Music and happiness

"Passing through an alley and hearing music, you know there is a wise man!" This ancient saying is always true in every era. Wherever there is music, there is Truth - Goodness - Beauty. The person playing music in that alley can hardly be an evil person. A village with many wise men playing music brings peace and happiness throughout the village.

Both Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism believe that the origin of the universe is sound, and it is no coincidence that the mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum" begins with "Om" (or "Aum"). It is the primordial sound from the Big Bang that is still preserved in the universe. In the Bible, the Word is always a concept associated with the origin of creation. We come from sound. And of course, we live in a world of thousands of sounds.

Musician Vo Thien Thanh (left) and singer Bao Lan (5 lines group)

The most refined, intentionally arranged essence of sound, emitted from the soul, is music . The soul is the original frequency from which, through musical instruments and voices, it is transformed into music. Therefore, music is the sound that has the most, fastest and strongest impact on our souls. This explains why, besides songs that bring joy and positive mood, there are also songs that, after listening to, make us feel depressed and not want to do anything. Or there is agitated music that leads to chaos in the mind. On the contrary, classical music often brings holiness and peace to the soul, stimulating the brain towards wisdom.

"Passing the alley, hearing the music, knowing there is a wise man!".

Wherever there is music, there is Truth - Goodness - Beauty. The person playing music in the alley can hardly be an evil person. A neighborhood with many wise men playing musical instruments brings peace and happiness to the entire village. A country where everyone loves music, where beautiful music can be heard everywhere, and where the percentage of people who know how to play music and sing is high, how could that country not be happy?

It is clear that besides the growth index and economic development, education and popularization of music to society play an extremely important role, in order to make Vietnam a happy country. Because a truly happy country must always fully include two factors: growth index and happiness rate of the people.

From left to right: singer Hoang Quyen, musician Vo Thien Thanh, musician Do Bao

PHOTO: DAI NGO

My childhood was spent in a difficult subsidy period, but in return, there were memories filled with happiness with music. We played music in extremely poor conditions, even in life-threatening situations. One time, when the whole group was on fire on stage, an amplifier exploded. Another time, a microphone suddenly started to spark, scaring the whole group. The reason was that those devices were homemade by a "homegrown" electronics technician using old components from abandoned jeeps in 1975. Music was precious in such circumstances. And the simple happiness at that time was to huddle our heads in front of the radio and listen to a new song:

There is a little girl out there looking through the crack listening to my music.

Out there, a boy climbed a tamarind tree, eyes wide open, listening.

What did I sing that made the girl laugh so funny?

What song am I singing that makes the boy sit there daydreaming?

Music is like sweet honey flowing from the most lovely simple things, from the joy of life, from caring for people around you without ever complaining about your fate even though at that time there were many difficulties surrounding you.

Happiness is so simple, my life is unexpected

Every night she waited as if waiting for each dream.

(Little Sun - Tran Tien)

It is the core inside the soul of each artist, each citizen with the educational foundation of Truth-Goodness-Beauty, beauty, love, compassion, awareness of bringing happiness to others, to the community that always overwhelms personal goals, that creates lasting happiness for ourselves, for the community, for the country.

My friend, a famous choreographer who lived and studied in Japan for a long time, once told a story. There was a Vietnamese couple who lived and studied in Japan. They rented a room from a Japanese woman. When they asked how much it would cost, they received a surprising answer: "You don't have to pay rent! But I hope that in the future you will give it away for someone else in need, like I gave it away for you."

The purpose of life of that Japanese woman is truly admirable. She wants to spread and develop the purpose of life for others, for the community, for society. Even if she is no longer here, that good thing will be continued forever by others. And like that, how can society, the country, and the whole planet not be happier!

Musician Vo Thien Thanh (seated, middle row) with Cadillac backing group

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY MUSICIAN

My choreographer friend also told me about Japanese women who, when they come to Vietnam to do community work, stay in a simple room, without any extra amenities or conditions. In their free time, they listen to classical music and jazz.

Looking back at our society, along with the great strides in the economy, growth index, material living conditions of society, people's conditions for enjoying music are also improving day by day. Exchange events and invitations to world music stars take place more easily and frequently. If more than ten years ago, we could only invite "once-famous" bands, now we can see world-famous superstars such as BlackPink, singer Charlie Puth, Maroon 5, singer Katy Perry, trumpeter Kenny G... in the flesh. At the same time, the desire to bring Vietnamese music to the world is also a burning desire of Gen Z artists. Modern technical trends, technology, digitalization, the AI ​​era... are also always updated very promptly.

However, all of those things are only one side of the scale. The other side must be the foundation of education in Truthfulness-Compassion-Beauty, education in beauty, love, compassion. Once the scale is balanced, the nation will be stable! How? Through art and music!

I once felt that happiness when I brought an electric piano to a poor school. The piano was placed right in the hallway of the classroom. Seeing the students taking turns sitting at the piano to play the songs they had learned in music classes with bright smiles on their faces, happiness welled up inside me. I am happy that music is now more widely popularized, and more students know how to play the piano. Thus, a new generation of artists with aspirations to reach the world is becoming more numerous!

Late night music, the tamarind trees are stirring (Young City - Tran Tien)

Isn't it lovely? A strong Vietnam with all its people happy. That's the dream of all of us!

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/am-nhac-va-hanh-phuc-185250828182244079.htm