Various Manifestations of Stealing

Obtaining something by improper means is theft. The two characters "improper" are crucial and important. A person of virtue, no matter what they love, must acquire it through proper means—must obtain it openly and honorably through the right path, not acquire it through crooked ways, not take or obtain it illegally. Therefore, before the Buddha taught the elimination of self-view, one must first cultivate the Eightfold Noble Path; without the Eightfold Noble Path, one cannot eliminate self-view.

Selling Three Jewels property, evading taxes, operating a business illegally, violating the nation's laws and regulations—all of these are acts of stealing. A true bodhisattva, a true practitioner, will never violate the nation's laws and regulations; to a certain extent, one should comply with the rules and regulations of the nation and the local area and not go against them. Tax evasion infringes upon the interests of the nation and all its citizens; the debt owed is to the nation and all its citizens, and in the future what must be repaid is the debt to the nation and all its citizens—principal plus interest, an enormous amount, with extremely serious consequences.

Although a monastery is a public place that lay Buddhists may generally visit, at certain times the monastery needs tranquility and does not receive lay visitors. If one clearly knows one should not go yet insists on going to the monastery and disturbing it, this also counts as theft—stealing the monastics' time and energy, disrupting their practice and various affairs. Whatever loss the monastery suffers, that is how much the layperson has stolen.

For items offered to the Buddha, if one has already firmly resolved in one's mind that they are offerings to the Buddha, one should set them aside temporarily and present them to the Buddha when the time for offering arrives. Being firmly resolved in the mind means the manas has already made the decision, which is equivalent to relinquishing one's right of possession over the item. Then, whether or not the item is actually offered to the Buddha, it belongs to the Buddha. If for some reason one takes it back for one's own use, that is misappropriating the Buddha's property. If you have promised to give something to someone and the other person has accepted, the manas of the two parties has completed the transfer; at that point, no matter whose hands the item is in, its ownership belongs to the other person. If, by the agreed final deadline, you still have not handed the item over to the other person, and you have decided not to give it, that constitutes stealing the other person's property.

When eating at a monastery, if the monastery has not stipulated that meals are free of charge, then eating without paying is equivalent to stealing the monastery's food, as well as the time and labor of the kitchen staff. If you frequently go to the monastery to drink tea with monastics but never bring tea or give anything in return, and if the monastics do so willingly of their own accord, this behavior merely constitutes an unpaid debt; but if the monastics are not willing, it constitutes stealing the monastics' tea and time. Casually taking up a monastic's time and disrupting their practice and affairs has very bad consequences. Stealing from a monastery and its monastics brings karmic retribution many, many times greater than stealing from laypeople.

If a monastery has deliberately placed Buddhist sutras and other gift items somewhere for distribution, those are free gifts for everyone, and you may take them at your own discretion without informing the monastery's supervising personnel. Certain items are managed by designated personnel; if you wish to use them, you must obtain the consent of the designated personnel. If someone is not the designated manager, even their consent does not count—taking the item would still be theft. You must also check whether the person giving consent actually has the corresponding authority; you cannot just casually find anyone to give permission. If the person who gave consent handled it wrongly, they too must bear responsibility and are subject to cause and effect, and may even be guilty of wrongdoing.

Everyone, whether at home, at their workplace, in a monastery, or in all public places, must be clear about who the owner of each item is, and must not infringe upon the owner's rights of possession—ask the owner before using anything. This includes not infringing upon or offending the rights of possession of your own family members, parents, children, and spouse. This is the cultivation and virtue of being a good person. Live with purity, and you will surely receive pure karmic retribution.