[Buddha-l] Extreme practice

[Zelders.YH]

Dan wrote :

>I think you are missing my point. [etc. etc.]

That's right.

>If it is meaningful for you [e.g. the act of self-immolation by 
>Thich Quang Duc], then it was
>not futile. This seems to be one of your treasured sacred cows, and there is
>no reason to undermine that here.

Thanks. How gracious of you. 'Undermining anyone's sacred cow' is 
very bad poetry though. Surely, you will agree.

>The question of how effective this form of
>"political" expression is remains real, nonetheless, and there we may have
>different views.

Political effectiveness wasn't my point. Thich Nhat Hanh explained 
back then to Martin Luther King Jr. : "To burn oneself by fire is to 
prove that what one is saying is of the utmost importance." The idea 
behind that is apparently that sometimes some things need saying, 
regardless of the consequences. From such a perspective any possible 
direct (positive) political effect would be only of secondary importance.
Maybe it isn't a bad idea for those interested to (re)read Thich Nhat 
Hanh's booklet 'Lotus In A Sea Of Fire' -1967. TNH had been in the 
midst of the turmoil and he had known Thich Quang Duc personally. I 
think few people had a better understanding of what was happening 
there and then, (46 years ago now).

I personally wouldn't want to propagate the idea to immolate oneself 
to strengthen some statement or another.
Let's cool down a little.

Herman