Two Tibetan Women Die After Self-Immolation

"Buddhism is a way of compassion, not of hatred, and one of peace, not of war.  A dictatorial government that tries to control or repress its people by hatred and bloodshed will not be supported by its Buddhist base.  When one Buddhist lights the match that sets their robes on fire and makes them a human torch, other Buddhists feel that dedication and take it upon themselves." - Rev. Zengaku Soyu Matsuoka, Roshi, November 3, 1963

I don't usually like to blog about the situation in Tibet - not that I don't care, but I don't want to perpetuate an impression of Buddhists selectively worrying about the rights of only other Buddhists - but two Tibetan women killed themselves by self-immolation in two different regions of occupied Tibet over the weekend.

The two self-immolations were the first by Tibetan laywomen in Tibet’s history - previously, only nuns or former nuns had set fire to themselves. The two deaths bring the number of Tibetans who have died by self-immolation in Tibet since last March to at least 24; at least 16 have died.

According to reports, a woman who attends a middle school in Maqu County in Gansu Province set herself on fire in a vegetable market on Saturday.  An exile advocacy group identified the woman who killed herself as Tsering Kyi, age 19.

On Sunday, a 32-year-old widow and mother of three known as Rinchen, killed herself by self-immolation in front of Kirti Monastery in the town of Aba, known in Tibetan as Ngaba Town. Rinchen had four children, and while in flames she reportedly called out, “Tibet needs freedom and Gyalwa Rinpochen (the Dalai Lama) needs to return to Tibet.” Local people have taken her body into the monastery.

Recent reports describe an increase in military presence in Tibetan towns and villages, in addition to the 300 officials already stationed at Kirti Monastery.  According to Tibetan sources, people in Ngaba Town have been beaten and detained by security personnel just for the "crime" of being Tibetan.  Since last year, large numbers of Chinese state security personnel are present on the streets of Ngaba Town, manning roadblocks and conducting house-to-house searches. The town and the surrounding area are closed to independent observers. Communications, including internet and mobile, have been blocked for much of the last year.

The self immolations are reminiscent of the monks who set themselves on fire in the 1960s to protest the South Vietnamese governments' persecution of Buddhists.  As a young boy, I was both shocked and strangely fascinated by the calm countenance of the monks as they sat cross-legged in flames.  In fact, that was my first real exposure to Buddhism, and for years, the word Buddhist in my mind was associated with Buddhist monk, and Buddhist monk manifested the image of the monk in flames.  Speaking in 1963, Matsuoka Roshi, my teacher's teacher, explained:

"It was not too long ago when I spoke to you about the self-sacrifice of a Buddhist monk, Quang Duc.  Since his death by fire on the streets of Saigon, four more monks and a Buddhist nun have followed his example.  Four Buddhist monks and the first woman to offer her life in protest of the religious persecution of the Buddhists in Viet Nam by the government have all done so out of religious aspirations and heroic self-sacrifice.  Their lives have not been wasted, as some might think, even if the government does not take immediate steps to stop the persecution of others of their faith.  It is an ignorant person who thinks their deaths have been in vain, for they have not known the world in which these monks and the nun have spent their days.  Theirs is a spiritual world in which there is no death - only life - and there is no suffering or pain.  They have found the spiritual power that is Zen, even though they live in the land of Southern Buddhism.  Zen is to be found anywhere, in any place, by any one, and it makes a life of selfless concern for others.  In Viet Nam, the people have been showing their admiration and gratitude for the sacrifice of the monks and the nun by holding demonstrations in the places of their death and demanding that the bodies of the dead be given to them for a funeral and memorial service.  Even though the government has been taking stringent action against further demonstrations, they have not been able to squelch them, for the spirit that inspired the sacrificed monks and the nun has been caught like a fever by the common people. The lives of the sacrificed continue to live in the lives of their countrymen.  Knowledge of Zen, and its spiritual power, enables one to live such a life in this world."

Encouragingly, Matsuoka Roshi points out that the monks "sat in meditation, and as their minds became empty, all fears left them.  In Zen, there is no pain or death; no fear of anything. The mind that has become empty from meditation does not know these fears.  They are left behind at some unknown time, and never remembered.  You and the monk in the photograph can be the same.  His meditation posture in the flames and yours in this comfortable room can become one if you really concentrate.  Anyone can achieve the same empty mind and fearlessness.  You have the potential within you, but do not know it.  In meditation, you begin to know your Buddha-nature, and unbelievable power comes to you, like the burning monk had."