The Walmart Story
29 Aug
Last night, Tsem Rinpoche, Pastor Seng Piow and myself went down to Walmart to do some shopping for offerings and batteries after dinner. Walmart was 24 hours so we didn’t have to rush and worry about closing time.
Like other Walmart outlets, this one was huge with wide aisles and long line of shelves that stocked everything from food to toys. We took our time selecting the offerings we wanted and when we were done, we headed towards the checkout counter. Halfway towards the checkout, we had to pass by the toy aisle…
At one of the toy aisles that displayed Barbie dolls, Rinpoche saw a little girl hugging her mother while begging to buy a little Ken doll in a box. She was very cute and convincing as she tried to cajol her mom, “Mom, this would make my dream come true!”
Her older bespectacled brother was playing with the hair of another barbie doll.
“Mom, I want this one too!”
The mom sighed and was contemplating before she said, “There’s always a drama every week. Well, I can only get one.”
“Ok then.”
The boy decided that her sister should get the doll. Rinpoche was amused by the girl. Rinpoche sensed the mother was very kind and poor. He felt compelled to do something. At first, he asked me to walk by to see their interaction. Then, he decided to walk by to find out more. In an spontaneous move, he struck a conversation with the mom, the little boy and girl.
Then, as we were in line to pay for the items we wanted to buy, Rinpoche and I decided to walk back to the doll aisle to find the dolls the kids wanted and purchase them. Pastor Seng Piow was left to pay for the items. The mother and daughter were in the stationery aisle not too far and we bumped into the boy at the doll aisle. It turns out that the boy likes to play with hair and he said he was very good at it. He pointed to the doll his sister wanted and another one he wanted. His doll was just a bust of a girl with lots of hair that one could play with. I took both dolls to pay and we returned to look for them.
Rinpoche asked the mother if he could give the 2 dolls to her kids. She took it and was visibly very touched and thanked Rinpoche with teary eyes. Rinpoche gave some advice to the kids and specifically told them to be good kids at home to their mom and dad. He also told the boy that its not wrong for him to play with dolls and that he could do whatever he wanted. Instinctively, Rinpoche knew that would be a problem with the father and so he told him to be patient with his father and to be patient with him and try to win him over by being a good son. The mother was crying, and nodding her head at this point. Rinpoche hugged the mother and children before leaving.
Just before driving off, I ran back in, found the mother and kids and gave them Rinpoche’s blog card. I explained that Rinpoche is a Buddhist priest, he does this all the time and they can log onto Rinpoche’s blog to find out more. This is to connect the kids to Dharma. This is just one of the many spontaneous and compassionate works that Rinpoche does to strangers, which he does even more so for students and friends.
(The picture above was the only one I managed to capture with my phone while Rinpoche was talking to the kids)
Morgan Robinson
Luqman Michel
Reza Pramudya
kampus terbaik
CASEY KAM
Hi PDL. Thank you for sharing this wonderful story and how compassionate Rinpoche is. I was very touched with this.
It also reminded me to fill my wallet/ carrying case with Rinpoche’s blog call card to connect people to the Dharma.
Thanks again.
Rinpoche walks the talk. Full stop! Whatever he preaches, he does it himself. It is very nice that people around him shares all there with us, so many will be benefited from it. Thank you P. David for sharing!
Dear Pastor David,
Thank you for sharing this story. Since I’ve known Rinpoche, Rinpoche has only been consistent with his actions of kindness, giving, inspiring, caring and loving. Stories like the one you shared are not unusual in Rinpoche’s life but every single story is special, restores my faith in mankind, brings a smile to my face and shows what a special being Rinpoche is, to care and give hope to others where ever he is consistently. There is nothing that stops Rinpoche from helping others. nothing. And that in itself takes a special being to do.
Thanks
Carmen
Dear Pastor David,
Thank you for sharing this touching story. The gifts that Rinpoche given to the kids are not the dolls. Rinpoche has given them the very precious gift of Dharma. I am sure Eunice has given the kids a very strong imprint to grow up as a kind and generous person.
Thank you,
Khoo
Rinpoche is always so generous and helping others to bring some sunshine in their life. What a beautiful story and thank you for sharing it with us as it is so inspiring Pastor Jean Ai.