The Saddharma-smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra on Stealing

Original text of the Saddharma-smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra (Sūtra on the Mindfulness of the Right Dharma):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。

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。

This passage discusses what is the most serious form of stealing: stealing the property of the Three Jewels. Among acts of stealing, this one is the heaviest—stealing the property of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha, the Three Jewels. What is meant by stealing is this: taking for oneself, without permission, things that belong to the Three Jewels, deciding on one's own to treat them as one's own property and use them as one pleases. Even if the item is extremely trivial, the karmic retribution is still extremely heavy—for example, tissues, towels, and things of that kind; if one steals something more valuable than these, the retribution is even heavier. Those who have committed such offenses should find ways to make amends themselves in order to lighten their karmic obstructions. People who frequently go to temples should often reflect and examine themselves to see whether they have committed any stealing, including even the tiniest petty gains.

Giving to the Three Jewels brings immeasurable merit, but stealing and appropriating the property of the Three Jewels brings immeasurable offenses and immeasurable debts. The Three Jewels are the greatest field of merit in the world: the merit gained is the greatest, and the offense incurred is also the greatest. The Kṣitigarbha Sūtra says that taking even a single blade of grass from a temple is an offense—let alone items more valuable than a blade of grass, including water, electricity, gas, food, tea, and various utensils.

Usurpation also falls within the scope of stealing. It includes not only food, drink, and material items, but also the various rights and duties belonging to the Three Jewels. Powers and responsibilities that properly belong to the Three Jewels and should be exercised by them—yet others insist on making decisions on behalf of the Three Jewels without authorization, deploying and allocating the people, finances, and property that belong to the Three Jewels, and domineering over the Three Jewels—this offense is even greater.

Appropriating and seizing the merit and reputation of the Three Jewels also counts as stealing, and this offense may be even greater still. If we can strictly observe these precepts without violating them, the mind will naturally settle into purity; no longer thinking about what to gain or what advantage to take, we gather the mind in, and meditative concentration (samādhi) will naturally arise. If a person's mind cannot settle down, there must certainly be things weighing on it. If one lets go of all those matters and no longer dwells on them, why worry that meditative concentration cannot be cultivated?

It is good to cultivate the habit of not 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 an advantage is precisely the place where one loses it. In this world there is fundamentally no advantage to be gained at all, because cause and effect exist: every time one takes an advantage, it is recorded in each one's tathāgatagarbha. When the conditions ripen, it will all be paid back a thousandfold, ten-thousandfold, immeasurably many times over. The later the repayment, the higher the accrued "interest," and the more one must repay.