For most people, probably the first time they ever saw someone driven to self-immolation to defend their beliefs was during the Viet Nam War. Back then, a Buddhist monk by the name of Venerable Thich Quang Duc calmly entered meditation as he burned to death. He was protesting the persecution of Buddhists in his country Viet Nam, and when Americans saw it, they were totally shocked by the sight. It later helped to compel the American government to withdraw their support for the Vietnamese government of the time. Over the years, this method of protest has been adopted by the Tibetans but unfortunately, with much less success. In the case of Venerable Duc, it only took one monk to trouble the American President’s conscience – upon seeing the photo of Venerable Duc self-immolating, President John F. Kennedy remarked that, “…no news picture in history has generated so much emotion around the world as that one.” Yet with the Tibetans, 152 have taken their own lives and still the international community remains unmoved. To me, this is extremely sad. Buddhists are taught that one of our core precepts is to refrain from killing, no matter how big or small the life. […]