Word: buddhists
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...automobile at the head of the procession of saffron-robed Buddhist monks in Saigon suddenly choked to a stop at an intersection. The occupants of the car lifted its hood as chanting priests began forming a circle seven or eight deep around the vehicle. Prayer beads clutched in his hand, a phlegmatic, 73-year-old monk named Thich Quang Due sat down cross-legged on the asphalt in the center of the circle. From under the auto's hood, a monk took a canister of gasoline and poured it over the old priest. An expression of serenity...
Casting the Blame. In the Buddhist faith, self-sacrifice is often undertaken to transfer the suffering of others to oneself. The martyr is usually considered a holy man so close to nirvana that he is unaffected by pain. Quang Due's premeditated act was a demonstration of Buddhist determination to force South Viet Nam's Roman Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem to knuckle under to demands for increased religious freedom (TIME, June 14). In a will written "before closing my eyes to Buddha," Quang Due said: "I have the honor of presenting my words to President Diem, asking...
Diem indignantly replied that Buddhist leaders are "damned fools" to think that he is trying to suppress their religion. "I don't forget," he says, "that 80% of the votes that elected me President were Buddhist votes." Catholics maintain that they occupy so many influential posts only because their church schools turn out far better educated graduates than Buddhist schools. In a sharply worded statement, Mme. Nhu challenged the good faith of striking bonzes (monks). "The robe does not make the bonze," said Mme. Nhu. "It is necessary to examine very closely the comportment of certain so-called Buddhist...
...disaster caused Buddhist demonstrations throughout the country. Buddhist delegations in Saigon demanded the removal of restrictions on their faith, equal job opportunities and indemnity for the families of the dead and wounded in Hue. Instead, the government arrested demonstrators, blamed the unrest on "liars, foreigners and the Viet Cong." When another Buddhist crowd gathered in Hue last week, troops dispersed it with crude tear-gas bombs that sent 67 people to the hospital with chemical burns...
...officials in Saigon fear that the mounting religious strife can only benefit the Viet Cong by dividing the people and the predominantly Buddhist army just as the government forces are beginning to gain a military advantage over the Reds. Diem made some conciliatory gestures; but with the situation fast deteriorating, they might prove not to be enough. He ordered the removal of the barricades in Hue and in a nationwide radio broadcast admitted that some of his aides had not shown "sufficient understanding and sensitivity" in dealing with the crisis...