The Offense of Stealing Food Present Before Monks, Leading to the Avīci Hell

Original text of the Sūtra on the Mindful Abiding in the Correct Dharma (Saddharma-smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra):云何偷盗乐行多作。云何乐行多作。盗已堕于地狱。此恶戒人。性自偷盗。近恶知识。若恶知识。近住之人。与彼相随。则行偷盗。

有下中上。何者为下。谓王法等。如前所说。何者为中。非福田所。偷盗彼物。此盗为中。何者为上。佛法僧物。微少偷盗。是则为上。

Explanation: Why do some people greatly enjoy stealing and steal frequently? Why, after greatly enjoying stealing and stealing frequently, do they fall into hell? Because this person of evil precepts, who has severely violated the precepts, has a disposition habitually inclined toward stealing, and also frequently draws near to bad spiritual friends, being influenced and stained by them, thus acquiring evil habits. If one lives in close proximity to bad spiritual friends and follows them closely, that person will engage in acts of theft.

The offense of stealing is divided into three grades: lower, middle, and upper. What is the lower grade of stealing? Stealing in violation of royal law and the like is a lower-grade offense of stealing, as explained previously. What is the middle grade of stealing? Stealing things from places that are not fields of merit (that is, not from the Three Jewels, not from one's parents) is a middle-grade offense of stealing. What is the upper grade of stealing? Even a slight theft of the property of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha is an upper-grade offense of stealing.

Here it is taught that the most serious form of stealing is stealing the property of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha, the Three Jewels; among acts of stealing, this one is the heaviest. What is meant by stealing is this: when something belongs to the Three Jewels, one takes it of one's own will without the owner's consent, treating it as one's own property and using it at one's own discretion. Even if the item is extremely trivial, the karmic retribution is extremely heavy—for example, tissue paper, towels, and the like. If one steals items more valuable than these, the karmic retribution is even heavier. If anyone has committed such offenses, they should find ways to make amends in order to lessen the obstruction of their offenses. Those who frequently go to monasteries should reflect on and examine themselves for any acts of stealing, including petty gains; if such things are discovered, they should promptly repent of these offenses and make amends for the losses caused as much as possible.

Making offerings to the Three Jewels can bring immeasurable merit, but stealing and appropriating the property of the Three Jewels brings immeasurable offenses and immeasurable debts. The Three Jewels are the greatest field of merit in the world: the merit gained is greatest, and the offense incurred is also greatest. The Kṣitigarbha Sūtra says that even taking a single blade of grass from a monastery incurs offense, let alone items more valuable than a blade of grass, including water, electricity, gas, food, tea, and various utensils. Appropriation also falls within the scope of stealing, and it includes not only food and articles, but also the various rights and duties belonging to the Three Jewels. When powers and duties that properly belong to the Three Jewels are usurped by others who insist on acting on the Three Jewels' behalf without authorization, deploying and allocating the people, wealth, and property belonging to the Three Jewels, and oppressing the Three Jewels, the offense is even greater. Appropriating and seizing the merit, status, and reputation of the Three Jewels also constitutes stealing, and this offense may be even greater still.

If we can strictly observe these precepts without violating them, the mind will naturally become pure; no longer thinking about what to gain or what advantage to take, we gather the mind in, and meditative concentration (samādhi) will naturally arise. If a person's mind cannot settle, there must certainly be matters weighing on it; if one relinquishes all these matters and no longer dwells on them, why worry that meditative concentration cannot be cultivated? It is good to develop the habit of not taking advantage of any person or group. With this good habit, one will owe far fewer debts and lose far less merit. The place where one gains advantage is precisely the place where one loses it. In this world there is truly no advantage to be taken at all, because cause and effect exist: for every bit of advantage taken, each person's tathāgatagarbha records it, and when the conditions mature, it must all be repaid a thousandfold, ten-thousandfold, immeasurably many times over. The later the repayment, the higher the interest, and the more must be repaid.

Original text:彼佛法僧。若盗僧物。佛法能净。盗佛法物。僧不能净。若盗众僧现食用物。堕大地狱。头面在下。若取属僧所常食物。则堕无间阿鼻地狱。宽广闇等。以重福田。微少偷盗。以有心念。乐行多作。彼少偷盗。堕于地狱畜生饿鬼。若复忏悔。不生随喜。心中生悔。彼不定受。若偷盗人。无量方便而行偷盗。以如是故。名为偷盗。

Explanation: Among thefts of the property of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha, if one steals the property of the Saṅgha, it can be purified through the Buddha's and the Dharma's [power]; but if one steals the property of the Buddha and the Dharma, the Saṅgha cannot purify it. If one steals the food that the community of monks is presently eating, one falls into the great hell, with head and face downward. If one takes the food that ordinarily belongs to the Saṅgha for their use, one falls into the Avīci hell of unintermittent suffering, which is extremely vast, extremely broad, and extremely dark; one's body becomes as large as the hell itself, and instruments of torture cover the entire material body. Because monks are a weighty field of merit, even a slight theft is an offense warranting the Avīci hell. Because there is the mental intention to steal, delight in committing theft, and frequent engagement in acts of stealing, even stealing trifling things will cause one to fall into the destinies of hell, animals, and hungry ghosts.

If, after stealing, one openly confesses and repents, others will not rejoice in the act; if after stealing one feels remorse in the mind, others may not necessarily accept it. If a person who steals employs immeasurable expedient means to carry out acts of stealing, it is for this reason that it is called stealing.