The Theft of Form, Sound, Smell, Taste, Touch, and Mental Objects

The contents of stealing are of all kinds, nothing more than form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas. It is not limited to the visible objects the eye contacts, but also includes the sounds the ear contacts, the scent-dust the nose contacts, the taste-dust the tongue contacts, and the touch-dust the body contacts. If two people are speaking quietly, the content of their conversation is certainly secret and not meant for others to know; then one should not deliberately eavesdrop—eavesdropping constitutes stealing.

Scent-dust odors are volatile substances. If they are precious to others, one should not deliberately sniff them, especially fragrances offered to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the Three Jewels—sniffing them should be avoided. Fragrances offered to devas, ghosts and spirits, and non-humans must all the more not be sniffed, for that is equivalent to consuming food and drink. The taste-dust of food and drink is not easy to steal, but it is not absolutely impossible either. For example, when food has been prepared, tasting it first without permission is stealing. When patients are paralyzed in bed and cannot eat by themselves and need to be fed, they too need to enjoy the flavor of their meals; when feeding them, one should try not to taste the food, and should feed them with the original flavor preserved.

Stealing through touch-dust is less common, but it does occur. Taking the cold or warmth of utensils near another person, or the warmth of their body, or bodily contact, without the other party's consent, is stealing. Touching soft, delicate items without the owner's consent, causing them to become disordered or spoiled—bedding, quilts, and other soft, comfortable items that the owner has not yet used, being touched or lain upon first—all constitute stealing. If the owner does not mind, it is not stealing; if the owner minds, it constitutes stealing.

What is the situation of stealing the Dharma? Dharmas include the dharmas upon the five sense objects, as well as subjectively imagined realms unrelated to the five sense objects. The dharmas upon the five sense objects are material form subsumed under the dharma base (dharmāyatana), belonging to dharmas related to and resembling form, sound, smell, taste, and touch. For example, the dharma-dust of form refers to visible shape-form, expressive form, and non-expressive form in material things: a person's appearance, bearing, temperament, and so on; the posture and charm of flowers, and so on. If one appreciates and enjoys them without permission, one commits stealing. The expressive and non-expressive forms of sound are also dharma-dust; if one listens to music without permission, enjoying the beauty and pleasantness of sounds, one commits stealing. The same applies to smell, taste, and touch.

Dharma-dust unrelated to the five sense objects is non-material dharma, which the five consciousnesses cannot know and the consciousness accompanied by the five senses (pañca-sahagata-mano-vijñāna) cannot perceive; only the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta) can perceive it. At that time the dharma-dust is a subjectively imagined realm, including the subjectively imagined realm in meditative concentration, the subjectively imagined realm in dreams, and the realms thought of and imagined by the distracted solitary consciousness that is neither in concentration nor in dream. Can this portion be stolen? Publicizing another person's mental realm as one's own mental realm, publicizing another person's meditative states or dream states as one's own states, publicizing and using another person's views as one's own views, publicizing and using another person's strategies, tactics, policies, and guiding principles as one's own—this is stealing the Dharma. If the other party has consented, instructed, and permitted it, and does not mind, then it is not stealing the Dharma.

Observing comprehensively, everywhere in the human world there is stealing without exception. Human hearts are selfish and self-serving, caring only for personal comfort and never considering others; everywhere there is stealing, encroachment, and aggression. The greatest theft of sentient beings since beginningless kalpas is stealing form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas—stealing all the treasures within the tathāgatagarbha—yet never being aware of it, never feeling ashamed, and never feeling grateful.

When the Buddha first taught the Dharma, He also spoke of wholesome dharmas, such as the five precepts and ten good deeds: fulfilling the five precepts gains a human body, and perfecting the ten good deeds leads to rebirth in the heavens. This is the foundation for studying and practicing the Buddhadharma; on this foundation one then progressively advances along the Āgama path of liberation, the Four Noble Truths of suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path. The Buddhadharma is wholesome dharma, including worldly wholesome dharmas, but it is not merely worldly wholesome dharmas, not merely the wholesome dharmas of humans in Jambudvīpa of the Sahā world; most importantly, it is the supramundane wholesome dharmas. Only by cultivating supramundane wholesome dharmas can one extinguish ignorance, attain great liberation, and achieve the way of Buddhahood.