The mysterious undestroyed heart relic of venerable Thich Quang Duc
55 years ago, venerable Thich Quang Duc self-immolated on a street in Saigon to protest the oppression of Buddhism by the contemporary government. Afterwards, a mysterious story circulated about his "indestructible heart," which did not burn in his fiery sacrifice. Despite being burned twice, his heart remained unscathed.
After the self-immolation at the intersection of Phan Dinh Phung and Le Van Duyet (now the August Revolution - Nguyen Dinh Chieu crossroads, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City) on June 11, 1963, his body was brought to rest at the Xa Loi Pagoda. On June 20, 1963, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and many monks, nuns, and laypeople took his body for cremation at the An Duong cemetery in Phu Lam. According to legend, after many hours of cremation, although his bones and body had turned to ash, his heart remained intact. The heart was then subjected to several more hours of burning but still remained whole, forming a solid rock-like mass. Fearing that the government of Ngo Dinh Diem would steal the "indestructible heart" of Thich Quang Duc, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam decided to place it in a 0.5-meter-high bronze tower, 0.3 meters wide, and then store it in a safe deposit box at the Banque de l'Indochine in Saigon.
The fact that Thich Quang Duc's heart did not burn in the fire remains a mystery to this day. Many people find it hard to believe without witnessing it for themselves. However, recently, the news that the Executive Board of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in Ho Chi Minh City has requested to bring the "indestructible heart" of Thich Quang Duc back to the 13-story tower being built at Vietnam Quoc Tu (District 10, Ho Chi Minh City) has brought attention back to this matter: is it true that his heart did not burn in the fire, even though it was burned twice? If so, where is the heart relic of Thich Quang Duc now?
(Source: Internet)
Before 1975, the heart relic of Thich Quang Duc was managed by the Institute for the Dissemination of Dharma of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. Thich Tu Nhon, the treasurer of the Institute for the Dissemination of Dharma, deposited the "indestructible heart" with the Banque de l'Indochine in Saigon. After 1975, the state took over the Banque de l'Indochine, which included the management of the relic of Thich Quang Duc's heart. The Banque de l'Indochine is now the headquarters of the State Bank of Vietnam's branch in Ho Chi Minh City. The bank's leadership has since returned the heart relic to the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.
"At that time, the bank had all the functional agencies, bank representatives, the Government Religious Affairs Committee, and the City Religious Affairs Committee. On the side of the Church, there was Venerable Thich Thien Hao as the permanent Vice Chairman and Head of the Church Affairs Committee of the City Buddhist Church; Venerable Thich Tu Nhon, Deputy Head of the Church Affairs Committee and Head of the Central Executive Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Church, who also signed the deposit agreement; Venerable Thong Buu, son of Venerable Thich Quang Duc; and I was a member of the Central Church Supervisory Board. We agreed and then decided to deposit the heart relic back to the State Bank of Vietnam because there was no storage place, and we dared not bring it back," recalled Venerable Thich Giac Toan.
(Source: Internet)
The people present at the deposit ceremony have now passed away, except for Venerable Thich Giac Toan. He said that when they received the heart relic back, they saw that there were still two wooden boxes belonging to the Central Buddhist Institute and the Hoa Dao Institute, which were deposited by the First Supreme Patriarch Thich Tinh Khiết and Venerable Thich Tu Nhon. However, no one has opened the boxes to see what is inside since 1991 when they were deposited until 2017. Recently, for the first time, a Buddhist delegation was allowed to visit the heart relic at the bank, but they were only allowed to see it from the outside and were asked not to take photos or film.
"I affirm that the heart relic of Venerable Thich Quang Duc is real, but we don't know the science behind it, and we don't know whether the heart is still intact after being stored in the box for so many years. This matter needs to be evaluated and verified by doctors or scientists," said Venerable Thich Giac Toan.
Ngọc Nguyên