舉世聞名的19世紀作曲家蕭邦（1810-1849）是音樂史上最富原創精神的作曲家之一，他的創作風格很少受到其他作曲家的影響，事實上，他的許多作品，如波蘭舞曲、敘事曲等都開創諸多音 樂曲風之先河。正如一位現代評論家所說：「他的作品在結構和 形式上十分獨特，他對平衡與建構的感覺似乎是從某種不知名的源泉湧出。」由此觀之，蕭邦的創作靈感似乎直接來自他與天國 的聯繫--那“不知名的源泉”，而非受到早期或同期作曲家的作 品所啟發。蕭邦的朋友--匈牙利作曲家及鋼琴家法蘭茲．李斯特 （Franz Liszt）--在他的著作《蕭邦生平》一書的序言中證實 了這個觀點，他寫道： 為娑婆世界譜曲吧！
上帝十分認可 恩賜靈感
使其作品備顯珍貴
新作欣欣向榮
環繞昔日舊作
以曼妙的音符
譜出絕美樂章 ◎生平 蕭邦出生在華沙一個富裕的家庭裡，父親是法國人，母親則是波 蘭貴族的後裔。蕭邦自幼就熱愛鋼琴音樂，六歲時開始正式學琴，他甚至在還不懂得如何將自己的靈感用樂譜寫出前，即已開始 作曲。他的音樂才華很快就顯露出來，堪與音樂神童莫札特媲美。15歲時，他的作品首次出版問世，17歲時，蕭邦已被公認為華 沙首屈一指的鋼琴家及天才作曲家。 後來由於波蘭政治動亂，蕭邦在20歲時遷往浪漫主義運動的藝術中心--巴黎，除了偶爾出國旅遊之外，他終其一生都定居在法國。由於生性內向，蕭邦很少舉辦公開的音樂演奏會，只為一些友 人彈奏，並以教授鋼琴、販售作品為生。 「如果這種優美而又奧妙的品質並非來自人類，而是來自上帝， 那麼這就是蕭邦給人類最好的禮物。總之，蕭邦比任何作曲家都更能表達內在世界音流和體驗。」--現代評論家 ◎創作
蕭邦幾乎只鍾情於鋼琴的音樂創作，他以獨創的方式讓鋼琴「演唱」，因而贏得了「鋼琴詩人」的美譽。他的抒情風格以及對旋律曲調的天分，使他譜出了曠世的絕美樂章，其鋼琴樂曲是音樂史上最經常被演奏的曲目。蕭邦是少數幾位世界級的大師之一，受歡迎的程度歷久不衰，他的每首作品幾乎都成為樂壇不朽的樂章，享譽世界。20世紀偉大的美國鋼琴家亞瑟．魯賓斯坦（Arthur Rubinstein）曾說道：「當蕭邦的第一個音符在演奏大廳響起時，聽眾就已感受到快樂的氣息，他的樂曲動人心弦、享譽全球，深受人們的喜愛，不僅表達方式獨樹一幟，並呈現出個人的藝術風格。」蕭邦的作品除了在演奏會和唱片界炙手可熱之外，也被運用在著名的芭蕾舞劇《林中仙子》（Les Sylphides）以及《鋼琴師》（The Pianist）、《閃亮的風采》
（Shine）、《楚門的世界》（The Truman Show）等無數的電影中。 蕭邦之所以備受世人矚目，主因是他能夠喚醒人們對天國音樂-- 內在音流--的記憶，而內在音流就是他創作靈感的泉源。他與他 的楷模約翰‧塞巴斯蒂安‧巴哈（Johann Sebastian Bach）有著相同的能力，巴哈認為他的作品並非自己所作，而是得自上帝的恩賜，用來榮耀上帝。這種真正的音樂天才已超越了個人想要表現人類體驗的願望，因此更能接近上帝。正如另一位評論家所言：「如果這種優美而又奧妙的品質並非來自人類，而是來自上帝，那麼這就是蕭邦給人類最好的禮物。總之，蕭邦比任何作曲家都更能表達內在世界音流和體驗。」 因此，蕭邦敏感的靈性特質和他與天籟之音的和諧溝通，是他在作曲與演奏的生涯中展現無窮天賦的關鍵。19世紀鋼琴家安東‧魯賓斯坦（Anton Rubinstein）稱他為：「鋼琴詩人、鋼琴吟遊詩人、鋼琴的精神、鋼琴的靈魂。」並說：「我不知道鋼琴的神髓是否已挹注其中，但所有的音樂表情都一一展現在他的作品中，他透過鋼琴歌詠人類所有的情感。」 蕭邦的作品顯示出他寬廣的表達能力，譬如，他的第二號華麗圓舞曲（Op.34, No.2 Valse Brillante），親切地詮釋了人類的心靈層面，展現出高境界的音樂之美。清海無上師稱高境界的音樂為「旋律優美的天國教誨」。事實上，許多鋼琴家和學者也都形容蕭邦的圓舞曲為「靈魂舞曲」，表達了他深邃的靈性內涵。這些抒發對上帝、對人類真愛的音樂作品，將作曲家崇高的心境、內在的渴望及深厚的人文關懷表露無遺。蕭邦時代的《遊方音樂家》（The Minstrel）雜誌曾形容蕭邦：「他是鋼琴之神，僅僅藉由指尖之觸存在於娑婆世界，並藉著神遊高境界來長養生命。傾聽蕭邦的琴聲，宛如花兒詠嘆、雲朵呢喃、繁星低語。」 蕭邦與高境界的聯繫，使其曲風自然天成，他的小說家友人奧若．杜蒂凡（Aurore Dudevant），筆名「喬治桑」（George Sand）精闢地說道：「蕭邦的創作渾然天成，令人歎為觀止，他信手捻來，無需絞盡腦汁、也無需預先構思，而是靈感突然湧現於琴鍵，完美、卓越。有時他在散步途中，曲調就在他的腦海中迴盪，他會趕緊透過鋼琴演奏出來，以便再聆聽一次。」看到這個評論，不禁令人想起清海無上師描述她設計藝術作品時，靈感很快從
內邊自然湧現的情形：「我的靈感來自內在、來自腦海裡面，有時候還沒開始作畫，圖案和色彩就已經顯現在腦海中，於是我得趕快畫下來，以免忘記。有時候我靈感充沛，一天之內就可以設計十到二十件作品，或甚至一個晚上設計了三十套服裝。」 另外，蕭邦也具有謙卑、不執著、單純等開悟者的特質。舉例來說，當年蕭邦演奏完第二號鋼琴變奏曲這首早期的作品時，德國的大作曲家羅伯特．舒曼（Robert Schumann）回應了一句傳頌至今的評語：「各位先生，讓我們起立脫帽，向這位天才致上最高的敬意吧！」當時蕭邦表現得非常謙虛，他不喜歡被大眾歡呼喝采，然而，大眾對他的喜愛很快就讓他揚名國際。此外，我們也可以從以下蕭邦的書信所摘錄的語句中，印證這位作曲家不執著的態度與不複雜的天性：「我是個革新者，金錢對我毫無意義。」「單純是最崇高的目標，當你排除萬難後就能擁有它！」誠如清海無上師所言：「我們必須像小孩一樣，才能回歸天國；我們不能太複雜，不能對每件事都太在乎，即使我們已經長大成人，也應該保有赤子之心。」審視蕭邦的一生及其留下的文件，不難發現他確實已達到他的目標。 ◎結語 蕭邦因罹患肺結核，於39歲就英年早逝，根據在場的目擊者阿貝．捷洛維基（Abbe Jelowicki）牧師所述，蕭邦在臨終時顯得很快樂，他還告訴別人他很滿足。當時他表示自己感受到無限的喜悅和上帝的聖愛，不留戀世界，滿心希望趕快解脫肉體的束縛，他稱頌耶穌、聖母瑪利亞、約瑟夫的聖名，並親吻握在手中的十字架，然後將它放在胸口，大聲說道：「此刻我正處於恩典的源頭。」彷彿在表示他明白自己即將進入天國無量光的聖境。正如清海無上師所言：「開悟以後，我們就永遠超越生死的界限；一旦我們非常脆弱且易受驚嚇的靈魂了解並超越死亡的恐懼，我們就獲得永生。」或許蕭邦當時確實已達到他在信中所描述的境界
：「單純是最崇高的目標，當你排除萬難後就能擁有它。」
～摘錄自http://www.godsdirectcontact.org.tw/ch/news/149/index2.htm～ 瞥見永恆 ~ 與內在世界聯繫的開悟作曲家 _蕭邦  World-renowned nineteenth-century composer Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) is one of the most original creative spirits in musical history. His compositional style shows little influence from the work of other composers, and in fact, many of his pieces, such as the polonaises and ballades, define new genres all their own. As one modern critic writes, “In the structure and form of his compositions, he is quite alone; his sense of balance and architecture seemed to spring from some unknown well-source.” Thus Chopin’s inspiration appears to have come directly from enlightened contacts with Heaven, the “unknown well-source,” and not from the examples of his predecessors or peers. This view is affirmed by his friend, the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt: So works this music upon Earth;
God so admits it, sends it forth
To add another worth to worth. A new creation-bloom that rounds
The old creation, and expounds
His Beautiful in tuneful sounds.
~~ Excerpt from the Preface to Liszt’s Life of Chopin
 
Chopin was born in Warsaw into the affluent home of a French father and a Polish mother of noble lineage. From early childhood, he loved piano music and began taking piano lessons at the age of six. He started to compose even before he knew how to write down his inspirations, and his musical talent soon became obvious, being compared with the childhood genius of Mozart. His first published piece appeared when he was fifteen, and by the time he was seventeen, Chopin was recognized as the leading pianist of Warsaw and a gifted composer. Due to political upheavals in Poland, however, at age twenty he moved to Paris, the center of the Romantic Movement in the arts, and except for occasional trips abroad, spent the rest of his life in France. Being introverted by nature, Chopin avoided giving public concerts, but instead played for groups of friends and made a living from piano teaching and the sale of his works.  “If this beautiful but elusive quality is not of humankind, but of God, then this is Chopin’s highest gift to us. In summary, Chopin got as close as any composer to expressing the nature of the inner worlds of sound and experience.” ~~ by a modern critic
Chopin wrote almost exclusively for the piano, making the instrument “sing” in a way that no previous composer had conceived, and so earned the epithet “Poet of the Piano.” His sense of lyricism and melodic genius gave rise to some of the most beautiful music ever written, and his piano works are the most frequently played in history. He is one of the few universal masters, and his popularity has never waned. Nearly everything he wrote is in the permanent repertoire and his compositions are known around the globe. The great twentieth-century American pianist Arthur Rubinstein confirmed, “When the first notes of Chopin sound through the concert hall, there is a happy sign of recognition. All over the world men and women know his music. They love it; they are moved by it. It is uniquely expressive and personal art.” Besides being heard regularly in concerts and recordings, Chopin’s works are used for the famous ballet Les Sylphides, and are heard in countless films such as The Pianist, Shine and The Truman Show. Chopin’s widespread appeal no doubt lies in his ability to evoke memories of the celestial music, the sounds of the inner worlds that were his source of creative inspiration. This capacity is like that of his great role model Johann Sebastian Bach, who believed that his works were not of his own making but arose from and glorified God. Such true musical geniuses transcend the desire to simply describe the human experience through music and ultimately approach God Hirmself. As another critic states, “If this beautiful but elusive quality is not of humankind, but of God, then this is Chopin’s highest gift to us. In summary, Chopin got as close as any composer to expressing the nature of the inner worlds of sound and experience.” Thus, Chopin’s sensitive, mystical nature and attunement to the Heavenly sounds are the keys to his limitless gifts as a composer and performer. The nineteenth-century pianist Anton Rubinstein called him, “the Piano Bard, the Piano Rhapsodist, the Piano Mind and the Piano Soul” and added, “Whether the spirit of the instrument breathed upon him I do not know, but all possible expressions are found in his compositions, and all are sung by him upon this instrument.” Chopin’s wide range of expression is shown, for example, in his Op. 34, No. 2 Valse Brillante, which addresses the human spirit in an intimate way reflecting the beauty of the higher music — the “Heavenly Melodious Teaching,” to use Supreme Master Ching Hai’s term. In fact, many pianists and scholars have described Chopin’s waltzes as “dances for the soul” expressing profound spiritual reflection — musical love poems to God and humanity that reveal the composer’s elevated moods, moments of inner longing and strong humanistic feelings. Le Ménestral (‘The Minstrel’), a journal of Chopin’s time, wrote: “[He is] the sylph of the piano, attached to this mortal world by the merest touch of a finger and nourished by dreams from on high. Listen to Chopin play! It is like the sighing of a flower, the whisper of clouds or the murmur of the stars.” It was also his ready familiarity with the higher realms that allowed Chopin to compose naturally and spontaneously, as his companion, the novelist Aurore Dudevant (who wrote under the pen name George Sand), eloquently remarks: “His creation was spontaneous, miraculous. He found it without searching for it, without foreseeing it. It came to his piano suddenly, complete, sublime, or it sang in his head during a walk, and he would hasten to hear it again by tossing it off on his instrument.” This comment brings to mind Supreme Master Ching Hai’s description of how She creates Her art works quickly and naturally from inner revelations: “My inspirations come from inside my brain! Sometimes the colors and pictures come before I can paint them. So I have to do it fast before I forget. Sometimes I’m very inspired. In one day I can make ten or twenty designs or in one night perhaps thirty clothing designs.” Chopin also possessed the humility, detachment and simplicity of an enlightened being. For example, when the great German composer Robert Schumann responded to Chopin’s early work, the Opus 2 Variations for Piano, with the now-famous remark, “Hats off, gentlemen, a genius!” Chopin reacted modestly, disliking the public excitement that soon propelled him to international fame. Also, these excerpts from his letters attest to the composers’ detached attitude and uncomplicated nature: “I’m a revolutionary; money means nothing to me” and “Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties.” As Supreme Master Ching Hai teaches, “We must become like children to return to the Heavenly Kingdom. We should not be too complicated. We must not mind too much about everything. Even when we grow up, we should still preserve a heart like a child’s.” Through observation of his life and writings, it appears that Chopin clearly lived up to this ideal.
According to a witness, the priest Abbé Jelowicki, as Chopin neared his untimely death at age thirty-nine from tuberculosis, he seemed truly happy, and told others of his contentment. At this moment he expressed only ecstatic joy, love of God, detachment from the world, and a wish for a speedy departure from the physical body. He called on the names of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, kissed the crucifix he was holding and pressed it to his heart, crying, “Now I am at the source of Blessedness” as if to say that he was aware of entering the region of Heavenly Light. As Supreme Master Ching Hai says, when we are enlightened, we “transcend the limits of death and live forever. Once the fear of death is transcended, is understood by our own very weak and scared soul, we are forever eternal.” Perhaps at this point Chopin had truly reached the state he wrote of in his letters: “Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties.” 
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