When the fire was completely out, Thich Duc Nghiep and some other monks used the Buddhist flag to wrap the Bodhisattva's remains. However, because his hands were close together in front of his chest, and because he was in lotus posture, it was difficult to cover the whole body.
Monks and nuns and other Buddhists could not hold back their tears, and their cries seemed to drown out the loud noises from the yelling and cursing police. Thousands of Buddhists followed the car that drove the Bodhisattva's remains to Xa Loi Temple.
Today Tong Ho Cam vividly recalled details of this historical event, "I cried, and I had the impression that all Saigon cried in respect and deep sorrows for his great sacrifice. Not only those who had witnessed the scene followed his remains, but residents along all the streets we passed by came out to bow or pay homage to him, too. Many wept, including non-Buddhists and Catholics.
When the car with the Bodhisattva's remains came to Xa Loi Temple, Mr. Chanh Tri Mai Tho Truyen*, despite his old age and all the vicissitudes in his life, could not control his emotions, lay down on the ground, and followed the remains into the main building.
The funeral of Bodhisattva Thich Quang Duc became an unforgettable day in the middle of June, 1963 in Saigon, and a historical event in Vietnam Buddhism. Monks, nuns, and other Buddhists from other provinces also came to Saigon to pay homage to him. As the number of people who showed up at Xa Loi Temple was increasing, more and more Special Forces, police, and undercover agents appeared at the temple and tried to reduce the significance and the colossal scale of the funeral ceremony, and its social and political impact. Police controlled the surrounding area of the temple, and allowed only a limited number of participants. Some undercover agents disguised themselves as disabled veterans to disturb the funeral ceremony, and harassed participants.
Meanwhile, at the President's Palace, Ngo Dinh Diem felt frightened by the self-immolation. He ordered a special airplane to fly to Hue, and invited Most Venerable Thich Tinh Khiet, Vietnam Buddhist Patriarch, and other Buddhist dignitaries such as Thich Tri Quang, Thich Thien Minh, Thich Mat Nguyen, Thich Huyen Quang to Saigon. A Council of Multiministries was created to negotiate with the Defense Council of Vietnam Buddhist Multisects.
Thich Duc Nghiep was present at the meeting as a secretary, and Thich Thien Minh, as head of the Buddhist delegation. During the break in the hall, Vice Prime Minister Tran Ngoc Tho told Thich Duc Nghiep in private: "You monks made us breathe out smoke."
Still, the negotiation meeting was just one of Diem's tactics to soothe the Buddhists temporarily. His oppression of Buddhists still went on. Tran Le Xuan, Ngo Dinh Nhu's wife, even poured more oil into the fire when she said,"A monk was barbecued," and made up a story that younger monks had injected anesthesia to Most Venerable Thich Quang Duc. She cheekily announced that if monks needed more kerosene to carry out self-immolation, she would be happy to supply it. Such insolent statements from the advisor's first lady worsened the tension between Diem administration and Buddhists.
At a press conference, one international correspondent who was unable to be at the self-immolation asked Thich Duc Nghiep for his opinion about the distorted statement and story from Tran Le Xuan. The monk calmly replied," Regarding the self-immolation, you may need to ask your colleagues, Malcolm Browne of AP, Simon Michaud of AFP, or other correspondents. They may serve as witnesses."
And when those whose named were mentioned stood up and retold what was happening, everybody at the press conference was still in a profound shock.
David Halberstam of New York Times, one of the witnesses, emotionally recalled:
I was to see that sight again, but once was enough. Flames were coming from a human being; his body was slowly withering and shriveling up, his head blackening and charring. In the air was the smell of burning human flesh; human beings burn surprisingly quickly. Behind me I could hear the sobbing of the Vietnamese who were now gathering. I was too shocked to cry, too confused to take notes or ask questions, too bewildered to even think.... As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound, his outward composure in sharp contrast to the wailing people around him.
Years later Thich Duc Nghiep said that he himself had alluded to the international correspondents about the big event on the night before the Bodhisattva's self-immolation:
To keep it a secret, and to prevent the government's suppression, I could not mention it straightforwardly, but I said that a special event related to Buddhism in Saigon was to happen the following morning. One correspondent asked me if it was going to be very special, or just another non-violent demonstration, like the previous ones.
Nguyen van Thong, one secret agent watching the whole scene, whose job was to follow Buddhist activities at the time, publicly denounced the rumor that Bodhisattva Thich Quang Duc had been injected with any anesthesia. Half a century later, he emotionally recounted the event as follows:
I saw, and other policemen saw, too, with our own eyes Boddhisattva Thich Quang Duc get out of the car gently and with dignity, bow to the four directions, and sit down in lotus posture, before he ignited the match himself. Such actions from a genuine monk of a very high spiritual level could never have been under the effect of anesthesia. Other monks standing around were either chanting or trying to block the police. No other single hand could interfere with his own self-immolation.
After the Diem administration was toppled, Nguyen van Thong brought the close-up photos he had taken of the scene to the Buddhist Sangha in Saigon to donate them. It was a complete set of the self-immolation scene photos from the first moment when the fire did not start yet until the last moment when the Bodhisattva fell backward. Not until then did everybody realize that, besides Malcolm Browne, another person, a Vietnamese, had captured the whole sacred scene with his camera. And those photos have revealed the whole truth.
The car used to take Boddhisattva Thich Quang Duc to the intersection of Phan Dinh Phung Street and Le van Duyet Street. It now sits at the Thien Mu Pagoda in Hue, Central Vietnam.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thich_Quang_Duc
Quoc Viet. The Immortal Heart. http://tuoitre.vn. A three-part document. Posted from May 31, 2010 to June 3, 2010.
http://www.go.vn/news/630-5185/anh-truyen/anh-thoi-su-vi-dai-nhat-moi-thoi-dai.htm
http://www.daophatngaynay.com/vn/phatgiao-vn/lich-su/7639-Anh-huong-tu-cuoc-tu-thieu-cua-Hoa-thuong-Thich-Quang-Duc-trong-phong-trao-tranh-dau-cua-Phat-giao-Viet-Nam-nam-1963.html
