Are There Teachings on Stealing in Learning Buddhism?

Stealing, or theft, means taking what is not given. If others do not permit you to study something, or have set a condition that a fee must be paid in order to study it, then studying it without paying the fee constitutes theft. But the Buddha-dharma is always taught freely and without charge; the copyright of the Buddha-dharma has never been in Śākyamuni Buddha's hands, let alone in the hands of anyone else. No ordinary being holds a patent or copyright on the Buddha-dharma, because ordinary beings have not realized any dharma at all—no dharma belongs to them. And the sages who have already realized the Buddha-dharma are all empty of mind, selfless, and without private interest; they would never seek fame or profit for themselves, so they certainly hold no copyright either. Therefore, in studying the Buddha-dharma there is no such thing as theft. Only if one studies the dharmas of non-Buddhist paths—dharmas invented by individuals—and secretly learns them without fulfilling the conditions others require, does that constitute theft.

There are certain requirements for studying the precepts, because it is feared that sentient beings may lack sufficient faith: if they learn the contents of the precepts in advance, they may, out of worry that they cannot keep the precepts, refrain from taking them, and this would be a loss for their cultivation of the Buddha-dharma. Therefore, when one has no intention of taking the precepts, one may freely study the Buddha-dharma, but one may not casually study the precepts. However, once one has firmly resolved to take the precepts, one may then study the relevant precepts. Only by studying and understanding the relevant precepts can one properly prepare to take the precepts, obtain them, and keep them. Buddhism does not require that the Vinaya may only be studied after taking the precepts across the board.

The purpose of Buddhism is to serve sentient beings selflessly and without private interest; there is no rule that studying the Buddha-dharma requires payment. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas teach sentient beings selflessly and without charge so that they may attain liberation, and the Buddha-dharma they teach was all received from countless Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, with no element of personal invention or creation in it. Therefore, the Buddha-dharma has no patent.

If there were a patent, the Buddha-dharma would belong to the first Buddha. It was Buddha Vipula (Wèiyīn Wáng, the King of Awesome Voice) who first attained buddhahood and transmitted the dharma down through the generations to the present day. Since the first Buddha did not apply for a patent, others are even less entitled to obtain one. Moreover, in the course of cultivating the path, Buddha Vipula gained immeasurable merit and the provisions for attaining the Way through teaching sentient beings, and only then did he accomplish the Buddha Way—the merit within it also includes a share belonging to sentient beings. Therefore, even Buddha Vipula could not enjoy the patent exclusively.

When you encounter, whether online or in person, those who charge fees for transmitting the dharma, almost none of them teach the true Buddha-dharma. We should try our best to avoid them and not study with them, and certainly not pay fees, so as not to encourage those people's evil karma and greed. Those people lack the mental conduct of bodhisattvas, and the dharma they transmit cannot be correct either, so do not encourage such perverse tendencies and corrupt practices.