Today’s Enlightening Entertainment will be presented in Chinese, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

Greetings noble viewers, and welcome to Enlightening Entertainment. Love is one of the core values in all religions. However, it is not always easy to put it into practice, especially when we encounter seemingly unjust situations.

Today, we are going to present part 1 of a 4-part series, titled “Love & Enmity,” which explores the universal themes of love, loss, anger and forgiveness. This drama, performed by our Association members from Taoyuan, Formosa (Taiwan), was adapted from the Buddhist story as told by Supreme Master Ching Hai.

Your Majesty, if you can see how diligently His Majesty King Eternity, your son, reigns the nation and how well he treats the people, you will surely feel proud of him!

Here comes Grandpa! Grandpa! Grandpa!

Come over, come over! Sit down, sit down. You all came to the mountain to play again?

Yes, look! We found this rabbit along the way.

Wow, so cute!

Grandpa, it also wants to come and listen to your stories.

Look at you, my little girl, how cute you are!

That’s right! We all love to listen to your stories.

Here. I have fruit for you.

Thank you, Grandpa!

Go ahead and have some!

Thank you, Grandpa!

I hope you can all grow up happily and peacefully.

Thank you, Grandpa!

Grandpa, what stories are you going to tell us today?

Daddy seldom let us go down to the city. Luckily we have Grandpa to tell us stories from the city.

Oh? Hmm…okay. Let me tell you a story that happened in the palace.

Hurry, please! I can’t wait.

Once upon a time, there was a benevolent king called King Longevity, who was respected and loved by his subjects. Since he reigned the nation with a compassionate heart, the people lived happy and prosperous lives. However, he was always tormented by some worries.

Why?

It’s because King Wei Mu, from a neighboring kingdom, was very aggressive and intended to invade King Longevity’s nation. King Longevity worried that the innocent citizens would be greatly affected by the war. So he was wondering whether he should follow his ministers’ opinions and defend his kingdom or just abdicate and surrender his kingdom to King Wei Mu, in order to protect his people.

Your Majesty! King Wei Mu’s troops have reached the border. We fear that…

I understand. You may be dismissed!

Yes, Your Majesty.

Your Majesty, I volunteer to lead the troops to defend your kingdom.

Your Majesty, I will mobilize all our troops and fight to the death. I’m sure we can defeat the enemies.

No! Your Majesty, we can’t use force under any circumstances!

Your Majesty, trying to stop them with our weak military force is just like throwing eggs against rocks!

If we don’t fight the enemies, should we just surrender and give our land to the enemies?

Sigh… Wars always result in severe injuries and deaths. It is too devastating!

Your Majesty, let us launch our defense!

We earnestly request that Your Majesty dispatch the troops!

We’ll fight to the death! They cannot beat us.

It’s easier said than done. We’ll lose so many soldiers and so many resources!

Do you know that it will take us years to recover from the devastation of war?

Hmph, you talk like a woman! Should we do nothing and just wait for death?

My beloved courtiers, except for war, are there any other solutions? During wars, soldiers die miserable deaths, and the innocent people suffer a lot. Also, who can comfort the widows and orphans who cry deep into the night? Sigh! Since ancient times, no benevolent king has been able to bear seeing such a disaster descending upon his kingdom. So, to avoid all this, I’d rather abdicate in exchange for peace for my people.

Your Majesty, King Wei Mu is belligerent. Once under his rule, our people will suffer.

Your Majesty, please think twice before you do this.

Your Majesty, we should dispatch the troops to fight them!

I agree. Send the troops to fight them.

We’ll fight to the death!

Enough! I’ve heard enough! I will decide what to do. You may be dismissed.

What a pitiful situation!

Did King Longevity have any children?

Yes, he had a son called Prince Eternity. He was not only smart and talented but he was also a very good son. King Longevity loved him very much. Regarding this situation, the kng went to consult with his son. And the conversation decided their destiny.

Wow…

Father, why are you here?

My son…

Father, it’s late, but why are you still up? Is there anything you want to tell me?

My son, I have something important to discuss with you.

What is it, Father?

The aggressive King Wei Mu is bringing his troops to our border.

What? He has reached our border?

When I think about how the innocent people will suffer from the war, my heart sinks.

Father, how will you handle this crisis?

I am still considering…

What solutions have your ministers proposed?

Today in the court, the generals strongly proposed to dispatch the troops, while the civil ministers thought quite the opposite.

What is your decision, Father?

I… I want to abdicate and surrender the kingdom to King Wei Mu.

Then…

So I can avoid the deaths of my warriors and the sufferings of my people.

Give our nation away to the King Wei Mu? I… I cannot believe this…

No matter how the future generations will think of me, I think this is the only way to achieve peace and to avoid miseries.

Father, the whole thing has happened so suddenly… I… I just don’t know what to do.

My son, I made such a decision because it’s my last resort. I am not expecting your understanding. However, if I leave, I’ll feel most worried about you. That is why I came to see you and to discuss it with you.

Father, you are the only person I can depend on. I will follow and obey your command. All the glory and fortune are just like passing clouds. I don’t care about any of this. My son, your words put me at ease. Good, good.

Wow.

So, King Longevity issued a secret edict and ordered all his courtiers to leave the palace and go back to their hometowns. The King and the Prince removed their royal robes and donned peasants’ clothes. Under the protection of a guard, they left the palace for the most remote mountain in the Kingdom of Longevity.

So King Longevity gave away the nation to King Wei Mu?

What else do you think then?

So what happened?

To avoid being followed, they abandoned the horses and climbed up to an even higher and more remote mountain.

Wow, look, Father! It’s a waterfall!

So beautiful!

Watch your steps, Father.

Be careful, this way please.

So beautiful!

Yes, so beautiful!

I never imagined that we had such beautiful scenery in our kingdom.

Your Majesty, we have walked a long way. This is a very remote and secluded place; we can rest here for a while. Let’s drink some water and eat some food.

Fine.

But we cannot start a fire or we may expose ourselves.

Fine, fine.

Father, please eat some dried food.

All right. Zhong Liang, you eat some, too.

Thank you, Your Majesty. Your Majesty, there is a little cave on the riverside where we can stay temporarily.

It is very nice to have a water source and a cave. However, we may be discovered very easily. I think the Prince and I will go up to a more remote mountain. Zhong Liang…

Yes, Your Majesty.

Zhong Liang, thank you for taking care of us all the way here. Otherwise, the Prince and I wouldn’t know what to do. Zhong Liang, please go back so you won’t get involved.

Your Majesty, please don’t drive me away. I would like to follow you all my life. Please don’t drive me away. Besides, I cannot go anywhere now.

Why not?

If I return, I’ll surely die. When they cannot find you, they will target me. If I don’t give them any information, I will be beaten to death. I beg Your Majesty to let me stay with you, so I can serve you.

Zhong Liang, I’ve put you in such a difficult situation. But I cannot bear to see you suffer with us like this.

Your Majesty, I owe my life to you. If you hadn’t saved my life, I would have died long ago. No matter what, I am following you.

Father, it is not safe to stay here. Why don’t you just grant him his request?

Alright, let us leave here then.

We have just enjoyed part 1 of the 4-part spiritual drama, “Love & Enmity,” adapted from the story as told by Supreme Master Ching Hai, and performed by our Association members from Taoyuan, Formosa (Taiwan). Please join us tomorrow for part 2 of 4 on Supreme Master Television.

Thank you for watching today’s Enlightening Entertainment. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television for Words of Wisdom, coming up next after Noteworthy News. May your days be filled with joy and peace.