Immortal Poetry



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.