五戒の細則
Section Two: The Crime of Stealing the Three Jewels' Property Is the Greatest
I. The Ultimate Meaning of Stealing
Taking anything from all things between heaven and earth constitutes stealing, because ownership does not belong to any individual's five aggregates; their true owner is the master of all things between heaven and earth — the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, any grasping by the five aggregates is a karmic action of birth and death and will incur karmic retribution of birth and death; the only differences lie in the weight of the karmic actions and their wholesome or unwholesome nature. But whether wholesome or unwholesome, as long as it is a conditioned dharma, it will inevitably summon the suffering of birth and death. Not a single dharma among all things between heaven and earth belongs to the five aggregates, including the material body and the conscious mind; all belong to the tathāgatagarbha, this Jewel of the Buddha. Therefore, grasping any dharma in the world is stealing the Three Jewels' property. Only after completely and thoroughly eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) can one avoid violating the precept against stealing, and only by not violating any precept against stealing can one become a Buddha.
As a practitioner, one must not steal the property of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, or the Three Jewels; must not steal anything belonging to sages and worthies; must not steal the property of humans and devas; nor steal the property of non-humans, asuras, ghosts and spirits, and animals — one must not violate or seize any sentient being's ownership, right of use, or title to any object. The general principle is: as long as something is not one's own, one must never covet it, possess it, or grasp at it. The scope of so-called objects is extremely broad; in summary they are called dharmas, including material form, mind, and dharmas that are neither material nor mental, manifest and unmanifest dharmas, marked and unmarked dharmas. As long as one masters this general principle, all precepts against stealing can be upheld without violating even the slightest. What kind of state is this? It is the state of a great and supreme sage who has severed all ignorance and afflictions. Who could such a sage be if not the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas?
II. The Retribution for Stealing Monastery Property Is Falling into the Avīci Hell
Original text of the Kṣitigarbha Sūtra:若有众生。偷窃常住财物谷米。饮食衣服。乃至一物不与取者。当堕无间地狱。千万亿劫。求出无期。
How many people have violated this rule in the Kṣitigarbha Sūtra? How many lay Buddhists, under the pretext of building monasteries, have embezzled tens of millions and more in money — how many times should they fall into the Avīci hell for this? Those who have stolen the Three Jewels' property should repent every day, repenting as much as they can, so as to avoid falling into the Avīci hell and suffering immeasurably. Taking what is not given is stealing. Without the abbot's consent, taking it upon oneself to take and use the monastery's or a monastic's belongings constitutes stealing the Three Jewels' property; using and disposing of items offered to the Buddha without authorization is also stealing the Three Jewels' property. Beyond physical items, money, personnel, power, titles, and so forth — anything not permitted by the abbot or the person in charge, but disposed of and used on one's own authority, constitutes stealing the Three Jewels' property.
If one visits a monastery without informing the abbot or the person in charge, does casually drinking tea count as stealing? When at a monastery, one cannot casually eat and drink as if one were in one's own home. The monastery's belongings are the property of the sangha of the ten directions; the owner is the sangha of the ten directions. Drinking tea casually without the owner's consent is stealing — taking what is not given. Even tea set out for entertaining guests is not something anyone may drink freely anytime and anywhere. Everywhere has its rules; to act contrary to the rules counts as breaking the precepts. If the owner has not consented to your drinking tea, then brewing and drinking tea on your own initiative counts as stealing. Moreover, brewing tea requires water and electricity, and of course tea leaves — all of which are the sangha of the ten directions' property. If the person in charge of hospitality has not consented, brewing and drinking tea by oneself constitutes stealing.
If a monastery did not set up a donation box and offered free vegetarian meals, would that be good? Although free meals require no payment, whatever one consumes still counts as debt: debts owed to ordinary people must be repaid a thousandfold; debts owed to practitioners of the Path must be repaid tens of millions of times, even immeasurable times; and debts owed to the Three Jewels must be repaid countless times over.
III. The Crime of Stealing a Monastic's Food Currently in Use Leads to the Avīci Hell
Original text of the Sūtra on the Mindfulness of the Correct Dharma (Saddharma-smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra):云何偷盗乐行多作。云何乐行多作。盗已堕于地狱。此恶戒人。性自偷盗。近恶知识。若恶知识。近住之人。与彼相随。则行偷盗。
有下中上。何者为下。谓王法等。如前所说。何者为中。非福田所。偷盗彼物。此盗为中。何者为上。佛法僧物。微少偷盗。是则为上。
Explanation: Why do some people greatly enjoy stealing and steal frequently? Why, after enjoying stealing and stealing frequently, do they fall into hell? Because this evil-precept person, gravely deficient in the precepts, has a disposition habituated to stealing, and frequently draws near evil teachers, being influenced by them and contracting evil habits. If a person dwelling near evil teachers closely follows them, that person will engage in acts of theft.
The offense of stealing is divided into three grades: superior, middling, and inferior. What is the inferior grade of stealing? Violating the king's law and the like is the inferior grade of stealing, as stated earlier. What is the middling grade of stealing? Stealing from places that are not fields of merit (that is, not the Three Jewels and not one's parents) is the middling grade of stealing. What is the superior grade of stealing? Even the slightest theft of the property of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha — the Three Jewels — is the superior grade of stealing.
Here it is taught that the most serious form of stealing is stealing the property of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha — the heaviest of all stealing karma. What is meant by stealing is: taking, of one's own volition and without the owner's consent, what belongs to the Three Jewels, treating it as one's own and using it at one's own discretion. Even for extremely trivial items, the retribution is extremely heavy — for example, tissue paper, towels, and the like. If one steals items more valuable than these, the retribution is even heavier. Those who have committed such offenses should find ways to make amends in order to lessen their karmic obstructions. Those who frequently visit monasteries should often reflect and examine whether they have committed any theft, including the pettiest of gains. If any is found, they should promptly repent of the karmic offense and make amends for the losses caused as much as possible.
Making offerings to the Three Jewels yields immeasurable merit, but stealing and appropriating the Three Jewels' property brings immeasurable offenses and immeasurable debts. The Three Jewels are the greatest field of merit in the world: the merit gained is greatest, and the offense incurred is also greatest. The Kṣitigarbha Sūtra says that even taking a single blade of grass from a monastery is an offense — let alone items more valuable than a blade of grass, including water, electricity, gas, food, tea, and various utensils. Appropriation also falls within the scope of stealing. It includes not only food and items, but also the various rights and duties belonging to the Three Jewels. When powers and duties that properly belong to the Three Jewels are usurped by others who insist on deciding on the Three Jewels' behalf, deploying and allocating the personnel, finances, and property of the Three Jewels, and trampling over the Three Jewels — this offense is even greater. Appropriating and seizing the Three Jewels' merit, status, and reputation also constitutes stealing, and this offense may be even greater.
If we can strictly uphold these precepts without violation, the mind will naturally settle into purity, no longer thinking of gaining things or taking advantage; gathering the mind in, meditative concentration (samādhi) will naturally arise. If a person's mind cannot settle, there must be things on their mind. If they let go of all these matters and no longer dwell on them, why worry that meditative concentration cannot be cultivated? It is good to form the habit of never taking advantage of any person or group. With this good habit, one will incur far fewer debts and lose far less merit. The place where one gains advantage is precisely where one loses it. In this world there is truly no advantage to be gained, because cause and effect exist. Every bit of advantage taken is recorded in one's own tathāgatagarbha; when the conditions ripen, it must all be repaid a thousandfold, ten-thousandfold, immeasurably. The later the repayment, the higher the 'interest' accrued and the more must be repaid.
Original text:彼佛法僧。若盗僧物。佛法能净。盗佛法物。僧不能净。若盗众僧现食用物。堕大地狱。头面在下。若取属僧所常食物。则堕无间阿鼻地狱。宽广闇等。以重福田。微少偷盗。以有心念。乐行多作。彼少偷盗。堕于地狱畜生饿鬼。若复忏悔。不生随喜。心中生悔。彼不定受。若偷盗人。无量方便而行偷盗。以如是故。名为偷盗。
Explanation: Among thefts of the property of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha: if one steals a monastic's property, it can be purified through the Buddha's Dharma; but if one steals the property of the Buddha and the Dharma, the sangha cannot purify it. If one steals items the sangha is currently consuming, one will fall into the great hell, head and face downward. If one steals the daily food used by the sangha, one will fall into the Avīci hell of unintermittent suffering, a hell of extreme breadth, vastness, and darkness; one's body becomes as large as the hell itself, with instruments of torture covering the entire material body. Because the sangha is a weighty field of merit, even the slightest theft is a crime warranting the Avīci hell. Because one has the mental intention to steal, delights in stealing, and commits many acts of theft, even stealing trifling items will cause one to fall into the hells, the animal realm, or the realm of hungry ghosts.
If after stealing one openly confesses and repents, others may not give rise to sympathetic joy; if after stealing one feels remorse, others may not necessarily accept it. If a thief commits theft through countless skillful means, it is for this reason that it is called stealing.
IV. Faking Realization Is Fraudulent Stealing
Buddhism also has certain forms of stealing. For example, impersonating a person of cultivation and realization is the offense of stealing reputation, fame, and gain. Without a virtuous person's consent, taking that person's teachings and disseminating them to the public as one's own Dharma in order to gain worldly fame and offerings is an offense of stealing. These are acts of misappropriating a great virtuous one's name and violating their reputation. More serious still is claiming to be the return of the great Venerable Ānanda, of a great arhat, of a great Bodhisattva, or even daring to claim to be the Buddha's return — all of these constitute grand theft. All counterfeit and shoddy products in Buddhism are acts of stealing.
Modern people do not cultivate diligently, yet to win fame and offerings they widely proclaim that they are the return of so-and-so — this is theft all the more. Whose Dharma does this steal? It steals all the Dharma of the sage being impersonated; whatever is gained should belong to that impersonated sage. The karmic consequence is that in the future one must not only repay one's gains immeasurable times over, but also suffer evil retribution in the three evil destinies. When conditions ripen in this life, one first undergoes the flowering retribution (puṣpa-phala), and in later lives the full retribution.
If a person says, 'I am Bodhisattva Maitreya's return,' but is not, that person has stolen Maitreya's honored and sacred name and honor; everything gained thereby belongs to Bodhisattva Maitreya — he has stolen the Dharma that Maitreya possesses. The gap in mental conduct and other aspects between ordinary beings and sages is truly enormous, so the karmic offense of an ordinary person impersonating a sage is also enormous: even a slight offense brings immeasurably multiplied retribution. Because of such offenses, there will be great obstructions to cultivation and many adverse conditions.
The most conspicuous, most vile, and most damaging form of stealing is issuing fake certificates — fake certificates of fruition and fake certificates of enlightenment. This is the most serious fraudulent stealing. Ignorant people pay money to buy certificates of fruition, yet there is no true realization of fruition — only a fake certificate issued. Those who certify others and guide them toward fruition, yet have no cultivation and no realization, no virtue and no ability, engaging in false certification and issuing fake certificates through deception — all of these are acts of grand theft. There are also those who, using the promise of guiding people to seeing the mind and enlightenment as a means, conduct false certification of enlightenment and collect large sums of money, yet the result is no true seeing of the mind or enlightenment — even the fruition is fake. Those who pay and register merely gain a false reputation, with no actual cultivation or realization and no true wisdom arising — this is fraud-type stealing.
A form of stealing of extremely vile nature is: while remaining laypeople, posing as the Buddhist Three Jewels to replace the true Three Jewels and squeezing monastics out of the ranks of the Three Jewels. This is robbery-style stealing, of extremely vile nature with extremely serious consequences. Fabricating fake enlightenment, manufacturing fake Bodhisattvas, reading monastic precepts with a lay body, bossily criticizing monastics and the Three Jewels, transgressing without any bottom line — this is the greatest and most serious robbery-style stealing in the world, of extremely vile nature and extremely severe retribution. Fabricating false reputations and hyping up large numbers of fake sages, falsely reporting realization-attainments just as production figures were falsely inflated during the Great Leap Forward era — these are all extremely serious and vile acts of stealing in the world. Phenomena like these are rotten to the core, evil to the core, wicked to the core; nothing is worse or more evil, far exceeding killing and arson. This is equivalent to drawing the Buddha's blood, destroying the Three Jewels — a tremendous evil that causes people in the world to lose their pure eyes and their refuge.
Pāpīyas (Māra) also frequently impersonates sages and worthies to come into this world and destroy the Buddha-Dharma, misleading sentient beings, trapping them in the desire realm to commit boundless greed and lust, unable to extricate themselves. He is very clever, with meticulous scheming and manifold means, using every possible trick to bind all ordinary beings in his grip, not letting them out of the desire realm. Ordinary beings cannot recognize him, much less defeat him; even Bodhisattvas at the virtuous stages after enlightenment cannot defeat him. Only Bodhisattvas who have attained the bhūmis can refute him from the standpoint of both worldly and world-transcending dharmas and expose his disguise. Therefore ordinary beings are extremely easily deceived. But cleverness is not wisdom. Pāpīyas is without wisdom; a person with wisdom does not commit great evil karma and will not plunge deep into saṃsāra for petty gains.
V. Various Manifestations of Stealing
Whatever is gained unlawfully is stealing. The two words 'unlawful' are crucial and important: a person of virtue, whatever they love, must acquire it by proper means — it must be obtained openly and honorably through the right path, not acquired through deviant ways, not taken or gained unlawfully. Therefore, before teaching the eradication of the view of self, the Buddha required cultivation of the Noble Eightfold Path; without fully possessing the Noble Eightfold Path, one cannot eradicate the view of self.
Trafficking in the Three Jewels' property, tax evasion, unlawful business operations, and violating the nation's laws and regulations are all acts of stealing. True Bodhisattvas and true practitioners, by and large, will not violate the nation's laws and regulations; to a certain extent they should all comply with national and local rules and systems, not contradicting them. Tax evasion infringes upon the interests of the nation and all its citizens; the debt owed is to the nation and all its citizens, and the future repayment will be made to all the nation's citizens, principal plus interest, the amounts growing enormous, with extremely serious consequences.
Although a monastery is a public place where lay Buddhists in general may go to draw near the Three Jewels, at times the monastery needs tranquility and does not receive lay visitors. If one clearly knows one should not go yet insists on going and disturbing the monastery, this also constitutes stealing — stealing the monastics' time and energy, disrupting their cultivation and various affairs. Whatever loss the monastery suffers is exactly how much the layperson has stolen.
For items offered to the Buddha, if one has inwardly already resolved that they are offerings to the Buddha, one sets them aside for the time being and presents them to the Buddha when the time for offering arrives. Inward resolution means the manas has already decided, which is equivalent to relinquishing one's claim of possession over the item; then, whether or not the item is actually presented to the Buddha, it belongs to the Buddha. If for some reason one takes it back for one's own use, one is misappropriating the Buddha's property. If one has promised to give something to another and the other has accepted, the two parties' manas have completed the handover; at that point, no matter whose hands the item is in, its ownership belongs to the other party. If, by the agreed final deadline, one still has not handed the item over and has decided not to give it, that constitutes stealing the other person's property.
When eating at a monastery, if the monastery has not stipulated that meals require no payment, then eating without paying is equivalent to stealing the monastery's food, as well as the time and labor of the dining-hall workers. Frequently visiting a monastery to drink tea with monastics while never bringing tea or reciprocating with corresponding items: if the monastic does so willingly of their own accord, this behavior merely constitutes a debt; if not willingly, it constitutes stealing the monastic's tea and time. Casually occupying a monastic's time and disrupting their cultivation and affairs has very bad consequences. Stealing from a monastery and monastics brings retribution many, many times greater than stealing from laypeople.
If items such as Buddhist scriptures are deliberately placed somewhere by the monastery as affinity gifts, they are freely given to everyone for the sake of affinity and may be taken at one's own discretion without informing the monastery's person in charge. Certain items are managed by designated personnel; if one wishes to use them, one must obtain the designated person's consent. If the person is not the designated manager, even their consent does not count — taking and using the item constitutes stealing. One must also check whether the person granting consent has the corresponding authority; one cannot just find anyone at random for permission. If the consenting person handles it wrongly, they too must bear responsibility and are subject to cause and effect, and may even incur offense.
Everyone, whether at home, at the workplace, at a monastery, or in all public places, must be clear about who the owner of each item is, and must not violate the owner's ownership — before using something, first ask the owner. This includes not violating or offending the ownership of one's own family members, parents, children, and spouse. This is the cultivation and virtue of being a human being; live with purity, and there will surely be pure retribution.
VI. The Crime of Stealing the Sangha's Property of the Ten Directions
Within a monastery, lay Buddhists should not take and use anything on their own authority, no matter whether the monastery uses it or not, and still less should they take it away. Because everything in the monastery belongs to the sangha of the ten directions, including monastics of other worlds beyond the Saha world — monastics of the worlds of the ten directions all have the right to enjoy its use. If you take and use them yourself, you are stealing the property of monastics throughout the worlds of the ten directions — a debt that fundamentally cannot be repaid. This offense is hell-karma, even Avīci-hell karma.
Offerings from the ten directions are offerings from sentient beings in the ten directions centered on the Saha world. The ten directions are east, south, west, north, above, below, southeast, southwest, northeast, and northwest. The sangha's property of the ten directions is the property of monastics in the worlds of the ten directions. Worlds vary in size: a great world refers to the Buddha-lands surrounding the Saha world in the ten directions; a small world refers to the small worlds within the Saha world in the ten directions. One small world of the Saha world includes the four great continents, the four great seas, the seven golden mountains, the Heaven of the Four Great Kings, the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, the Tuṣita Heaven, the Yāma Heaven, the Nirmāṇarati Heaven, the Paranirmitavaśavartin Heaven, and the first dhyāna heaven. One thousand small worlds constitute a middling thousand-world; one thousand middling thousand-worlds constitute a great thousand-world.
Whoever has committed this karmic offense must earnestly repent before the Buddha until they see an auspicious sign; only then can the karmic offense of stealing the Three Jewels' property be eradicated. For example, the Buddha comes to touch your crown, comforts you, and tells you the offense has been eradicated; or you see lotus flowers blooming; or you smell fragrance in the air; or in a dream Buddhas and Bodhisattvas appear to bless you — such sublime signs are the auspicious signs. Otherwise the karmic offense remains, and at death one must fall into hell to undergo retribution.
Deliberately or unintentionally wasting the monastery's items wastes and consumes the sangha's property of the ten directions; this offense is not small, and the debt owed to the sangha of the ten directions is not easily repaid. Therefore everyone in a monastery must be frugal and not wasteful; if something is damaged, it must be compensated immediately. If compensation is overdue, it must be doubled or multiplied. The precept sūtras teach that if a person violates a precept and does not repent, after one night the offense doubles; after two nights it doubles again, making four times. Debts owed to the Three Jewels are the same: each night doubles the debt. Whoever has ever privately taken away any item from a monastery, or damaged items, or wasted items — including water, electricity, gas, and the like — must find ways to make amends and compensate. For those of a stealing nature, one must not only compensate but also strive daily in earnest repentance, seeking to see an auspicious sign. To have evil karma eradicated and to avoid or lessen evil retribution: first, repentance; second, remediation, including monetary and material compensation.
Some laypeople, upon arriving at a monastery, love to take charge and act as masters on behalf of the monastery's masters, regardless of whether the masters are willing or permit it. They seize all power, deciding everything on their own authority as if in their own home — not only managing affairs, but also managing money, and even more, managing people. Depriving monastics of their rights is a karmic offense of considerable magnitude; whether it can be purified through repentance is hard to say. Some people, even at a monastery, insist on managing the monastics themselves: what monastics do or do not do must all follow their commands, instructing monastics to do what they have arranged, in order to satisfy their own greed and desire for control — subordinates defying superiors, despising the Three Jewels and the dignity of the Three Jewels. Monastics are not subject to the management or direction of any layperson; only the monastic's own teacher has the authority to manage and instruct them, as well as the abbot of their monastery and the monastic administrators, who have the authority to manage.
Monastics are primarily educated and governed by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions; even Dharma-protector deities such as earth-gods have no standing or authority, because monastics are directly the Buddha's disciples, not the disciples of protector deities. Monastics may bow only to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, not to protector deities. Therefore, if a layperson's desire for power is too strong, they should restrain themselves as much as possible; if they truly cannot, they should stay away from monasteries and monastics, so as to avoid creating hell-karma and suffering hell's torment.
There are also laypeople who love to wear monastic robes and use monastics' names, and some who love to impersonate monastics in order to receive veneration and various offerings — this is grand theft among thefts. There are also lay Buddhists who insist on claiming that they too are the Three Jewels and should receive the Three Jewels' treatment. This is an act infringing upon the Three Jewels' reputation, fame, and other interests, with quite vile influence — it belongs to great greed and grand theft, and does not admit of repentance; repentance is of no use, and they will still have to undergo retribution in hell.
VII. The Determination of Offenses and Their Retribution Is Not Decided by the Buddha
The Buddha is the most compassionate, most magnanimous, and most venerable sage in the three realms, able to forgive all sentient beings and never holding anything against any being. Yet if sentient beings casually take and use what belongs to the Buddha, objectively it is equivalent to stealing the Buddha's property, incurring the greatest offense. Defining this as stealing the Buddha's property, and the evil consequences and retribution arising thereby, is not the result of whether the Buddha is forgiving or not; it is governed and determined by the laws of cause and effect, not set or decided by the Buddha. Stealing the Buddha's property and the Three Jewels' property is countless times more serious than stealing ordinary sentient beings' belongings; moreover, the more virtuous, compassionate, magnanimous, and forgiving the owner, the greater the offense in stealing from them. Therefore, after committing an offense, one must not assume there is no offense and no cause and effect simply because the owner is magnanimous and generous.
The determination of the offense of stealing is not made by the Buddha, not by Dharma-protector deities, still less by the owner of the property; it is determined by the law of cause and effect itself, with the tathāgatagarbha administering the law of cause and effect. The Buddha does not intervene in larger cause-and-effect matters; for smaller ones, it depends on the sincerity of the thief's repentance, their roots of goodness, and their karmic affinity with the Buddha. The Buddha can remove part of the obstructions, and Dharma-protector deities can shield somewhat; the rest is automatically recompensed by cause and effect. Repentance is the most effective way to lessen retribution. Only by extinguishing the mind of stealing, eliminating the source of the karmic offense at its root, can the offense be eradicated in part or in full.
From this we know that items sentient beings offer to the Buddha belong to the Buddha; the Buddha is the owner, and even the person who made the offering may not take and use them casually — otherwise it is stealing the Buddha's property. If one wishes to use items after offering them to the Buddha, one should say to the Buddha at the time of offering: 'I offer these items to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Buddha, after You have completed the Buddha's work and finished enjoying the essence, I will take back the remaining coarse portion for my own use; the portion You have no use for shall be for my use.' Having made this arrangement, once the incense has finished burning, the offerings may be removed. Or one may substitute other items for those the Buddha has used, as an exchange.
Since the Buddha enjoys the essence of the offerings, we should know what the essence is. Regarding this portion we must be careful never to touch it, leaving it for the Buddha's enjoyment; otherwise we deceive the Buddha. Because the Buddha partakes of fragrance and taste, if you smell and taste the delicious flavors and aromas of the offerings, the essence the Buddha needs is gone, or diminished. Eating before the Buddha is disrespectful to the Buddha, and no merit can be gained. If the Buddha uses the offered items, sentient beings gain merit; if the Buddha does not use them, sentient beings still gain merit, because the sincere mind of offering is exchanged for merit — but the difference in merit gained is very great.
VIII. The Crime of Stealing the Three Jewels' Resources
A monastery's Dharma hall belongs to the monastery and the main speaker. Without the owner's consent, using the hall at will to teach the Dharma, or bringing people in to teach, constitutes stealing. Driving a Dharma Master who is teaching down from the hall and going up oneself to speak, or finding someone else to speak, is robbery-style stealing — the crime of robbing the Three Jewels' inherent rights and resources, and also the crime of sabotaging and obstructing the Three Jewels' propagation of the Dharma; it should be Avīci-hell karma.
Cyberspace is also a kind of resource and can be an exclusive Dharma hall, belonging to an individual or a group. For example, our inner-hall group was established for the Master to teach the Dharma, not as a venue for others to teach. Without the Master's permission, posting in the group other people's Dharma-teaching materials and remarks, or oneself going up to chat idly about matters of no benefit to group members, constitutes stealing — stealing the Master's rights, stealing the resources of the faithful and the group; it is the offense of appropriating the Three Jewels' property, and also the offense of disrespecting teacher and friends. If one draws away group members and sows discord between teacher and disciples, it constitutes the crimes of destroying the Three Jewels and slander, among others.
IX. Anyone Studying the Buddhadharma Does Not Constitute Stealing the Dharma
So-called stealing is taking what is not given. In the Buddhadharma, apart from the precepts — which may not be read or studied without receiving them — all the Dharma taught by the Buddha is taught for sentient beings, given to sentient beings, made open to sentient beings; for sentient beings to study the Buddhadharma, there is no such thing as taking what is not given. The Buddha teaches the Dharma precisely for sentient beings, letting them study it, unconditionally and charging no fees. The Buddha's mind is selfless and without self, single-mindedly devoted to liberating beings from the suffering of birth and death — so taking what is not given simply does not exist.
Even non-Buddhists may freely read and study the Buddhadharma; although non-Buddhists may do so to pick out flaws or to slander, reading Buddhist sūtras to find faults does not constitute stealing the Buddhadharma. The key is that the Buddha's mind is vast, acting entirely for sentient beings, not for personal gain. If the Buddha did not permit beings to study the Dharma freely, requiring prerequisites before study, then studying without meeting the conditions would be stealing the Dharma. But Buddhism has no such rule; it lets all beings study and cultivate openly and honorably.
As for the precepts, without receiving the corresponding precepts one is not permitted to study them, because first, it is feared that if beings knew the contents they would not dare to receive the precepts; second, studying them without having received the precepts leads one to measure precept-holders against the precepts, which incurs offense. Precept-holders stand above non-holders; Buddhism does not permit the lower to criticize the higher — even with factual grounds it is not permitted, and to criticize is a fault. Before one intends to receive the Bodhisattva precepts, privately reading them also constitutes stealing the precepts. Although much Dharma is displayed online, Dharma one should not see should not be opened and read. The contents of the five precepts have long been public and may be read and studied in advance.
Laypeople absolutely must not read the monastic precepts, because they lack the qualification and it does not accord with them. Some people, after reading the monastic precepts, start criticizing monastics' words and deeds, saying monastics are such-and-such — that is the offense of slandering the Three Jewels; whether what is said is right or wrong, there is offense. Even if a monastic has violated precepts, laypeople are not permitted to criticize them; otherwise there is karmic offense. Criticizing monastics with grounds also constitutes slandering the sangha — grounded slander; criticizing and publicizing monastics' faults without factual grounds is ungrounded slander, with greater offense and heavier cause and effect.
There is one special case of stealing the Dharma: with a thieving mind, transplanting the Buddhadharma intact into non-Buddhist paths so that it becomes the non-Buddhists' Dharma — when the ownership of the Buddhadharma is changed, it constitutes stealing the Dharma. If one is sent by non-Buddhists specifically to steal the Dharma, turning the Buddhadharma into the non-Buddhists' Dharma to serve them, there is the offense of stealing the Dharma. Taking another's belongings home and claiming them as one's own constitutes stealing only when the owner of the things is changed; if the Buddhadharma has not been renamed as the non-Buddhists' Dharma, it is not stealing.
Stealing the Dharma can also be judged this way: if A is said to have stolen B's Dharma, then compare the coarseness or refinement of the Dharma the two teach — which is deeper and more subtle, better manifesting wisdom; which has more of the actual practical process of cultivation and concrete methods, with more detail; which is more logical and analytical; which is easier to begin with; which was realized through actual practice, and which was learned, analyzed, organized, and summarized. With careful, calm comparison, it can be determined.
Crudely and hastily produced Dharma cannot be original; Dharma without process or detail cannot be original; Dharma without a point of entry for cultivation cannot be original; Dharma without actual realization, with the middle practical cultivation cut out, cannot be original; Dharma constantly supplemented, revised, and patched cannot be original. Only Dharma that is deeper and subtler, with a cultivation process and details, with concrete and practical methods, with a point of entry, easily transforming one's disposition and easily leading to accomplishment — only such Dharma is original, realized through actual practice.
For everyone who has accomplishment in cultivation, even great accomplishment, their cultivation has not been for one lifetime, nor a few lifetimes — for most it is reckoned in kalpas. Great achievers have passed through countless, immeasurable kalpas of cultivation and realization; their wisdom has long accumulated very deeply, beyond measure. Upon encountering the Buddhadharma in this life, their wisdom gushes forth and advances by leaps and bounds, leaving ordinary people far behind. A person of conscience cannot claim that such a person achieved accomplishment by stealing the Dharma of those whose wisdom is coarser and shallower than theirs. If so, why do the disciples they personally taught never produce such people? Even if such a person appears among their disciples, it shows that disciple's indriya (spiritual faculties) is exceptionally fine — they cultivated for immeasurable kalpas in past lives to have such wisdom-attainment; they were absolutely not taught into it by anyone in a single lifetime. Even the Buddha could not, within a few years or even a single lifetime, teach a person of the most elementary level into a great achiever; otherwise, becoming a Buddha would be far too easy.
X. Dharma Spoken by Robots Is of a Stealing Nature
If in the future AI robots come out to teach the Dharma, all the Dharma they teach constitutes stolen Dharma, because robots have no cultivation process and no actual realization; everything is assembled by searching for and extracting ready-made Dharma from the internet, then organizing, processing, integrating, and piecing it together. If the robot is relatively advanced, high in technical sophistication, with human manipulation behind it, it can also teach the Buddhadharma quite well — broad and comprehensive in knowledge, complete in materials, exhaustive in terms and concepts — and students following it can learn much knowledge.
But it is merely knowledge; there can be no actual practice, no cultivation process or details. Since the robot as a teacher has no cultivation, how can it guide students' concrete practice? How can it have concrete, realized methods of cultivation? In that case, even if students follow it for ten thousand years, they still cannot find the point of entry for cultivation, still do not know how to practice concretely, still do not understand contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and investigation — and of course the result is that realization is impossible. If there must be a fruit of cultivation, that fruit can only be a fake fruit, merely used to impersonate a sage or worthy.
Some people's Dharma-teaching resembles a robot's: acquired through massive study and collection of various sūtras and books. The quantity of knowledge may suffice, but there is no method or process for entering cultivation — though perhaps taught more flexibly than a robot. But future robots, improved and innovated, may well surpass humans. If they collect large numbers of Chan gong'an and integrate and analyze them, perhaps they could also compute the direction and target of Chan investigation, thereby conjecturing the general locus of the tathāgatagarbha's functioning. The manipulators behind could fully exploit this, guiding students in Chan investigation and seeing the mind and seeing self-nature, then certifying people — how much money would be collected in the process, what networks of connections would be built, what consequences would result, that is hard to say.
I have said before: when the Buddha was in the world, in order to sabotage the Buddha's teaching, Pāpīyas attended many Dharma assemblies and heard much Dharma, especially the Mahāyāna Dharma, with the aim of destroying the practice-places and preventing people from attaining accomplishment. In the end the practice-places were not destroyed, but he heard a great, great deal of Dharma. Having heard so much Dharma, he had no mind to cultivate. So what if he came out to teach the Dharma? He would pile up plenty of knowledge and theory, but would not teach beings actual practice and realization; nor does he wish beings to actually practice and realize and all attain liberation — in that case his progeny would diminish, and this is what he cares about most.
But in order to entice and deceive beings, he would deliberately omit the middle process of actual practice, emphasizing and grasping only the final result — and such a result, of course, would not be real; it would all be fake. Therefore, to judge whether a person is a good teacher (kalyāṇamitra) realized through actual practice, one must see whether there is an actual cultivation process in between, whether the methods are concrete and feasible, whether they work smoothly in practice, and whether the results tend toward realization and liberation.
XI. The Crime of Stealing the World-Honored One's Position as Teacher of the Saha World
In Buddhism, if someone steps forward and says: 'I am the Dharma-lord of Saha-world Buddhism (equivalent to its head), everything in Buddhism is decided by me; who may teach the Dharma and who may not is decided by me — only those I permit may teach, and those I do not permit may not teach. If anyone dares to teach the Dharma privately, they will be charged — one charge is teaching false Dharma, the other is stealing the Dharma. Moreover, those I permit to teach (all from his own circle) may not teach beyond the scope I prescribe, may not exceed what I teach, and may only teach low-level content — otherwise it is a precept violation, disrespecting the teacher's instructive precepts.' Does this person's conduct then constitute stealing?
This person's conduct is no ordinary offense of stealing but grand theft — the greatest theft in the world, with nothing surpassing it. First, he has stolen the World-Honored One's rights as teacher, directly stripping the World-Honored One of leadership and governance over the Saha world, stealing the Buddha's supreme authority over Buddhism as a whole. This offense of stealing cannot be repented; even repentance cannot purify it.
Second, this person has stolen the sangha's right to propagate the Dharma, directly interfering with and obstructing the monastic sangha's work of Dharma propagation, obstructing the sangha's guidance and gathering-in of sentient beings, disrupting the Three Jewels' great work of normally leading and gathering in sentient beings, hindering the growth of Buddhist talent, and at the same time causing sentient beings to lack karmic affinity with the Three Jewels and thus with cultivation and liberation. This karmic offense is extremely grave.
Third, unreasonably restricting others from teaching the Dharma obstructs the fulfillment of others' great Bodhisattva vows, limits the development of others' Bodhisattva work, and at the same time severs the affinity between karmically connected sentient beings and those others; beings' cultivation is obstructed and their progress on the Path cannot continue — an offense of incomparable magnitude.
If ten people emerged in Buddhism, all contending for the Dharma-lord's authority, would they not tear the very sky open? Could Buddhism still exist? Throughout the kalpas, among the patriarchs of every generation, including Bodhisattvas on the bhūmis, which one ever had the slightest deviant thought or audacity to fantasize about the Dharma-lord's position? The Dharma-lord of the Saha world is Śākyamuni Buddha alone; no other Buddha may come to serve as Dharma-lord, but can only assist Śākyamuni Buddha. Among the Buddha's disciple-Bodhisattvas, which one has the audacity, the deviant intent, or the virtue and ability to contend for the Dharma-lord's seat? What kind of person would dare to wrest it from the Buddha? If such a person appears in Buddhism, how could the vows made by all sentient beings — the grand vows to liberate all beings — ever be fulfilled?
In Buddhism today there really are such people: a lay householder who actually dares to order all monastics to shut up and not teach the Dharma, sabotaging monastics whenever they come out to teach — charging them either with being false teachers teaching false Dharma or with stealing the Dharma, one or the other without exception. What kind of person could commit such sordid deeds? For thirty years they have been scheming how to replace the monastic sangha with their self-proclaimed lay sangha, driving the monastic sangha out of the ranks of the Three Jewels, with their lay group occupying the position. What kind of conduct is this? When monastics teach the Dharma in their own monastery's Dharma hall, they gather a crowd to storm the hall and drag the teaching monastic down from it, blocking the teaching — what kind of conduct is this? What evil retribution will it bring? This is stealing the Sangha Jewel's right to propagate the Dharma and benefit beings — and robbery-style stealing at that, the gravest of robbery crimes. The evil retribution is naturally also the heaviest of the heaviest among robbery and theft crimes.
XII. The Crime of Stealing Sages' Merit, Fame, and Stage Attainments
Claiming realization without having realized it is gross false speech and also involves the offense of stealing, because in essence one has realized no Dharma at all — no fruition and no seeing of the mind — yet claims to be a first-, second-, or third-fruit noble one; clearly without truly seeing the mind, yet claiming to be a Bodhisattva of the abiding stage, the practice stage, or the dedication stage, or even a first-, second-, or third-bhūmi Bodhisattva, appropriating the names and meritorious benefits belonging to true Bodhisattvas. This is grand theft — what is stolen is too sublime, and the offense is especially great. Yet many people ignore this matter, unaware of its especially serious nature, never deigning to compare and examine whether they possess the merit, qualities, and disposition of sages, while appropriating sages' names and fruitions — thereby deceiving the world and stealing fame, confounding what people see and hear, destroying beings' faith in the sages, betraying beings' trust, and dragging the sages' qualities down to the level of ordinary beings.
Deceiving the world and stealing fame also includes: clearly not being first, yet insisting one is first — that is stealing, stealing the first-place holder's reputation and merit, along with all the benefits that follow; not being second, yet insisting one is second — likewise stealing the second-place holder's reputation and meritorious benefits. Whatever one has, one is — say it as it is; whatever one does not have and is not, also say it as it is. Do not speak in inverted fashion; inverted speech is stealing.
When some people see another's belongings, they think: 'How nice if that were mine.' At that moment the mind of stealing arises; placing what belongs to another upon one's own mind is the mind of stealing — only the act has not yet occurred, so the offense of stealing is not complete. Some people, knowing another's reputation is good, think: 'I'll make use of it.' At that moment the mind of stealing arises; once the use is actually made, the precept against stealing is violated. For example, if you do something or say something in my name without my knowledge — and had I known, I would not have consented — yet you do it anyway, that is stealing.
XIII. Plundering Online Groups Constitutes Robbery-Style Stealing
If someone online forcibly pulls away another's online group, changing the group's ownership and forcing group members to abandon what they previously studied and instead study the Dharma endorsed by the group-seizer, the members' affiliation and autonomy are also changed — this constitutes stealing. If this person was instigated by others or by a group, then those others or that group are the principal thieves, and the person plundering the group is an accessory; both commit the crime of stealing and robbery — robbing the group's resources, including its members.
Maliciously inciting, turning, and drawing away the group's administrators and core members, and sowing discord between members and the group owner — such conduct also constitutes stealing, stealing the group's resources and members. If this is done to a monastic sangha's group, it is the crime of destroying the Sangha Jewel's Dharma propagation, the offense of stealing by sowing discord between sentient beings and the Sangha Jewel, and the crime of stealing the Three Jewels' resources. The nature of this is no longer as simple as stealing — it is far viler than theft; this is not at all what a Buddhist practitioner would do, nor what an ordinary person would do. It is like the conduct of Māra's disciples acting under Māra's direction — destroying the Three Jewels, destroying the sangha, destroying Buddhism. The Kṣitigarbha Sūtra says: slandering the Three Jewels, drawing the Buddha's blood, defiling the pure and slandering the sangha, double-tongued sowing discord, unreasonably destroying and misusing [property], disparaging the Dharma and slighting the teaching. Such karmic offenses are hell-karma, incurring hell's evil retribution.
