Thich quang ducs biography

Emphasizing this context, Thich Nhat's remarks make it plain that insomuch as sui generis religion plays a powerful role in dehistoricizing and decontextualizing human events, the very label by which we commonly distinguish just these deaths from countless others that took place during the Vietnam War-for example, "religious suicide"--is itself implicated in the aestheticization and depoliticization of human actions.

What is perhaps most astounding about Thich Nhat's comments is that, despite the discourse on sui generis religion's tendency to limit scholarship to the terms set by religious insiders recall Cantwell Smith's methodological ruleThich Nhat-most obviously himself an insider to Vietnamese Buddhism-is the only scholar surveyed in this chapter whose remarks take into account the utter complexity of human action as well as the many scales of analysis on which participants and nonparticipants describe, interpret, understand, and explain these actions.

That the death of Quang Duc had a powerful influence on the events of in South Vietnam is not in need of debate. It has been reported that Browne's photograph of Quang Duc burning, which ran in the Philadelphia Inquirer on 12 Junewas on President Kennedy's desk the next morning Moeller And virtually all commentators acknowledge that the imminent fall of the Diem government was in many ways linked to the Buddhist protests and their popular support among the South Vietnamese.

In the least, most commentators would agree that the deaths had what they might term unforeseen or indirect political implications. The question to be asked, however, is just what is at stake for secluding politics to the margins of these otherwise self-evidently religious events. As should be evident, depending on how one portrays this historical event, one thing that is at stake is whether it could be construed as having possible causes or direct implications for American political and military involvement in the escalating war or whether, as many commentators seem to assume, it was: 1 a localized Vietnamese issue, Of 2 an essentially religious nature, which 3due in large part to the Diem government's mishandling of the protest and its unwillingness to reach a compromise with the Buddhists, only eventually grew from a thich quang ducs biography religious incident into an international political issue.

The event is thereby domesticated and managed. As the children's literary critic Herbert Kohl has convincingly demonstrated, in the case of the surprisingly homogeneous and depoliticized school textbook representations of the events surrounding the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott, the story is truncated, presented completely out of context, and portrayed as the single act of a person who was tired and angry.

Instead the problem is unfairness, a more generic and softer form of abuse that avoids dealing with the fact that the great majority of White people in Montgomery were racist and capable of being violent and cruel to maintain segregation. Thus [in the dominant textbook account of this event] we have an adequate picture of neither the courage of Rosa Parks nor the intelligence and resolve of the African American community in the face of racism.

The very act of representation, in both the cases of the Buddhist death and the bus boycott, acts to defuse what might otherwise be understood as the tremendous sociopolitical power of the events and acts in question. In the case of the self-immolations, the image of the monk burning has by now become so decontextualized that it has been commodified; it is now a consumer item in popular culture.

For example, the photograph appears on the cover of a compact disk for the alternative rock music group Rage Against the Machine. Although both the example of the Montgomery bus boycott and the Vietnamese deaths arise from dramatically different historical and social contexts, both actions are clearly part of an oppositional discourse that is today communicated to us through, and therefore managed by, the means of dominant discourses school textbooks in one case, and as a mechanism for selling both scholarly privilege and expertise as well as a Sony Music product in another.

Therefore, it should not be surprising that, in both cases, we find strategies that effectively package these actions in a decontextualized and delimited fashion. It is in this precise manner that the strategies of representation that constitute the discourse on sui generis religion are complicit with such larger issues of cultural, economic, and political power and privilege.

One way to support this thesis further would be to examine carefully media, government, and scholarly interpretations of other specific historical episodes and demonstrate the ways in which it may have been economically, socially, or politically beneficial for a specifiable group to portray events as essentially and exclusively religious rather than, say, political or military.

The example of what was widely termed the self-immolation-a term that from the outset does much to isolate the event as being exclusively concerned with issues of religious sacrifice--of Vietnamese Buddhists is a particularly useful example, because it seems that there was, and may yet be, a great deal at stake, economically, politically, and militarily, in the interpretation and representation of these events.

Another example well worth study would be the interpretations given to the practice of suttee or, the practice of a woman following her deceased husband to his funeral pyre, for only within an interpretive system founded on sui generis thich quang ducs biography and which privileges the insider's account could such a practice evade contemporary feminist analysis.

As van den Bosch has recently argued, the "question whether the custom [of suttee] should be regarded as religious depends upon the thich quang ducs biography of religion within this context" n. In other words, one of the primary differences between the frameworks that represent this practice as, on the one hand, an example of pious female religious duty that embodies lofty motives as suggested by Tikku and, on the other, an instance of institutionalized misogyny is primarily the assumption of the autonomy of religious life from social and, in this case, specifically gendered ideology van den Bosch As already suggested, the deaths of the Buddhists could be seen as a statement either against American-backed imperialism and war or simply against the localized persecution of one religious group by another, all depending on the scale of the analysis.

If the former, then the repercussions of the event strike deeply not only in Vietnam but in the United States as well. If only the latter, then the problem is isolated, it remains in Saigon, and it is up to the decision makers in Washington simply to distance themselves from Diem's mishandling of the episode. Washington's decisions are then based on reasons varying from declining public opinion in the United States, once the images reach the popular media, to the realization that in fact Diem did not represent the majority of South Vietnamese and therefore was the wrong leader to back in the war against the North this is the dominant theme of the Times editorial on 17 June Clearly, there are practical and political advantages and disadvantages depending on which of the two above intellectual interpretations is favored.

Furthermore, it is intriguing that there exists a general correspondence between the interpretations offered in the New York Times and those offered by scholars of religion. Although differing in many ways, it appears that both are part of a complex system of power and control, specializing in the deployment of interpretive strategies-the politics of representation.

Now days, the development of computer technology, especially through that of the World Wide Web, internet communication and the Super Information Highway, we are al connected through individual computers in a new kind of electronic society. This activity has been effective in strengthening al fields of human endeavor and it has created new ways of social organization in which Buddhism cannot avoid being involved.

This electronic communications revolution is a natural progression that must be embraced by Buddhism. It is hoped that through the teachings available on this website that all will gain insight into Buddhism and themselves towards relieving their suffering and in promoting greater harmony everywhere. On the www. At the moment this website is still under development, and will be constantly updated as a matter of course, there are many things to do.

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This life is impermanent, everything will rapidly change and all things seemingly constant will fade away, nothing will be retained forever. However, positive and negative Karma the positive and negative actions you have performed in this and past lives will remain with you. Negative Karma will cause suffering and turmoil in life, and positive Karma will provide you with peace and happiness.

Performing good actions benefits all and oneself as a happy disposition is a healthy one, and this is communicated to others. Taking time to perform useful actions in the world is most important, all actions resonates across the world and affection and peace need to be cultivated within and without. All of us are the world, we do not live in isolation, it is imperative then that we act in improving and reflect this in our lives.

When we are happy so is the world and vice versa. Helping to bear the load and dealing with difficulty in a positive manner can only improve things not the contrary. Thinking of other is thinking of ourselves in the long run while being selfish and acting entirely in ones own self interest without a thought for others splits and divides us form the common good.

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Contact with us in regards to anything you may be able to contribute may be made by email [email protected]by phone: 61 03fax: 61 03 After the end of his term as a hermit, Thich Quang Duc began to travel through central Vietnam. After two years, he settled in a pagoda near Nha Trang. InThich Quang Duc became the official inspector of the Buddhist Association in Ninh Hoa, with the responsibility of overseeing the monks in his native province.

He was also known for his efforts in constructing new religious structures, and under his guidance, at least 14 temples were built. InThich Quang Duc traveled to southern Vietnam to spread his faith. It is known that he spent at least two years in Cambodia during this time. After returning from Cambodia, Duc continued to lead the construction of new temples and pagodas, resulting in a total of 17 buildings under his supervision.

Serious problems for the Buddhists began after Ngo Dinh Diem came to power. Persecution of Buddhists drew some attention from representatives of other countries, although not very actively. The real uproar in the world press began after the events of June 11, Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item.

Vietnamese Buddhist monk and self-immolator — SaigonSouth Vietnam. Biography [ edit ]. Self-immolation [ edit ]. Religious background [ edit ]. Further information: Buddhist crisis. Day of the act [ edit ]. Funeral and aftermath [ edit ]. Intact heart and symbolism [ edit ]. Political and media impact [ edit ]. Precedents and influence [ edit ].

See also [ edit ]. Notes [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Bibliography [ edit ]. External links [ edit ]. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thich Quang Duc. Buddhist crisis. Krulak Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. Persecution of Buddhists. Protest [ change change source ]. Background [ change change source ]. Burning [ change change source ].

Funeral and events after death [ change change source ]. Impact [ change change source ]. References [ change change source ]. Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War. ISBN The Last Confucian. Vietnam: a Dragon Embattled: Vietnam at war. Oxford University Press. The Making of a Quagmire. Random House. A Death in November: America in Vietnam, New York City: E.

Vietnam: A History. New York: Penguin Books. Archived from the original on Retrieved Other websites [ change change source ].