What is self-immolation?

Bright on Buddhism Episode 27 - What is self-immolation? Why do people do it? What are some examples of self immolation in the Buddhist scriptural texts? Resources: Kevin Trainor: Buddhism: An Illustrated Guide; Donald Lopez: Norton Anthology of World Religions: Buddhism' Chan Master Sheng Yen: Orthodox Chinese Buddhism; Nagarjuna: Verses of The Middle Way (The Madhyamakarika); Conze, Edward, trans. The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines and Its Verse Summary. Bolinas, CA: Four Seasons Foundation, 1973.; The Bodhisattva Vow: A Practical Guide to Helping Others, page 1, Tharpa Publications (2nd. ed., 1995) ISBN 978-0-948006-50-0; Flanagan, Owen (2011-08-12). The Bodhisattva's Brain: Buddhism Naturalized. MIT Press. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-262-29723-3.; Williams, Paul, Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations, Routledge, 2008, pp. 195–196.; Harding, James M. “Incendiary Acts And Apocryphal Avant-Gardes: Thích Quảng Ðú’c, Self-Immolation, and Buddhist Spiritual Vanguardism.” PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 38, no. 3 (2016): 31–50. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26386805.; Fraser, Angus M. “Self-Immolation as a Political Act : A Note.” Vietnam Perspectives 3, no. 2 (1967): 28–31. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30182520.; Benn, James A. “Written in Flames: Self-Immolation in Sixth-Century Sichuan.” T’oung Pao 92, no. 4/5 (2006): 410–65. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4529049.; Hope, Marjorie. “The Reluctant Way: Self-Immolation in Vietnam.” The Antioch Review 27, no. 2 (1967): 149–63. https://doi.org/10.2307/4610829.; Benn, James A. Burning for the Buddha: Self-Immolation in Chinese Buddhism. University of Hawai’i Press, 2007. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wr3qf.; Yün-hua, Jan. “Buddhist Self-Immolation in Medieval China.” History of Religions 4, no. 2 (1965): 243–68. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1061959.; Sindhi, Swaleha A., and Adfer Rashid Shah. “Life in Flames: Understanding Tibetan Self Immolations as Protest.” The Tibet Journal 37, no. 4 (2012): 34–53. http://www.jstor.org/stable/tibetjournal.37.4.34.; Moerman, D. Max. “Passage to Fudaraku: Suicide and Salvation in Premodern Japanese Buddhism.” In The Buddhist Dead: Practices, Discourses, Representations, edited by Bryan J. Cuevas and Jacqueline I. Stone, 266–96. University of Hawai’i Press, 2007. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wr3rx.13.; https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/24/us/politics/climate-activist-self-immolation-supreme-court.html; https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/wynn-alan-bruce-climate-activist-supreme-court-b2064559.html Do you have a question about Buddhism that you'd like us to discuss? Let us know by tweeting to us @BrightBuddhism, emailing us at [email protected], or joining us on our discord server, Hidden Sangha https://discord.gg/tEwcVpu! Credits: Nick Bright: Script, Cover Art, Music, Voice of Hearer, Co-Host Proven Paradox: Editing, mixing and mastering, social media, Voice of Hermit, Co-Host