you not remember? ‧‧‧ |
The vitality and elegance as found in Vu Hoang Ghuong's poetry are also found in some verses of Supreme Master Ching Hai's poems:
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‧‧‧ "A hundred years in this meaningless comedy, We can laugh out loud in the midst of our loving courtship! Let the universe revolve in its cycle. Dark night nor dawning, let's think of neither" ‧‧‧ |
Poems embellished with abstract impressions, like the above, are but a few in Supreme Master Ching Hai's five-CD collection. The majority are written in the original Supreme Master Ching Hai style, which is defined by spontaneity, human nature, simplicity and realism.
In a purely cultural sense, Supreme Master Ching Hai is considered to be successful in conveying Her ideals and maintaining reader interest. Whether or not it is advisable for a Buddhist practitioner to reveal Her private life and innermost feelings to Her disciples and the public must be left to the individual to judge.
In Buddhist circles there has been much reflection on Supreme Master Ching Hai's progressive approach, both in respect to Her spiritual practice and teaching methods. Her publishing of both love and spiritual poetry is perhaps only a minor breaking of tradition in relation to Her more significant, liberal approach toward spiritual practice.
