Thich Quang Duc was a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk who burned himself to death at a busy Saigon road intersection on June 11 1963. Quang Duc was protesting about the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government led by Ngo Dinh Diem. After his death, his body was re-cremated, but his heart remained intact.
photos by Malcom Browne
It’s important to note that not once did he make a sound while he burned himself alive.
Every single time I see this, I am amazed at the fact he not only just sat there calmly while burning to death, but didn’t make a sound at all. As someone that’s been on fire before and gotten badly burnt (full thickness burns, AKA 3rd degree burns), it defies everything I know about the whole experience. It was absolute fucking agony and after good deal of time of feeling the pain of my flesh burning and realising I couldn’t put myself out, I lost my mind and ran around screaming and swearing. Knowing what that feels like, I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how he did that. I just can’t.
(via visualamor)
