Submitted by Tara, Apr 30, 2007 08:14

I suggest you read Sister Chan Khong's Learning True Love.

"August 20, 1963, the army's special forces raided the most important strongholds of the Buddhist movement throughout the country and arrested more than 2,000 monks and nuns in their temples along with active Buddhist laypeople in their homes, including many of my friends. The police in Saigon ransacked Xa Loi Temple, An Quang Pagoda, and several other temples. One monk at Xa Loi, , was beaten to death right on the spot."

And it was serves as the biggest rebuttal to the claim that Halberstam was duped by communists pretending to be monks she writes "In prison, police agents were known to torture people until they "admitted" that they were communist infiltrators trying to stir up trouble among the Buddhists".

Chan also says "to claim it was the U.S. that overthrew the Diem regime would be simplistic". She faults the Diem regime's narrow minds,lack of understanding,& inability to listen to the wishes of a nation. AND she sets the record straight on what prompted the UN investigation.

"During all of this time, Thay Nhat Hanh was in New York City, teaching at Columbia University. He translated into English the reports of human rights violations he was receiving from Vietnam and made a document that he presented to the United Nations. On the day of the General Assembly debate on human rights in Vietnam, Thay fasted and prayed for understanding in a temple in New York. The UN agreed to send a delegation to Vietnam to investigate the allegations."

"I knew they were victims of their own wrong concepts about the reality of Vietnam, and I only wished that from then on, the sacrifices of the nonviolent Buddhists in Vietnam would illuminate the way for those governing the country. The saga of the Diem brothers is now past, but it remains a vivid lesson, especially for those who have responsibility for millions of lives. We always have to examine our ideas and concepts closely and revise them regularly to stay close to reality. We must never be too certain of our knowledge; we must be humble and open to learning something new every day of our lives."

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