Extreme Sacrifice
Thursday, October 29, 2009 - CHALLENGES
[LIFE'S BIG LISTS]
:: photo by Malcolm Browne
Back in 1963, prior to the whole Vietnam War sh*t hitting the fan, Thích Quang Duc, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, wanted to send a message to South Vietnam's Ngo Dinh Diem regime about their oppression of Buddhists. Instead of creating picket signs, Thích Quang Duc chose to pour a can of gasoline over his body and light himself on fire. He didn't move or make a sound during the ordeal, and he died from severe burns to his body. In the aftermath, images of Thích Quang Duc's self-immolation and act of extreme sacrifice called world attention to the policies of South Vietnam. President John F. Kennedy withdrew support of the Ngo Dinh Diem, and the regime fell four months later. We're not advocating flaming, public suicide, but what extreme sacrifices would you be willing to make in order to bring about change?
List 3 sacrifices that would cause you to stretch your boundaries in order to make a difference.
1. Sell my car and donate the proceeds to job counseling for the homeless. I'll figure out another way to get to the job I'm lucky enough to have.
2. Join Big Brothers/Big Sisters. My real family gets on my nerves anyways.
3. Stand up and say something to right a wrong on someone else's behalf. Even if everyone turns and stares.
:: Todd Steinberg
I would eat less to understand hunger.
I would speak up more often when people speak hurtfully to others.
Help take care of abused animals.
I don't really know if this is actually sacrifice when I would receive something in return. A better sense of self.
1. Live where there is no consistent hot water. I am addicted to my hot, I mean HOT, showers. So this would be a big sacrifice.
2. Live where there is snow a good portion of the year. Being from the south, a snow storm is more than 2 inches (the whole winter season). I don't like being cold. So doing service in a cold climate would be a sacrifice.
3. Living with less "stuff." Re-directing money to where it it makes a real difference in people's lives.
Also, here is an amazing video of Thích Quang Duc's dramatic statement. It is set to the music of Explosions In The Sky, which is truly an amazing band.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-MBhe5Wac8&feature=PlayList&p=4977889ABEB788FC
1. Spend time with the elderly, learning from them.
2. Ride my bike wherever I go to help the environment.
3. Socialize with the homeless, and meet their needs.
There is one famous qoute that I try very hard to live my life by and makedescisions based on.
"If you light yourself on fire, the world will come to watch you burn." ~John Wesley
So you say, How far? I Say, To the ends!
1. take the crowded shanghai metro in the morning instead of the cushy cab i take every morning.
2. volunteer my time at migrant schools.
3. have more patience to my ESL students when they don't understand directions and such the first time around.
@saamaanthaa Yes I can very much do number 1 then number 2. You are assuming I have the ideal marriage where my wife supports me no matter what. If she is at odds with me about my decision, then devoting my life to God is more important than devoting my life to my wife. Jesus did say that whoever leaves his wife for his sake will be great in the kingdom of God.
The ultimate sacrifice is the conceptual idea of duality. Which means there is no choice or opposition upon which to act; and all conflict and harmony, as a creation of something outside this; being untrue or an illusion of that. Basically, it is the surrender of self, into the void of selflessness, without anything to support or create change or reflection.
i would sacrifice all the democrats and all the republicans in office and power, all the monarchs royalty and elite of europe, kkk leaders, neo nazis and the owners of the federal reserve bank in an enoumous pit of lava atop an articcial yet extremely lethal and of course sufferingley high altitude incinerating deadly volcano that would be some where left of hawaii.
- LIFE's BIG QUESTIONS
- ATTACK A CHALLENGE
1)stop buying comics for the next few months n use that money to help out a friend who's recently just got off living on the streets n is expecting a babyboy soon.
2)give back to to literary world as it's given so much to me.
3)my place on the uk nhs system for someone else that really needs it.