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TN.706

A Memorable Night in Salzburg

薩爾斯堡的「夜宴」

His Holiness Living Buddha Lian-sheng, Sheng-yen Lu

 

 

  Translated by Meiling Kang
  Proofread by Raymond To  
  Edited by Belinda Liu, Shelley Higgins, DJ Chang

Release Date: March 15, 2009

Release version: Final


We left Vienna for Salzburg by bus. That evening we had dinner at an upscale restaurant downtown.
There was a small stage in the restaurant.

On it were several actors and actresses performing. Their singing brought back the most cherished memories from the movie "The Sound of Music". It included "The Sound of Music", "Climb Every Mountain", "Sixteen Going on Seventeen", "My Favorite Things", "DO-RE-MI", “The Lonely Goatherd", and "Edelweiss".

In the melody of music, I was lost in reverie of years long past - a time when I was 25 years old working as a land surveyor in unit 5802 of the Taiwan military based in Taichung.  While working there, one day on  break,
someone suggested that we watch "The Sound of Music"; others suggested we play snooker. We finally decided to see the movie.

Directed by Robert Wise, it portrays a love story between Maria, the leading role, and Captain Georg Ritter Von Trapp.

The plot summary goes as follows:

Maria is studying to become a nun but having doubts whether convent life is right for her. She is transferred from the abbey to the house of a naval commander, Captain Georg Ritter Von Trapp, to be the governess of his seven children.

With her arrival, music is introduced into the family and she is well liked by the children. In the end the captain marries Maria and they escape to Switzerland by crossing over the Alps.

This movie was adapted from a real story and completely filmed in Salzburg. The haunting melodies took me back 40 years. Life is full of little delightful wonders.

I watched the movie 40 years ago and now I am in Salzburg, Austria, the film's setting 40 years later.
I feel oh so sentimental!

I love the music because of its purity, naiveté, and faithfulness. Singing along with the strumming guitar reminds me of campus folk songs, which are totally distinct from the modern rap and uninspiring music. The key difference is the purity presented by the melody of the music.

The most moving scene in the movie is when the captain sings "Edelweiss" and dedicates the song to his country hours before they are forced to flee to Switzerland as Austria had been occupied by the Nazis.

Returning from my reverie, I was still at the dinner party in Salzburg.

40 years ago I was 25 and a major in a survey unit.

40 years later I am a Vajrayana Buddhism yoga practitioner.

There is nothing in common between a major and a Vajrayana Buddhism yoga practitioner.

Although they are entirely unrelated, my arrival in Salzburg nevertheless connected them through the "The Sound of Music"! 

 

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