Why did the old monk self-immolate?
Is this a traditional buddhist way to end one's life?
And why did he pull the plug in the boat?
I am a Buddhist, although a Theravadan Buddhist. The Buddhism in this movie is Mahayana. Even so Self immolation is not a "buddhist" thing in the slightest. The monk who did self-immolate during the viet nam war was a mahayana monk, and this practice has become popular in Tibet in recent years. it is seen as an unfortunate thing and not condoned by most monks, including the Dalai Lama.
As for WHY the monk did this, I have no idea and was surprised like many to see it. I watched this movie because it was "Buddhist" but I didn't see too much Buddhism in it.