Burning Monk - The Self-Immolation [1963]

malcolm browne took that picture, the only photographer at the event. you should give him credit.

We didn’t find that information when we searched the event, thank you very much!

Very powerful picture brought to my attention by Rage Against The Machine probably the most band in the last 30 years. Do you know where I might be a print of this picture?

I read about that I’m doing a project on The Vietnam War.

monk must be given privileges and should practice human rights!

why people in government dont care with those people who badly in need with there help ?
renew the government. . lets renew the world!! .. dorota!!

Notice the car. The hood’s open because the gasoline was hidden under it. (Saigon police were searching cars and trunks.) The car still can be seen at Thich Quang Duc’s monastery near Hue.

[…] Phúc - The na… Stricken child cra… Hindenburg dirigib… Omayra Sánchez [1… Burning Monk - The… The Power of One [… Muhammad Ali versu… Looking Down Sacra… Body of Che […]

Quite noticable too is that whole Thich Quang Duc’s body did burn, execpt for one part which would’nt burn and is still to be preserved: his heart…

[…] This photo always grabs my attention, as well as the burning monk. […]

[…] This photo always grabs my attention, as well as the burning monk. […]

I read alot about this time .With in the time as I was about to listen to stories of life before the days of first able to walk barefoot outside.The snow was deep enough to burn the feet after it washed from the feets and the toes reminded me of this time.Old people tell stories as the young kids didn’t listen. ONLY as spoken and as I read as I cleaned the library.I reminded my head of the who lived as I was born.

that sucks that he burned himselfbut he did it for a reason

That was one pissed off monk. How,how could anyone do that? America should invade Burma.

The strongest illusion was by far the Buddhist monk´s.

An absolutely incredible image. Rage Against The Machine were right to use it for their album cover.

human plight never fails to arouse atention. wonder why they made the exclamation mark then !
photography is a few art forms among the modern ones that has soul.

@ teki
Yeah, and let there be peace, like in Iraq, where people die like flies everyday…

Wow never moved a muscle.

me and jesus are tight, we eat chicken nuggets, with teh Jesishhhhh coumunityyyyy

c920t computer - blog.360.yah...

Out of all photos in this site, i find this one the most hardest to see.
Great courage by the monk, i’ll never be able to do it…

iconic, a brave man. a true fighter, makes you think how little we do for the people who really need help.

Buddism isn’t a religion, it’s a way of life correct? What other religion can make you rise above pain like this person?

I wonder what he was thinking. If it even hurt or if he felt it all and was in complete control.

Im so shocked at the extent he went to get his message out.wow.

Where exactly does Buddhism advocate self immolation & displays of public horror…? o_0

>_>

this picture is so powerful and moving. strong man, never said a word, or move a muscle.

That Is One Hardcore Monk!!!

It only took another ten years for the war to end. Self-immolation = not an effective tactic.

I think what he did was senseless. it wasn’t a murder but a suicide. Like people in prison that go on a hunger strike. to get the worlds attention?

If they want to starve or burn themselves thats their business, but to get organizations to cower to their protests. a lot of good it does them.

his was a wasted soul.

Rick says:

It only took another ten years for the war to end. Self-immolation = not an effective tactic…..”

Exactly! His suicide proved nothing.

An Austrialian war photographer I met in the l980’s claimed to have taken the photorgraph. I always felt he was lying!! Thanks to the computer age we are now able to verify facts.
The monk was a brave man who believed he could make a difference. It is sad to think that it took so long for changes to happen. It is such a shocking picture that even now, 2l years later, we are in awe of his bravery..

i guess you didn tnotice that he wasent protesting the war, guess you didn tread the caption all the way through. he was protesting the american appointed catholic leader, who was oppressing a mostly buddhist populace with a catholic agenda. its my understanding that after this act reforms were promised, but as usual those promises were not kept, and military groups actually raided buddhist pagodas, causing destruction of artifacts, and the deaths of buddhists. more monks burned themselves in protest, but in the end it took a arny coup to topple the government and make things right. and yes, his death proved many things, one that when the ignorant view something with meaning they dont understand, they are all to ready to dismiss it.

It makes me so sad to hear that people say this was a waste… It may have taken 10 years to change things but if people were half as dedicated to causes today as that monk was 40 years ago maybe we as a whole might be able to start making some changes in the world!!!

Make peace, not war!

we have the same last name, spelled differently..

Jesus, I certainly hope he reached Nirvana.

i dont think it was waste at all… he made more of an impact than he ever could have just living. Otherwise he would’ve jus been powerless.

Buddhism doesn’t suggest or support self-immolation in its tenets. As a Buddhist, I believe his amazing guesture was one of true activism, raising awareness, even 40 years later. His protest of Diem’s Catholic and Communist dominance over Vietnam applies to Mao’s oppression of Tibet and of China itself. If the US cared about human rights, like religious freedom, freedom from having your monastery razed to ashes, freedom to wave the flag of your beliefs, all the things we take pride in having and defending, then we should have invaded China and Southeast Asia in the 1950’s when this all began. I’m not pro-war. I actually believe in “Freedom And Justice For All,” not just regurgitate the rhetoric in grade school. I pledge alliegence to one world, one love, and one chance to make your life mean something. Peace.

Just see his face, not an iota of regretness,for why he burnt himself, just at peace , and focused. YOU MIGHT HAVE GONE AWAY O GREAT MAN, BUT I WILL REMEMBER YOU ALWAYS AND MAKE SURE MY FUTURE GENERATION DOES IT TOO. hATS OFF TO YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES…………………NAMASTE

That monk made his mark in the world, he was a courageous man and I admire him for that!….

The most disturbing thing is, war and hatred is still prevalent , personally….religion has a lot to do with the worlds troubles!

I’m proud to say I am not religious in any form.

amazing man, very wise, i believe it was his quote: “An eye for an eye will make the world blind”……

I don’t know if this is true or not. When I was growing up in Vietnam (born 1966) and saw this picture, my mom said that this story was known as a conspiracy. She said that the monk was carried by his supposely friends out of a car and doused then burned by these guys. He didn’t do this himself. People had said that this monk was drugged and then burned. Since he didn’t move a muscle, maybe he was dead already. Just my two cents…

According to Wikipedia, his death wasn’t for nought:

“Although Diệm’s decline and downfall had already begun, the self-immolation is widely seen as the pivotal point in the Buddhist crisis. The historian Seth Jacobs asserted that Thích Quảng Đức had “reduced America’s Diệm experiment to ashes as well” and that “no amount of pleading could retrieve Diem’s reputation” once Browne’s images were ingrained into the psyche of the world public.”

Beyond bravery to the point of what might be undefinable. It would seem that the grace of humanity can stretch it’s reach from the willingness to be ultimately afraid, to the willingness to cease living altogether, all of which all of which screaming in the name of cause. All of which in faith. All of which in disbelief. This is ultimate gratitude. This is to remember what we stand for and why.

Just to let ya know it was Gandhi who said ‘an eye for an eye leaves the world blind’ not the burning Monk.

did he die???

I was there. I was thirteen at the time, living six blocks from where it happened. Later that week, a friend and I saw his heart in a jar at the Xa Loi Temple . Although current photos show that his heart is black, when I saw it it was a mottled red color. There were several attempts made to cremate his heart, which may account for the blackening effect. I’m pretty sure I saw it before these attempts were made. Apparently, it would not burn.

The self-immolation had the effect of rallying the Buddhists to continue pressing Ngo Dinh Diem for reforms and encouraged, through non-violence, the American government to support the rebel Generals when the time was right.

I’ve often thought that if the Palestinians really wanted peace, a non-violent act, or acts, would bring most of the world to their side instead of Israel. The suicide-bomber thing isn’t working very well…
Non=violent protest worked for Gandhi in India and Thich Quang Duc’s immolation was the beginning of the end for Diem.

One of the most powerful photographs ever. Fire has the sacred energy of life and transporting human spirit to another dimension, where Thich Quang Duc continues his universal journey. The human heart has a consciousness and poweful memory. HIs presence is felt through his heart forever. There are many lessons for us in this act of supreme precious offering of life. Hopefully we can open our hearts and communicate as a human family, as one world, in peace and harmony with all of nature.

He was saying that he would rather burn himself alive than live under that kind of rule. and it was very effective. we still talk about it today. it got to a lot of people. No Christian would do that for their religion. Except Jesus.