[spoiler]June 11, 1963, Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk from Vietnam, burned himself to death at a busy intersection in downtown Saigon to bring attention to the repressive policies of the Catholic Diem regime that controlled the South Vietnamese government at the time. Buddhist monks asked the regime to lift its ban on flying the traditional Buddhist flag, to grant Buddhism the same rights as Catholicism, to stop detaining Buddhists and to give Buddhist monks and nuns the right to practice and spread their religion.
While burning Thich Quang Duc never moved a muscle.
[/spoiler]
I Am Awake
By Angel of Death
yellow, scorching hot snowflakes fall from the sky
Their painfully icy splendor vivisect each sin
Pealing the evil away
From me, From you
In the eyes of your God I am wrong
But in the eyes of my soul
and in the eyes of my bones
I am a Martyr
chains of pure destruction gnaw at my skin
Picking away each bitter piece of flesh
Cleansing and puring each part of being that is already pure
look at me my brothers, look at me my sisters
I know what thoughts are racing through your minds
"Does it hurt" you think.
"Is it really worth it," they think.
Don't worry my people, for neither fire nor wind
birth nor death,
can erase our good deeds.
I am a human
And I have eyes and a nose just like yours.
My mind doesn't always see what yours see
But does that make me blind?
My beliefs may not mirror yours
But does that make me wrong?
I may not follow your religion
And I may not ignore the fact that you continue not to accept mine
But does that make me bad?
fire licks at my mortal bones
leaving my immortal mind and soul
free to observe the world around me.
In my time of death, I am able to see what others have not
Though they despise me, under their masks I see horror
Intertwined with their blank expressions are disgust and fear
Both Buddhist monks and Catholics alike are participants in this masquerade
yes I see the world setting ablaze before me
yes I see the world moving around me
Both ignoring and pitying
But do I care what they think?
No, I don't.
For neither fire nor wind, birth nor death,
can erase my good deeds.
as I sit, composed like a peaceful, burlesque musical production
I think of a story that I know by heart
One of his students asked Buddha,
"Are you the messiah?"
"No", answered Buddha.
"Then are you a healer?"
"No,"Buddha replied.
"Then are you a teacher?" the student persisted.
"No, I am not a teacher."
"Then what are you?" asked the student, exasperated.
"I am awake", Buddha replied.
