Thích Quảng Đức was a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk living in Saigon during the Vietnam War.
He was the monk who burned himself alive in protest to South Vietnamese corruption. However, despite being in flames, he never uttered a single word or scream. He was motionless.
This is superhuman, is it not? Literally, clinically, beyond normal human capabilities?
It’s insane that there’s not even one real explanation for how the monk was able to do that.
The entire crowd watching is gripped with horror, all affected and probably traumatized by the scene. And yet, Quảng Đức sits there, calm and postured, and wordless, while fire eats him alive.
He had meditated intensely in the months before his immolation. Meditation has profound effects on the nervous system. Master practitioners are capable of withstanding strong environmental stimuli.
And still. He knew for months what he would do to himself. That he would die in possibly the worst pain the human body can endure. He woke up every day with that thought in his head.
On the morning of, he put on his robes, knowing it would be the last time he would do so. Every step he took, he knew, would bring himself closer to the final spot, where the only thing that awaited him was agony beyond his worst nightmares.
And yet, Thích Quảng Đức walked upright towards it. All human instinct, existential fears and animal desire to avoid death at all costs meant nothing to this man, this superhuman.
Now imagine what I can do if I meditated? Any goals I have, any dream, any doubts stopping me from accomplishing my goals.