On the Question of the Crime of Tomb Robbery and Offering to the Buddha

Who owns the items stolen by tomb robbers? Whose things are they stealing? The items in a tomb all belong to the tomb's occupant; the occupant is the deceased, not the deceased's family members—the family members have the responsibility and right of guardianship and supervision. Grave goods all belong to the deceased, because grave goods are given to the deceased; both in principle and in fact they belong to the deceased, and the deceased is the owner of the items in the tomb. The deceased has a manas and an Ālayavijñāna, and can own grave goods, regardless of whether they can make use of them, regardless of whether they are attached to these items. Until the grave goods decay, no one else is permitted to use them; unless the tomb's occupant appears in someone's dream to entrust how they should be used, taking them away constitutes theft, and even family members may not use them.

Although the deceased's body has perished and no longer functions, the deceased is still a sentient being, with the manas and Ālayavijñāna not perishing, and can own, guard, and use the grave goods. Even for a living person with a body, all items are likewise owned and used by the conscious mind; the body is used by the conscious mind, and the conscious mind should naturally care for and cherish the body. Regardless of whether the owner is pleased or not, items forever belong to the owner; grave goods, whether or not the dead person is attached to them, forever belong to the dead person. Even if the dead person has become a ghost, an animal, or a deva, those items still belong to that person, and others may not casually take them away and use them, unless they exchange some other items as a substitute. For example, suppose you bought a set of furniture and placed it in your home, then went abroad to settle down, not necessarily to return. That set of furniture and the house still belong to you; regardless of whether the items are useful, whosever things they are, they forever remain that person's things. Regardless of whether the owner is compassionate or not, generous or not, magnanimous or not, only with the owner's permission—otherwise, anyone who uses them commits theft.

For example, the Buddha is the greatest, highest, and most venerable sage; the Buddha is the most compassionate and most generous, without attachment and magnanimous. Yet the items offered to the Buddha belong to the Buddha; to casually take them and use them is to steal the Buddha's property. Stealing the Buddha's property or the property of the Three Jewels is countless times more serious than stealing an ordinary person's belongings, and the more virtuous, compassionate, and generous a person is, the greater the offense of stealing their belongings. Therefore, one cannot determine guilt based on whether the owner is generous and magnanimous.

The conviction for the offense of stealing is not determined by the Buddha, not determined by the Dharma-protecting deities, and even less determined by the owner of the items; rather, it is determined by the law of cause and effect itself, with the tathāgatagarbha administering the law of cause and effect. The Buddha will not intervene in major karmic causes and effects; for minor results, it depends on the sincerity of the thief's repentance and their roots of goodness, as well as their karmic affinity with the Buddha. The Buddha can remove a portion of the obstructions, the Dharma-protecting deities can block a little, and the rest is recompensed by cause and effect. Repentance is the most effective method for lightening karmic retribution; by extinguishing the mind of stealing and eliminating the source of the karmic offense at its root, only then can the karmic offense be partially or entirely eliminated.

From this we can know that the items sentient beings offer to the Buddha belong to the Buddha; the Buddha is the owner of the items, and even the person who made the offerings may not casually take and use them, otherwise it is stealing the Buddha's property. If one wishes to use the items after they have been offered to the Buddha, then at the time of offering, one should tell the Buddha: "I offer these items to the Buddha and bodhisattvas; after the Buddha has completed the Buddha's work and finished receiving the essence, I will take back the remaining husk for my own use; the parts the Buddha has no use for will be used by me." Having made this arrangement, once the incense has finished burning, the offerings to the Buddha can be removed. Alternatively, one may use other items to replace the items the Buddha has used, as an exchange.

Since the Buddha receives the essence of the items, we should know what the essence is. Regarding this portion, we must be careful never to touch it, leaving it for the Buddha; otherwise it is deceiving the Buddha. Deceiving the Buddha means: the Buddha originally smells the incense and tastes the flavors, but you, in offering items to the Buddha, first smell and taste the delicious flavors and fragrance yourself, so what the Buddha needs is gone, or there is no longer as much of it—eating before the Buddha is disrespectful to the Buddha, and one cannot gain merit. With items offered to the Buddha, if the Buddha uses them, sentient beings gain merit; if the Buddha does not use them, sentient beings still gain merit, because merit is gained through the exchange of the sincere mind of offering to the Buddha. But the difference in merit gained is very great.