Buddhism and Christianity are two religions that are very different. Th beliefs professed by the people who follow the religions are different and this is why these religions are different. According to the Christians, there is only one God. This is according to one of the commandments that were given to them by God. Having more than one God is sin and nobody is allowed in Christian religion to believe in more than one God. This is not the case in the Buddhist religion. Buddhists believe that there are many Gods. This contradicts the Christian religion because to Buddhist followers, believing in more than one God is not a problem. Another difference is that the Christian religion belief that the major aim of religion is to have people receive salvation. On the other hand, Buddhists believe that the major problem is suffering and therefore the major religious goal is to ensure that people are free from suffering. This research paper aims at evaluating how self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc represents the goal of the Buddhist religion of relieving people from suffering (Rojer, 7).
Self immolation refers to the act where one burns him/herself as way of protesting for a certain thing. This act is common Buddhist religion. The Thich Quang Duc self immolation is very important in the history of Buddhist religion. The incident happened in the year 1963 in a certain road in Vietnam. He was a Buddhist monk who was against the suffering that the Buddhists were undergoing in the country due to the actions of their government. During the period, Buddhists were the majority individuals in Vietnam. They formed between 70 to 90 percent of the total population in the country. However, the president of Vietnam was a Catholic, which was a minority group in the country. As a result, this president discriminated Buddhist in various ways.
The aim of the discrimination activity that was carried out in the country was to control the spread of Buddhist religion. In this case, the president favored Catholics when it came to job allocation in the civil service and in the army troops. The Buddhists were taxed heavily and were discriminated when it came to allocation of land. They were also prevented from spreading their religion. Promotion in job positions also depended on whether one was a catholic. In this regard, many Buddhists converted to Catholics so that they could receive the favors they wanted. However, some of them did not convert. Generally, Buddhists in Vietnam were really suffering due to their religion (Corless, 115).
Considering these sufferings, Thich Quang Duc announced that an important thing was going to happen the next day. This is when he burnt himself alive at a roadside. The aim of this act was to inform the government and other society members that Buddhists were really suffering (Rojer, 14).
The act by the monk is related to the beliefs of the religion. In the first place, the monk was finding a way of ensuring that the Buddhist in the country was free from suffering that they were previously undergoing. Since the monks in the country had demanded to be heard and the government had failed to do so, the monk realized that the only way to make the government realize the gravity of the matter is through self immolation (Corless, 124). Through this act, Thich Quang was sure that the government would respond positively. He expected that the other followers of the religion would be relieved from their suffering.
Thich Quang was suffering considering that; the government was capturing and detaining Buddhist monks. According to his religion, there is the need to be away from suffering. This is the religious goal. This is why the monk burnt himself alive because he was sure that after his act, he would finally die and all the suffering that he was undergoing was no more. Having died and being away from suffering, then it means that one would have achieved Buddhist religious goal (Rojer, 9). This is why Thich Quang seemed to be composed and did not even cry in the process of dying. He was very confident even when he was preparing to die because he knew that by the end of it, he would have achieved his religious goal, which is being freed from suffering.
The historical event therefore reveals the religious goals of Buddhists in two ways. Death by Thich Quang aimed at helping the remaining Buddhist to be freed from suffering hence they would have achieved their religious goal. This is because there was a believe that the incident would communicate to the whole of the world that Buddhists in Vietnam were suffering and this would persuade the government to implement changes that would ensure that the remaining Buddhists in the country were freed from suffering. The act therefore intended to help the remaining Buddhists to achieve their religious goal (Rojer, 6). On the other hand, Thich Quang achieved his religious goal by self immolation. This is because he died and therefore was freed from his suffering.
According to Buddhist religion, there are many heavens and hells. Every individual is expected to be born in all these places. In hell, people suffer there and if one are unfortunate to be born in a certain hell, then he/she suffers a lot. However, the aim is that at one time, such an individual will move to a heaven or another earth where he/she will enjoy life without suffering in these new places. In this case, Thich Quang was sure that his death was not the end of life. He was sure that he would be born at another better place where he would be free from the suffering that was going on in Vietnam (Halberstam, 211). This act of self immolation was just meant to help him move from a place where he was suffering to a place where he would not suffer anymore.
The act by Thich Quang was an example to other Buddhists that they were not achieving their religious goals. It is unacceptable that they continue living in a country where they were suffering everyday whereas there was a chance of them living a better life somewhere else. His action was to show the other Buddhist that they also had an option of following his act so that they would go to another better place where they could enjoy life. The Buddhists in Vietnam therefore were enlightened by the incident that in case the government fails to change, the Buddhists had an option of avoiding sufferings. They should also immolate themselves so that they can go to a better place (Halberstam, 231). This religious act was to be accepted by all Buddhists. However, if the government was to change and grant Buddhists their rights, then it was acceptable to continue living in the country.
After the incident in Vietnam, many other Buddhists followed the same suit when the government failed to hear the cries of the Buddhists. This was meant to create crises in Vietnam until the people were heard. Buddhists even in the United States immolated themselves. It is important to realize that Buddhist teachings support suicide. They argue that suicide is allowed if it is a decision that is solely made by an individual. Suicide shows that an individual wants to be free from the desires of the world (Halberstam, 213). Buddhists believe that being born in the world is very fortunate since people enjoy life there. However, people who decide to immolate themselves show that they have completed their mission in the world and have to go to another world, heaven, or hell since after all, they will have to go there at one time or another.
Works cited
Rojer, J. The vision of Buddhism; the space under tree. Paragon house, newYork. 1981 print.
Rojer, J. The Art of Christian Alchemy. Paragon house, New york. 1981 print
Halberstam, David, and Daniel J. Singal. The Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam During the Kennedy Era. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008. Print.
Corless, Roger. The Vision of Buddhism: The Space Under the Tree. New York: Paragon House, 1989. Print.
