Self-immolation and Climate Change
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15239/ycjcb.01.02.02Abstract
On Friday, April 22, 2022—Earth Day—Wynn Bruce, a climate activist and Buddhist practitioner, died after setting fire to himself on the steps of the United States Supreme Court. In 2018, David Buckel, a lawyer and environmental advocate, auto-cremated in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York. Although the actions of Bruce and Buckel seem to be inspired in part by Buddhist auto-cremators of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, Buddhist self-immolation has a long history in East Asia. The following explores some of the deeper historical connections between Buddhist self-immolation and climate change.
