Discourse on the Pitāputrasamāgama Sūtra (75)

The Causes and Karmic Retribution of Craving and Greedy Actions

The mental faculty (manas) takes dharmas as its objects. When consciousness (mano-vijñāna) delights in and craves the realm of mental objects (dharmāyatana), it becomes drawn by external conditions, giving rise to greed. For example, take a piece of cake: its color is perceived by visual consciousness; the form it presents, its ingredients, nutritional content, and other information constitute mental objects (dharmas), which are apprehended by the mental faculty and discerned by consciousness. After consciousness discerns and perceives the cake as sweet and delicious, craving arises. Because craving exists, greedy actions follow—the desire to possess it, to eat it quickly, and perhaps even to devise ways to ensure future access. This constitutes greedy action. Greedy actions are physical and verbal behaviors, while greed itself is the mental fabrication, intention, and sensation that, being drawn by external conditions, determines the creation of karmic actions. Once karmic actions are performed, their seeds are stored in the Tathāgatagarbha. When conditions ripen, karmic retribution manifests. If the mental faculty becomes habituated successfully, this person will crave food life after life.

If the cake eaten belongs to someone else, and it is consumed without their knowledge or against their will, this constitutes stealing. The karmic retribution of theft is stored in the Tathāgatagarbha. When karmic conditions mature and retribution manifests, one must repay a thousandfold or more. Stealing one cake incurs at least a thousandfold retribution—one must return at least a thousand cakes in the future. If the stolen item belongs to the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) or to a practitioner of virtue, repayment may reach tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, or even immeasurable times more. Moreover, this includes the inherent sin (性罪) of the greedy mental disposition. If the inherent sin is severe, one may fall into hell realms to suffer negative retribution.