[Buddha-l] Re: Self-inmolation in the Buddhist tradition

[Chan Fu]

On 10/11/05, curt <curt at cola.iges.org> wrote:
> One thing to take into account, for those who are sufficiently cynical,
> is that Vietnam's Buddhist establishment (or at least some part of it)
> was at the time desperately trying to be a "player" in determining the
> future of Vietnam (or at least some part of it). They were in danger of
> being sidelined by the military conflict between the supporters of the
> NLF, on the one hand, and those supported by the United States, on the
> other hand - and in the end they were in fact completely sidelined. I
> recently picked up Nguen Cao Ky's autobiography, modestly entitled
> "Buddha's Child", in the bargain bin at a bookstore. He claims to have
> been part of "Buddhist/Nationalist" political movement devoted to
> "saving Vietnam" (the subtitle of the book is "My Fight to Save
> Vietnam"). But I haven't had the time (or the stomach) to do more than
> just skim through it.
>
> I think that when dealing with self-immolation, as well as other less
> extreme practices, like hacking off or burning off fingers or arms or
> one's penis, that a certain amount of skepticism at the very least
> should be brought to bear. It is a well known fact that mentally
> unstable people are attracted to religion, and so any discussion of
> these kinds of practices should, in my opinion, steer clear of any
> assumption that setting oneself on fire is a good thing. Perhaps under
> some extraordinary circumstances it might serve some purpose - but I
> would prefer to put forward the "position" that one should assume that
> anyone who would do such a thing is just plain crazy. People who are
> genuinely driven by pure spiritual motives will not be in any way
> affected by such criticism.
>
> - Curt

Good observations, Curt.

Together with insanity, we should note that the effect of urban legend
hasn't been assessed, particularily in the "historical" stories.
Thich Quang Duc was widely said to be under heavy sedation,
as un-buddhist as that fact may be. Further, Asian buddhists
were/are about as far from political practice (intending to mean
interest in politics, not incidental influence on them) as one could get.
Neither did they have or develop political ideas, rhetorical skills,
etc., etc. For the most part they began buddhist careers as children,
dumped into temples by their poor families, utterly ignorant of
politics and social issues for their entire lives. But that's the bottom
of the pyramid.

At the top, we find the Dalai Lama's, the Executive branch of Thai
buddhism in Bangkok (similar in most countries) - the politically
aware and educated buddhist elite. While some of these have
the charisma, evangelical skills, and goal ideas needed in the political
world, many do not. It's surprising that the Vietnamese
buddhists endured direct persecution at the hands of the French
Catholic colonists for many decades and suddenly chose to oppose
the threat of "communism". It can be assumed, however, that
it was a combination of contact and intelligence at the top of  the
buddhist pyramid with the evangelical American aides that brought
about the participation of the Vietnam buddhists and the barbecue
of poor Thich Quang Duc.

Immolation has changed. Today, led by islamic fundamentalists,
it includes taking a few unbelievers with you. This actually isn't much
different than the American armed forces do, but without having good
stats one might wonder which method is more effective.

IMO, Sri Lanka stands out as a buddhist state in no better terms
than the USA will soon stand out as a christian one. Exactly how
much immolation was necessary for that is unclear.

All that being said, self immolation, to a buddhist practitioner,
is impossible. Why? Because it involves a commitment to an idea
or ideal. It's possible that when all those supposedly committed body-
parts choppers actually woke up, they went back to the
trashcan to collect their errors. But then it would also be unlikely,
since they would have proven to be good practitioners of detachment.

A worst-case scenario might fast forward to some ex-monk working in
one of the McDonald's in Ho Chi Minh city, wishing he could pick his
nose while shoveling fries with the remaining hand.

cf