Man is not our enemy
Phan Thi Mai joined the very small group – only six – of Buddhist monks organized by Thich Nhat Hanh before being banished from Vietnam. In May 1967 he went to a pagoda, sprinkled with gasoline and set himself on fire. Not before, however, of having put two statues in front of him. One was the statue of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. The other was a statue of the Virgin Mary.
He had several poems with him, read before he died. One was of his master, Thich Nhat Hanh. Say:
Man is not our enemy. the only thing worthy of you is compassion.