The Karmic Retribution of Stealing from a Monastery: Falling into the Avīci Hell

All things in heaven and earth—to take any of them is theft, because ownership does not belong to any individual's five aggregates (pañcaskandha); their true owner is the master of heaven, earth, and all things—the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, any grasping by the five aggregates is an act of birth-and-death karma, and it carries karmic retribution of birth and death; the only differences lie in the weight of the karma and whether it is wholesome or unwholesome in nature. But whether wholesome or unwholesome, as long as it is a conditioned phenomenon (saṃskṛta-dharma), it will inevitably summon the suffering of birth and death. Not a single dharma among heaven, earth, and all things belongs to the five aggregates—including the physical body and the conscious mind; all belong to this jewel of the Buddha, the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, grasping any dharma in the world is stealing the property of the Three Jewels. Only after the self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi) has been completely and thoroughly eliminated can one avoid violating the precept against stealing, and only by not violating any precept against stealing can one become a Buddha.

As a practitioner, one must not steal the property of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the Three Jewels; must not steal the possessions of all sages and saints; must not steal the possessions of humans and devas; nor may one steal the possessions of non-humans, asuras, ghosts and spirits, or animals—one must not infringe upon or seize any sentient being's ownership, right of use, or claim over anything. The general principle is: as long as something is not one's own, one must neither covet it, nor take possession of it, nor grasp at it. The scope of what counts as "things" is extremely broad; in summary it is called dharma, including material form (rūpa), mind, and what is neither material nor mental; the manifest and the unmanifest, the marked and the unmarked. As long as one grasps this general principle, every precept against stealing can be upheld without the slightest violation. What kind of state is this? It is the state of a great and supreme sage who has exhausted all ignorance and afflictions. Such a sage—who could it be if not the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas?

Original text of the Kṣitigarbha Sūtra: 若有众生。偷窃常住财物谷米。饮食衣服。乃至一物不与取者。当堕无间地狱。千万亿劫。求出无期。

How many people have violated this rule in the Kṣitigarbha Sūtra? How many lay Buddhists, under the pretext of building temples, have embezzled tens of millions or more in money and property—how many times should they fall into the Avīci hell for this? Those who steal the property of the Three Jewels should repent daily, repenting as much as they can, so as to avoid falling into the Avīci hell and suffering immeasurably. Taking what is not given is stealing. Without the abbot's consent, taking it upon oneself to take and use items belonging to the temple or to monastics constitutes stealing the property of the Three Jewels; taking it upon oneself to use and dispose of items offered to the Buddha also constitutes stealing the property of the Three Jewels. Beyond physical items, money, personnel, power, reputation, and so on—anything disposed of or used without the permission of the abbot or the person in charge constitutes stealing the property of the Three Jewels.

If you go to a temple without greeting the abbot or the person in charge, does casually drinking a cup of tea count as stealing? When you arrive at a temple, you cannot eat and drink freely as if it were your own home. The temple's property belongs to the Sangha of the ten directions; the owner of the items is the Sangha of the ten directions, and drinking tea casually without the owner's consent is theft of taking what is not given. Even the tea used to entertain guests is not something anyone may drink casually at any time and place. Everywhere has its rules; if you do not follow the rules, you break the precepts. If the owner has not consented, and you brew and drink tea on your own initiative, it counts as stealing. Moreover, brewing tea requires water and electricity, and of course tea leaves—all of these are property of the Sangha of the ten directions. If the person in charge of hospitality has not consented, then brewing and drinking tea by oneself constitutes stealing.

If a temple does not set up a donation box, is it good to offer free vegetarian meals? Even though free meals require no payment, whatever you use still puts you in debt. A debt owed to an ordinary person must be repaid a thousandfold; a debt owed to a person of the Path must be repaid tens of millions of times, even countless times over; and a debt owed to the Three Jewels must be repaid an innumerable number of times.