If this man can sit quietly and burn himself to death

then you can learn to overcome your pain

On June 11, 1963, in Saigon, Vietnam, a Buddhist monk, Thich Quang Duc burned himself alive to protest the religious injustice of the ruling political regime. He was one of the first of many to do this. The monk sat at a busy downtown intersection and had gasoline poured over him by two fellow monks. As a large crowd of Buddhists and reporters watched, he lit a match and, over the course of a few moments, burned to death while he remained seated in the lotus position. In the words of David Halberstam, who was at that time filing daily reports on the war with the New York Times,

"I was to see that sight again, but once was enough. Flames were coming from a human being; his body was slowly withering and shriveling up, his head blackening and charring. In the air was the smell of burning flesh; human beings burn surprisingly quickly. Behind me I could hear the sobbing of the Vietnamese who were now gathering. I was too shocked to cry, too confused to take notes or ask questions, too bewildered to even think… As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound, his outward composure in sharp contrast to the wailing people around him."  (1965:211)

How can anyone do this with no cries of pain, no apparent suffering? You can learn the same techniques to overcome your pain, no matter what the cause.