The demonstrations multiplied, gatherings that were very lucrative for Louis and his friends. Their hands sauntered through the protesters’ pockets, and their feet became lost in the crowd without leaving any traces. The streets, subjected to curfews and fury, became blazing hot. On one hand, the guardians of order had to assert their authority and their superior strength by boosting their firepower with truncheons and machine guns. On the other hand, they could not help but admire the courage of the protesters, their determination to counter their weapons bare-handed, to overthrow a government elected almost unanimously, to dare to march towards a new horizon. The police and the military had to resist prostrating themselves before the monk who maintained his lotus position while the match sizzled in contact with his gasoline-soaked robe until his body was totally consumed. One of the rare photographers who had not taken that day off immortalized the image of the monk become a human torch. Despite the unquestioned respect due to the monk’s mental resolve, the immolation inspired lively debates about Buddhism and the desire to protect it from being sullied by politics.