For
many people, experiences of love or passion often leave heartthrobs,
regrets, touching feelings and memories, or even painful inner traumas
that are difficult to express outwardly. When confronted with the
trials of love, the heart is often filled with indefinable bliss,
emotional struggles, rational debate, romantic expectations, and wholehearted
yearning for understanding from the beloved. This intriguing yet paradoxical
maturing of the heart is described candidly and exquisitely in Supreme
Master Ching Hai's poetry collection The Lost Memories. This
beautiful and touching anthology is an honest account of Master's
quest for true love.
Like everyone, Master had to
go through numerous courses of learning in Her early life, and in
this collection, She uses simple yet deeply touching verses to depict
each step of Her journey. In poems such as "Since I've Loved
You" She depicts Her worries and fears; in "If" and
"Before and After I Met You" Her hopes about love; in "When
You Kissed Me this Morning," "The Star of My Heart"
and "Before and After I Met You" the wonderful, sweet feelings
that accompany love; and in "If Only There Isn't" and "Melody
Blue" the longing and anxiety of a couple in love.
Some poems in the book, such as "It's not Easy
to Go," "Instead of Saying Good-bye!" "I Don't
Know" and "Je Ne Crois Pas!.," infuse us with the intense
pain of separation. In addition to the helplessness and emotional
struggles experienced before and after separation, these poems portray
a sublime form of romance that is above secular passion, and illustrate
the more profound meaning of love. Master's true feelings flow naturally
from Her words and verses, allowing us to catch a glimpse of Her unexpressed
and unfathomable inner qualities.
Secular life and struggles between desires are also
described in Master's poems, for example, in "What Shall I Do?"
and "If There Wasn't You in Life." Romantic and beautiful
verses depicting the endless longing for a lover can be found in "Winter
Night in Iserlohn," "Weekend Thoughts," and "Your
Pullover." When Master returned to Her hometown and found that
everything had changed, She expressed calmness and relief in "Old
Town, Past Love!" "It May Be Too Late Then ." and "Final."
In all of Her poems, Master seems to guide readers through a tour
starting from the inner soul and going to the outer experience of
worldly love, helping us to merge with Her, and allowing us to observe
all the vicissitudes of the secular world, in which the souls of sentient
beings seek the sublime.
Who said that spiritual practitioners do not have
emotions and cannot understand the vicissitudes of life? How fortunate
we are, in that a great Enlightened Master is willing to share with
us memories of Her former world of emotions! Through Her grace, our
group of initiates walking the spiritual path has come to understand
the true qualities of human nature, and learned that spiritual practitioners
should not turn into apathetic stones. Conversely, we ought to always
convey the power of love to everyone who loves us and whom we love.
