Girl's Christmas Shopping Drives Boyfriend To Suicide

[DS Star]

She made him shop ‘til he dropped — seven floors to his gruesome death. ~ New York Post



Tao Hsiao, 38, was walking around the shopping mall in Xuzhou, in east China's Jiangsu province, when he became embroiled in a fractious argument with his girlfriend when she suggested that they continue shopping after her 5 hours' shopping spree.

Hsiao then threw the shopping bags on the floor and jumped over the balcony, falling seven floors to his death. Witnesses reported that he was overheard saying to his girlfriend that they had done enough shopping with more bags than they could carry. However, his girlfriend demanded that they go into one more shop where shoes were on special offer.

An eyewitness quoted in the Mail said: "He told her she already had enough shoes, more shoes that she could wear in a lifetime and it was pointless buying any more.

"She started shouting at him accusing him of being a skinflint and of spoiling Christmas, it was a really heated argument."

Hsiao caused shoppers to flee when his body hit the ground floor of the mall. He was pronounced dead upon impact and his body was stretchered through the complex.

"Died too pathetically! Just dump the stuff and go home by yourself! Was this necessary!?" Netizen ?[?]

Yes, is this really necessary? The man obvious was taken in by his emotion.... In a fit of anger, the man jumped to his death!

He was not thinking, if he does, he would have choice to dump the girlfriend instead... nevertheless, this is a proof of how anger can cause us to do stupid actions that we most likely will regret later. However for this man Hsiao, it is too late...

The One step in the wrong direction will cause you a thousand years of regret. -- Chinese Proverb

[Klein]

This is just an example of the things we would do if we immerse ourselves deep into samsara. A person can jump to his death out of anger because his girlfriend would not stop shopping. We may judge and say how stupid he can be, but we ourselves do foolish things that are emotionally driven as well.

Learning and practising the dharma is very important. Unfortunately, not all of us have the merits and karma to be near a dharma teacher who can teach and guide us. As a result, we need the help of the protector to pave the way for our spiritual practice. Because dorje shugden is also an emanation of Lord Manjushri, the seeds of Manjushri are also planted in our mind stream when we do the practice. The benefits are many fold.

It's crucial that we help spread the practice of Dorje Shugden to the millions of people who are deprived from receiving dharma teachings.

[Jessie Fong]

This precious human life.

Tao must have been driven to the edge with his girl-friend's unending shopping that day. It could have been that it wasn't the only day that they had shopped almost non-stop.  Most probably he would have experienced similar shopping sprees.

Yes, Klein if only Tao had been in the Dharma and had a dharma protector, he could have averted that situation.  People who take their own lives are usually those driven to despair.

[buddhalovely]

By judging based on the information given, I must say what an idiot this man is. All his life he's been a coward and clearly he chooses death over standing up for himself. The execution of his suicide had caused suffering to all his family members, not to mention the hate the girlfriend would receive after such an incident. People are so quick to jump to conclusions (no pun intended) in this age of society. He made his goddamn situation exaggerated into some kind of drama series. 1) He could have dumped his girlfriend 2) He could have said NO 3) He could have stayed single in the first place and re-examine his pathetic life. I am angry, but not because he made an incredibly stupid choice but he affected the many loved ones who cared for him. Maybe I don't know much about his life story and maybe the culture in China is different. However from what I've read, this man could have done better with his life and used it to serve others or live a more purposeful life with what God has given.

[kris]

I have mentioned it a few times, and I will mention here again.. China has been shunting religions especially Buddhism for many many years by the Communist ideology, and with an incident related to Fa Lun Gong quite awhile ago made the government even more "afraid" of Buddhism. Compounded with the fast economy growth which drives most of the citizens to focus on material items and financial status, it is not surprised such things happened.

The newly elected president Xi has expressed that he would like to promote Buddhism to counter such social issues, and I sincerely hope that he (and his government) will implement what he pledged. As the sayings go, building a temple is better than building 100 police stations.

[Manjushri]

In the fit of impulse anger, the man took his life. A precious human life which he may not be able to regain in many aeons to come. I guess to him, maybe he wanted to inflict guilt and pain to his girlfriend's judgement of continuing to shop for the rest of her life. He suffered from the 5hours of shopping, so in turn, he'll make her suffer too.

Ending one's life does nothing to help the situation. In fact, you would cause more suffering, especially to those who are still living. It's a very selfish way of "ending" one's own problem instead of having to take the effort to deal with it.

I agree with you, Klein, that Dharma is imperative to prevent things like this from happening. At the very least, it teaches you to value your precious life.

 

[DS Star]

I have mentioned it a few times, and I will mention here again.. China has been shunting religions especially Buddhism for many many years by the Communist ideology, and with an incident related to Fa Lun Gong quite awhile ago made the government even more "afraid" of Buddhism. Compounded with the fast economy growth which drives most of the citizens to focus on material items and financial status, it is not surprised such things happened.

The newly elected president Xi has expressed that he would like to promote Buddhism to counter such social issues, and I sincerely hope that he (and his government) will implement what he pledged. As the sayings go, building a temple is better than building 100 police stations.

It is interesting to note that the newly elected President Xi is on to promote Buddhism. This is a new beginning, a new era.

New Chinese leaders acknowledging the mistake done by their forefathers of shunting religions. There were so much pains and sufferings inflicted upon so many in the name of Communist ideology, especially the followers of Fa Lun Gong.

CTA leaders claimed to be representatives of all Tibetans but seems only for a fraction or a chosen group that follow them blindly. What the CTA doing now against Dorje Shugden practitioners is exactly the same, how can they still not know it. At least the Chinese leaders had realised their mistakes.

[maricisun]

Life is too precious to be ended in such circumstances. Always take a deep breadth before making any decisions that will ruin your life forever.
If Tao Hsiao has Dharma knowledge he will know how to use his body to benefit and help others instead of getting into depression and jumping to his death.
A Protector may have helped him thought, don't you think so?

[Big Uncle]

This is indeed bizarre but I guess not surprising considering that this happened in a society that cherishes materialism and shuns anything to do with spirituality. I think such things are bound to happen. This is just a freak case but overall cases of crime, depression and social ills associated with a society of excess is on the rise. However, such a society needs quickfix solutions to emotional problems and practicing the Dharma is just too much to convince. Hence, Dorje Shugden is excellent under such circumstances as he is swift to come our aid and would provide a living proof of the existence of higher beings. Hence, faith would develop within the mind of practitioners. That's how Dorje Shugden is most suited to bring Dharma to those who would otherwise would never be considered practicing the Dharma.                                                                                                                                                                                                               

[angelsherfield]

Agreed with maricisun. Dealing things emotionally not only hurt others but also hurt ourselves. It's sad that Tao Hsiao have made a choice to end his life just like that. Human life is so precious that we don't know when or will we rebirth as human in next life. Be grateful to live as human and enjoy every part of our life. Don't rush for making decision especially when we are in anger.
1. Take deep breath
2. Calm the mind
3. Think wise
4. Make decision.

[bambi]

Seriously? Such a precious life which can only be obtained like once in hundreds of years thrown away for overshopping? I couldnt believe it when I read it.. I had to read three times to fully understand the whole meaning!
So sad to know that people in the world who are fighting for their life have to die while these people throw theirs away in a fit of anger especially those who wants to extend their life to practice more Dharma... That is why it is important for us who practice, to help and educate people around us in any ways we can, starting from our family members, friends and people we meet along the way.

[rossoneri]

Very sad, i feel sorry for Hsiao. A split second decision which done a permanent damage to himself and to the one who knew and loved him.  Which is why i think is very important for us to have Dharma and to be able to know Dharma and practising it. In the society today many are indulge in the material world, we simply do not give as much of attention to the people around us, not to say we do not love them but most of the time we are block down by work or self indulgence whenever we think we have some free time. Which leads to selfishness behaviour arises which we might not know it, whenever we do not get what we expected we tend to get upset and in Hsiao case both him and the girlfriend were simply whats the other person to give in to what they wanted and with tremendous anger and selfishness he chose to jump off in order to make a point if not leaving a massive scar in his then girlfriend's memory. I am glad to be able to found Buddhism in my life and also Dorje Shugden which i believe in guiding me along the way. Very fortunate...

[Positive Change]

Tragic indeed... however what really drove this man to take the "easy way out" makes one wonder whether it was merely just the excessive shopping or was it a trigger!

Our samsaric existence does creep up on us whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. The negativity caused in living within samsara does catch up regardless and perhaps in this instance, this man just lost it and could not cope. I am sure it rings true in all of us when we think to ourselves, when does it all stop... are we not supposed to be "happy" having our cake and eating it... but then there is this nagging thought that we are just deluding ourselves.

Our Dharma practice is the only source of true happiness whether we choose to realize this or not AND it is the ONLY thing we can truly take with us when our now physical existence ends!

[OMB]

The Buddha taught that life is imperfect and that we will suffer because of desire, anger and stupidity. It's very important to apply Dharma in our lives so that we will be able to handle more difficult situations and make the right decision.   The human body is in fact very precious and very difficult to get, so be grateful for the fortunate situation and go all the way for dharma while we are still alive.

[metta girl]

This world is filled with incidents and accidents that give tremors to our hearts. For all of us, there are times when it just seems too much, or we get too tired and fed up, or someone betrays and hurts us to a point of no return. When we are unhappy there is something about our friends, ourselves, or our world that we do not like, and our mind is in danger of becoming angry towards these things. Before that happens, we must deal with the warning sign - unhappiness itself. The great Indian yogi, Shantideva, said that we should ask ourselves, "Can whatever has gone wrong be fixed? If so, what is the point of being unhappy? And, if it cannot be remedied, what is the point of being unhappy? You are just rubbing salt into the wound and exposing yourself to the greater harm of anger."
The deepest source of anger is the self-cherishing ignorance together with the seeds of anger that we have inherited from our past life