Despite the shock of the Western public, the practice of Vietnamese monks self-immolating was not unprecedented.

Vietnamese monks led by the abdicated Emperor Tran Nhan Tong developed the Trúc Lâm Zen branch of philosophy in the 13th century.

Vietnamese monks and nuns take Thích as their Dharma 'family name' to show affinity with the Buddha.

All of the following are Vietnamese monks, with additional roles briefly summarized:

We worked in silence, sweating under the afternoon sun, and were rewarded when we'd finished with small, freshly boiled potatoes, lightly salted and offered to us by a grinning Vietnamese monk.

Perhaps appropriately, the four discs end with Mr. Shandling in idle conversation with a Vietnamese monk, who is seeking to explain the meaning of a particular Buddhist statue.

Soon after accompanying him on a terrifying jump, the author learned that Bill had drunk a pint of kerosene and "Zippoed his mouth - reversing the favored method of Vietnamese monks protesting the war."

The Vietnamese monk, who is 67, is in frail health, and many of his disciples and admirers believe that this may be his last visit to the United States.

Any Vietnamese monk or nun in the Mahayana tradition can be addressed as "Thầy" ("teacher").

Against this background, it is shocking to meet Vietnamese monks who have been the victims of a violent attack.