Mind over matter.

At one time Vietnam was divided into North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was under communist rule while the South was under a government propped up by the US. US involvement in Vietnam came because of the fear of communism spreading to other South East Asian countries in the so call 'dominoes effect'. Diem came to power under fraudulent election when he won the 600,000 votes out of an electorate of 450,000. President Diem was a Christian and he appointed only Christians in his ruling government. Soon his persecution of Buddhists in the vastly Buddhist majority Buddhist population begin. It culminated in the banning of flying the Buddhist flag during Wesak day when just a few days ago he allowed the flying of the Vatican flag.

Thích Quảng Đức, a Mahayanist monk saw the mistreatment and discrimination to Buddhist and he decided to send a message to Diem.

In 1963 at a junction in the City of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, Thích Quảng Đức and a few hundred monks arrived at the junction. There Thích Quảng Đức sat in lotus position while one of his disciple poured petrol on him and his body was lit. 

Two US journalist were present at the time of the incident. David Halberstam and Malcolm Browne witnessed the immolation of Thích Quảng Đức.
Thích Quảng Đức left a message to President Diem;-

Before closing my eyes and moving towards the vision of the Buddha, I respectfully plead to President Ngo Dinh Diem to take a mind of compassion towards the people of the nation and implement religious equality to maintain the strength of the homeland eternally. I call the venerables, reverends, members of the sangha and the lay Buddhists to organize in solidarity to make sacrifices to protect Buddhism.

Journalist David Halberstam who witnessed the whole immolation later wrote\-

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

Journalist Malcolm Browne took pictures and send it back to US. It shocked the country and even today people cannot understand how Thích Quảng Đức could burn himself alive without flinching a muscle.

Thích Quảng Đức had entered into the Janas and passed away just in the parinibanna of the Buddha. In Cha'an Buddhism(Zen) one of the Patriarch passed away in an instant. 

Perhaps today, this act provided copycats of self immolation to protest their grievances but they do so with pain and anger.

All the nerves in our body is connected to the brain and when the mind is trained it has the power over the body - mind over matter.