It was a cold winter day in Saigon, but our feelings were warm with great happiness when our minds and hearts open letting love easily knock on the door and enter. With all her passion, People’s Artist – PHD Bach Tuyet brings meaningful messages of Buddha’s teachings through her new musical to her audiences, and to lay-Buddhists in Viet Nam as well as outside of the country. 
People’s Artist Bach Tuyet put lots of effort into transforming “Kien Tanh Thanh Phat”, which was taught by a venerable and Zen Master Thich Thanh Tu (Zen monastery Truc Lam Phuong Hoang – Da Lat city), into a musical epic. It is composed of traditional music, cai luong classic songs, and melodic folk songs. She also performed in this DVD, which was:
Transformed by: People’s Artist – PHD Bach Tuyet.
Co-writers: People’s Artist – PHD Bach Tuyet, singer – lay Buddhist Tan Quoc
Music: Thanh Liem band
Sound: Liem studio
Director: Tran Thanh Dung
Makeup stylist: Hung Viet
Costumes by: Minh Chau
And Buddhist sangha Dieu Loc
The outdoor scenes in DVD Kien Tanh Thanh Phat, created by People’s Artist Bach Tuyet and her friends, were filmed at famous Buddhist places, such as the Buu Long temple, Nguyen Xien Street, ward Long Binh, district 9, and Ho Chi Minh City. It also took place at many gorgeous temple sceneries at various locations. 
Bon… Bon… Bon… The sound of the bell resounded. The gate of the Buu Long temple always opens. The columbarium, the temple architecture, and its surrounding make up a beautiful and solemn Theravāda Buddhist temple. The sound of the wind bell from the top of the columbarium made it a perfect space for a Buddhist practitioner to cleanse their mind, and be surrounded in peace, away from a busy life.
It was a beautiful morning. The sun looked gorgeous like an orange. Clutters of clouds riding across the sky reflected sun rays that made millions of look-alike twilight stars. People’s Artist Bach Tuyet kept smiling in each scene because she was filled with happiness for bringing the scriptures to Buddhist lay-people. Nature seemed to sense her happiness and smiled back to her with fresh blooming wild daisy flowers.
DVD Kien Tanh Thanh Phat was filmed at the Buu Long temple taking us back the origin of Buddhism. Here, lay-people can view Buddhist relics and monks, listen to Dharma, and read doctrines in Pali, an ancient language from the Buddha’s time, which is being taught to young children. The bodhi tree, grafted from a branch from another bodhi tree where the Buddha achieved enlightenment in India, reminisced about the root of Buddhism. 
Through this fifth musical epic, artist Bach Tuyet will share with us stories of Kien Tanh Thanh Phat. They are about the initiation of achieving enlightenment without going through a wrong path, about faith, and desire to make progress, and about a Zen master’s kind-heartedness. Let’s close your eyes and imagine a loving and caring elderly woman, a young girl or a nun saying to themselves and to others sincere words with a big heart that can see everything without judgement. They have the ability to warm lonely and weak ignorant people.
“We’ve been caught in ups and downs for uncountable lifetimes
Allowed foolishness to cover our true nature
Seeing enlightened ones and vulgar people means attachment exist
Let’s discern the truth, not to base on ordinary knowledge
Wonderful concept of emptiness, why still being indulged.”
Artist Bach Tuyet presented the content clearly using real life stories which help ones to realize profoundly sorrows caging us, and obstacles built by ourselves for not being selective when the six senses contact the six external conditions.
That is why keeping six senses under control is the fundamental and essential method to calm one’s mind, not being distracted by external circumstances leading one to arousing of greed, anger, and self-indulgence. 
The Buddha said the six sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind) have their own tastes, which are the six correspondent reactions (form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mind object). They often fight one another to find familiar habits.
In this path, we can walk, and at the same time breathe in and breathe out calmly and peacefully. The shadow of the tower reflected in the crescent shaped pond, and from the angle of the camera at this corner, it looked like as artist Bach Tuyet was in one of old European cities. There was a flock of brown birds coming from nowhere twittering on top of the tower like they were singing together with artist Bach Tuyet. Everything here was so peaceful. On the left of the temple, there were white l-o-t-u-s flowers. The bodhi tree had a good shower last night, and now welcomed sun rays with its fresh green leaves.
Although DVD Kien Tanh Thanh Phat is not long enough to relate all the real life stories, happiness and misfortunes, peace and whirligig of life, People’s Artist – PHD Bach Tuyet successfully conveyed messages to everyone about practicing the Buddha’s teachings in our daily life, about generosity, faith, compassion and kindness… These poems, folk songs, and ‘vong co’ were sung in this chaotic life consoling and praising the beauty of life and of all sentiment beings under the light of compassion. Whether we are happy or sad, we should recognize the character of life is uncertain. It would be great if in everyday and in every nanosecond, we would encourage each other to develop compassion, eliminate bad habits, live well, share with others, and appreciate others as mentioned in “Kien Tanh Thanh Phat”:
“For the sake of life, listen to the Buddha’s teachings
He was caring, understanding with great compassion
Do not slander or hurt others
Then one will not receive affliction
Will not get bitterness and sorrow …”
“Kien Tanh Thanh Phat” is an additional musical epic to Artist Bach Tuyet’s previous DVDs, such as “Dhammapada Sutra”, “Buddhism and the nation”, “Diamond Sutra”, and “Tran Nhan Tong”. Artist Bach Tuyet wants to express her deepest gratitude toward the audiences who love her through this creation. It is the benevolence from a Buddhist disciple in conducting the good and human affection via traditional music.
Senhong group would like to share some pictures of People’s Artist Bach Tuyet from DVD Kien Tanh Thanh Phat. Hope you enjoy them.
Senhong Group (30/12/2015)