There are great talents and great personalities, but it is rare to find a great talent in a great personality. Trinh Cong Son is such a rare case. In his Forewords to one collection of his songs, Tring Cong Son wrote:
At night I look at Heaven and Earth to learn tolerance, and observe the path the ants are taking to learn patience. Rivers are flowing, and springs are running in their respective courses. Human life is the same; let's live and let go all hatred and envy.
Looking up at the sky (Heaven), one realizes how tiny one is in the boundless universe, only a particle of dust in space. Humans have dumped a lot of wastes onto the ground (Earth), which, without any complaint, simply absorbs and transforms them to nurture all species. Looking at tiny ants crawling on earth, one can learn patience. Ants represent patience. The image of crawling ants keeping themselves in line inspires patience in us. It does not matter how long it takes the ants to fill up their hills with food, they patiently accomplish their task anyhow. Similarly, running water can eventually break down a huge rock. Perseverance and patience will do wonder.
Patience and tolerance temper hatred, and kindle forgiveness. These virtues arise from one's awareness of one's insignificance among all species, and from forgetting one's big ego. Therefore, Trinh wrote,"In life one needs a good and kind heart. Do you know what for? Just for the wind to blow it away." After all, humans tend to have big egos. No one wants others to be better than himself. Greed, hatred, and ignorance are three essential poisons in humans. All envies and hatred come from big egos. Only when one realizes no self (emptiness) can one become tolerant and humble.
Humbleness is a virtue. With humbleness one may develop forgiveness, which is not easy for many to do. Some people may forgive, but they cannot forget. Forgiveness is an outward expression, whereas forgetting or letting go hatred is hidden inside the person. And what is concealed is usually the most obsessive and gnawing.
Trinh became a celebrity early in his life. No wonder many envied him, even though he was very humble. Living in the mundane world of such vices, he had never spoken ill against anyone, as many of his friends remarked. On the contrary, he now and then met and talked with his opponents, and those who had been unfair with him. Some of them told untrue stories about him in order to alienate him from his fans and the public or audiences. He did not counteract, but remained tolerant toward them. At worst, he only uttered some casual complaints. His tolerance were so profuse that even the undeserved perceived his forgiveness. Whether he forgot their unfairness and injustice or not, nobody knows. But until his death, he never talked about those bad stories again. He must have forgotten (let go) all of them then.
His friends often recalled his popular statement," Let it go!" For it left such a profound impression upon them as an outstanding character of this talented musician. He rarely questioned about untrue stories about him, and he never wanted to correct them. His "Let it go!" teaches us a great lesson, that of patience and tolerance. When facing unpleasant conditions in life, instead of yelling or fighting angrily, we just "let it go!"--let it cool down for a day or two.... When tomorrow comes, we may probably no longer want to talk about it.
He often said that life is too short for such trivialities, and that, if someone said untrue stories about you, and you knew you had not get involved in those stories, why waste time correcting them? Many months before his demise, he used to sing "Rosy Rains," and "The Realm to Come Back," as a reminder to those among us who are engulfed in the fierce rat race, and who are entrapped in their big egos.
Trinh had been an alcoholic since he was young. Alcohol was his friend and his necessity. Every day he drank with some friends. Not until a short period of time before his death did he have to stop drinking for health reasons. That was his "Dilemma." But he needed friends, so his friends came. While they were drinking, he sat and watched them drink with patience and tolerance. Some are frugal; some, misers; still others, stingy, even with words and utterances of thankfulness and reassurance, or with good deeds such as helping to open the door, or offering their own seats for others....Yet Trinh had never spoken anything against others.
Once during a visit to war victims with disabilities, he said, " You should never feel sorry, nor have any inferiority complex. To me, you are normal and handsome people; you are injured but not incapable. In life there are people who are not injured, but their hearts have become disabled"-- (meaning unable to care and love for others).
Although he himself was disappointed now and then, he tried to soothe himself,
"Don't Give Up, My Self!" --a song by Trinh, which has helped many to overcome their depression and frustration, and to stand up, and start again bravely. Anyhow, life is too short to ignore and give it up so easily.
When asked how to live among all kinds of humans, the good and the bad, he simply said," I try to lead a decent life." It is not easy to fully understand the idea of "decent" in his statement.
Trinh had taught us to be humble, patient and tolerant, to love and never speak ill against anyone, to "let it go!" and to lead a decent life.
Source : http://tuanvietnam.vietnamnet.vn/2011-03-25-trang-page
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