Monk Sets Himself Ablaze

This is kinda disturbing I thought, this kinda reminds me of a Modern Day Old Testament-like Sacrifice. :eek

Vietnamese Monk Dies in Fiery Protest in U.S.
Sat December 27, 2003 11:45 AM ET

MIAMI (Reuters) - An elderly Vietnamese monk set himself alight in a Buddhist temple in the United States to protest at the lack of religious freedom and demand democracy in his communist homeland, a follower said on Saturday.

Thich Chan Hy, 74, killed himself in front of a statue of Avalokita Bodhisattva, a figure of compassion, before daybreak on Christmas Eve, said Phuong Huynh, a youth group leader at the Lien Ha temple in Charlotte-Mecklenburg in North Carolina.

"He left a letter to his master on a scroll...with three wishes that he had given up his life for," Huynh told Reuters.

"The three reasons were I wish that all the people living in Vietnam be entitled to freedom of religion and belief, I wish that all the people in Vietnam be entitled to human rights and democracy, and I wish that Vietnam will preserve its sovereignty of its lands and sea borders."

Hanoi recognizes six religions and permits only a single official representative group of each to operate.

The country has been condemned by foreign governments and organizations for cracking down on an outlawed Buddhist group, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.

Hy's last wish was in reference to a border dispute with China, Huynh said.

Hy had been the spiritual leader of the Lien Ha temple for a decade and had never shown any inclination that he might one day resort to self-immolation as a form of protest. He spent years in a re-education camp in Vietnam after the communist north took over the south, and immigrated to the United States in 1991.

"He is an older man and all the time that I have known him he has always been so happy and gentle," said Huynh. "It all came as a big surprise to all of us."

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