A former Buddhist novice has burned herself to death in an apparent act of devotion to a monk who also committed self-immolation last year to protest a Korean flood control project, according to Stephen Hong reporting for the internet Buddhist Channel.
The body of the woman, who was in her 40s and only identified by her surname “Lee,” was found in front of a stupa or monument to the dead monk, who was known as the Venerable Munsu, at the Jibosa Temple southeast of Seoul, Korea.
Munsu set himself aflame to protest the Four Rivers Project, a hydroelectric and flood-control project.
Police presume the death was suicide but are investigating the exact circumstances surrounding the incident, according to Hong.
“According to an official from the Jogye Order, the country’s largest Buddhist denomination, Lee left a suicide note at the spot saying she was following Venerable Munsu’s will,” reported Hong. “Venerable Munsu, 47, set himself on fire on a river bank near the Jibosa temple in May 2010, after demanding President Lee Myung-bak’s government ‘stop the river project immediately and try its best to serve poor people, not the rich.'”
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