Old Lady stops robbery at Jewellers Northampton Feb 2011
Or view the video on the server at: http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/oldladyrobbery.flv
I just saw this on my facebook and had to post it…you leave your comments and TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK PLEASE. I really want to know.
Tsem Rinpoche
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This was played on CNN also…
Bravery is what most of us lack due to selfishness. It is always about the small voices in our mind that goes like this: what if I get myself killed; what do I get out of this; someone else will take care of it; the shop owner has insurance that covers their lost; what if these criminals come back for me; oh robbery, heck, none of my business…
I am unsure if a culture or the sense of community has anything to do with the shaping/losing of the selfishness in us, but I believe a mind with no agenda does bring out righteous guts.
Just to share my recent observation on myself: I have always feel unsafe (because I was also told to be careful since young) when I was living in Malaysia, so I mind only my business and seldom care for others.
I tend to care more and are more daring in fighting for what I think is right and is beneficial for others during my stay in NZ for 7 years. I even stopped the car I was driving and wound the window down simply because I thought the stranger who waved at me at the junction needed my help when I was back in Malaysia for a break.
I bring that ‘caring’ and ‘daring’ side of me to Taiwan. For these 3 years, though I am constantly reminded to be careful, regardless if I was going away to town on my own, wanting to fight for student’s (especially international students) rights, or simply wanted to do something that is meaningful here, I did it with less to fear for.
Maybe mind training and precepts holding helps in the process of mind’s transformation in my case, but for the heroine in the video, whose action can also be seen in NZ, can be someone influenced by her religious teachings (if she is religious at all), or simply because she was being raised in a country that promotes human rights and are taught to help and care for others since young. Don’t you think?
WOW! She is really Wonder Woman. Selfless act. Senior citizen like her makes an attempt without thinking of all possibilities of the robbers beating her up. We shd learn from them
Its amazing indeed. It actually reminds me on one TV seria I used to watch as a kid Supergrandma.
But I was as well supriced that there were people around, seeing this two robbers and did nothing, only after this brave old lady came and stopping them fearlessly. Vau!
i love her.
Rinpoche
This is a very brave old lady. I really respect her courage to fight off so many robbers while other younger fitter folk just walked by without a care. It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. Kudo to this old lady for her bravery.
I think it just shows that you never too old, too late, too fragile, too powerless, to do something useful.
Thank you for sharing Rinpoche… hehe.. I love it.
Valentina
WOW! That was incredible. Just goes to show that just because someone is old doesn’t mean they can’t do anything!
The older you are the clearer right and wrong becomes and the easier it is to act
A person who would react in a situation like this, not thinking about his/her safety, with absolute justice and courage is already rare. What is rarer is that this person is a single old lady. You can see in the video that there were others just walking around the street and cars that drove pass, all were having a “blind eye” and did not do anything to stop the robbery.
No fear and no “But & If”……She is my heroine! I salute to you!!!
I can only speak for myself.. I will care for my life, belongings, etc first. She taught me otherwise.. I hope it is not too late to practice selfless…
A few things came to mind…
1. I thought it could be her shop… lol! maybe it belongs to someone close to her
2. I wouldn’t have did what she did… they’re not harming anyone physically, so i’d probably call the police
3. The wonder women song really cracked me up ROFL, and
4. To all the people who send their parents to old folks home and who thinks old people are ‘useless’ to society… SHAME ON YOU
Fearless. The Wonderwoman song fits!!
WOW! She wasn’t afraid for herself at all! It is amazing how her confidence simultaneously frightens away the robbers and eggs other citizens into action.
The lady has other people’s properties at heart more than her own safety or she could be the shop’s proprietress.
It is quite admirable to see her raining relentless blows on the much younger male perpetrators. However, she was very fortunate that the perpetrators did not response to her physically. She could have screamed at the top of her lungs to attract people’s attention to the crime being committed rather than lunging at them physically.
Maybe a past bad event’s memory where she was in a similar situation but she was the victim triggered her off to react physically. Maybe that time no one went to her aid and she knows the pain of loss and did not want it to happen to others.
My take out:
Every once in a while, some selfless person comes along and show us by example to do the right thing with conviction – and then everyone else (who would otherwise think “it has nothing to do with me”) falls in line.
At another level, the human mind works much the same way. Get to the core of the matter; everything else follows. Only if we ignore the problem would this lead to someone getting hurt/suffering a loss.
What a fantastic video. I don’t think I’ll be forgetting that image and song of her running across the road in her bright red coat. What first came to mind was that no-one, not even the cameraman thought to do anything. In fact, he’s standing there “watching” an old lady hurling herself into such potential danger and nobody goes in to even try to rescue her, least of all stop the robbery.
She’s a wonderful example of giving something your all, and the old saying “you never know until you try.” She tried, she gave it her best and she literally saved the day. Sure proves that it’s never about whether we can do something or not, but about how much we WANT something and how much we would be willing to risk or give up for it.
And she was wearing an all-over bright RED coat. Makes me think that perhaps – just perhaps! – Vajrayogini herself emanated down as this old biddy to bludgeon the robbers with her khatvanga handbag.
Question – What would i do given the same situation?
Answer – (after a long long pause) I would call the police instead of going after the robbers myself.
Thank you Rinpoche, articles and videos posted in your blog never fail to make me think deeper.
With folded hands,
Siong Woan
WOW! She is just awesome.
First thing came to my mind is that this old lady is fearless! it simple means she has let go all her attachments even death. she is not worry about anything, she’ll make use of her life to stand up for justice and live to the max. I am sure she is a cool grandmother and a very lovable person in life. I am sure that she gets respected a lot.
In life, people always worry about gettin hurt no matter physically or emotionally coz of attachment and fear of rejection. This lady has proven that with a pure heart and mind, it really doesnt matter… coz you just want to do it. Coz it feels right.
I think her reaction was spontaneous. She saw some people committing a crime. For her it was wrong and she wanted to stop it. I’m glad there are still people like that.
At her age, she can still run so fast! Wow amazing! Her actions showed that she is someone who cares for others, not thinking of her own safety and the danger or harm that could happened to her. It was a blessing that she was not harm in this incident.
She is a true hero…
Dearest Rinpoche,
The video is unfortunately no longer available for viewing as there have been copyright claims by ITN. Shame!
Much love… Andrew
The video is working..thanks
Dearest Rinpoche,
Yes it is back online again… fantastic!
My initial observation was: I thought the lady dashed from a far distance away. How did she know there was a robbery going on? Seemed staged. Like it was some publicity stunt for a commercial even.
But then again perhaps there was an alarm sounding after the store window was smashed which alerted her to it which was not in the footage.
Whatever the case, the footage showed a very brave woman who genuinely helped without putting herself first. That is the true essence of helping another in my shallow understanding.
It is like what Rinpoche always says… focus out!
Much love… Andrew
I tought this lady must be related to the shop, the way she runs from far away to the crime scene, understanding exactly what is going on.
Maybe she is the owner, or a relative.
Maybe she isn’t and could not stand the theft being made and acted virtuously?
I don’t know
My main thought while watching this video is this: I would not want to be the person who filmed the scene with his/her phone on 2 grounds:
1. instead of acting to stop a crime being made, I film it? What an awkward reflex to have… no?
2. Still, as I would be filming I see an old lady putting her safety at risk to stop the crime from being completed and what do I do? I continue filming??? mmm…
I am not sure how I would feel after that.
Dearest Rinpoche,
Thank You for sharing with us. After replaying the video several of times, my answer are the followings -
1) The old lady could be related to the shop.
2) she might have gone through similar situation before, since nobody care about it and out of the anger she did it.
3) Out of compassion, she saved the situation.
Thank You Rinpoche, please rest well!
Notwithstanding whatever helpless scenes that is depicted in this robbery video blog, it seems a common phenomena that in today’s degenerated age, there will “always be people just walking obliviously around and with cars driving by” turning a blind eye to all such calamity happening around the World, without wanting to help or get involved, unlike this braved compassionate and selfless old lady. By so doing, she risked being harmed, hurt, injured or even may get herself killed, but her main selfless kind thought is for the safety and concern of the halpless people trapped inside the Jewellery shop. Not that she could fight off all those tough-looking robbers, but at least she could raise enough awareness and stall for time so that others willing to help will be able to get involved. That wonderfully, was what she had managed to do successfully. Thank you Rinpoche,for teaching us a lesson well learnt.
Dear Rinpoche,
Here are my thoughts after watching the clip:
If you watch her dashing across from the opposite side of the road, it does strike the question as to whether she’s protecting the belongings of the shop because she knows the owners or is somehow related to the shop. There’s some sense of urgency in her action.
Put that (the motive of her brave attempt) aside, and I see an elderly lady who has only one goal – to stop the robbers even if it meant risking her life. The determination is without question. What is more beautiful is that age doesn’t get in the way of this. If one sets their mind on something, regardless of boundaries set by age, gender etc, they will get their result. I can see that the other pedestrians were maybe inspired by her virtuous conduct and jumped in to help, after she set an example of being the first one to. She broke the projection in their minds that they need to “avoid the situation so they won’t get hurt”. It’s nice to see the other pedestrians jumping in to help at the end, and commend her for her bravery.
Thank you for the post, Rinpoche.
Carmen
xx
Regardless of how vulnerable or how old we are, when we come across situations that our heart dictates them as wrong or immoral, stand up and fight against the wrongdoings immediately, and not wait for others to make the first move, as others might not make the first move at all.
Or maybe it could be because she has less to fear. Maybe her work is done, her house is paid for, her children are independent, so she doesn’t have to worry about robbers doing anything to her that would for instance, impair her ability to meet her loans or support her kids.
I do admire the act for trying to do whats right. It takes a lot of courage and I also think she probably is a lot less selfish than most of us are which is why she managed to do that on the spur of the moment.
I am sure she could have thought they are insured why worry. But if society and community just do not stand up to criminals I think it will get worst as no one will stop them. I remember in certain villages if threatened the whole village will come out to defend the village that act of being unified does deters criminals. ‘Rukun tettanga’ used to be something the communities in Malaysia used to do whereby the members of the community got together to patrol the community during the nights, it also fostered closer relationship among the people.
Wow, what a selfless act, the lady just do it without thinking of herself. She just came charging from nowhere, and the only weapon she has is her handbag and her determination to stop the crime. Bless her. How many of us can be like her? Thank you for sharing this Rinpoche.
Yes she is awesome, I wish to train myself to be like her, and everybody to be like her, stand up to unfairness, crimes, immoral, abuse; for oneself and for others. Then we will have a more peaceful self, beautiful and peaceful world to live in. The robbers I think were not beat down by her, she is not that strong physically, they were defeated by their own, deep inside they know they are doing something very wrong.