The Crime of Usurping the Bhagavān's Position as the Lord of the Sahā World

In Buddhism, if someone stands up and declares: "I am the Dharma Master (equivalent to the head of the teaching) of Buddhism in the Saha world; everything in Buddhism is decided by me alone—who may teach the Dharma and who may not is up to me; only those I permit may teach, and those I do not permit may not teach. If anyone dares to teach the Dharma privately, they shall be charged—one charge is the crime of teaching false Dharma, and the other is the crime of stealing the Dharma. Moreover, those I permit to teach (all of them from my inner circle) may not teach beyond the scope I have prescribed; they may not exceed what I have taught, and may only teach at a low level; otherwise they are violating the precepts and disrespecting the teacher's disciplinary instructions."—then does this person's conduct constitute theft?

This person's conduct is no ordinary crime of theft, but grand theft—the greatest theft in the world, with nothing surpassing it. First, he has stolen the World-Honored One's authority as head of the teaching, directly stripping the World-Honored One of His leadership and governance over the Saha world, and stealing the Buddha's supreme authority over Buddhism as a whole. This crime of theft cannot be repented of; even repentance cannot bring purification.

Second, this person has stolen the monks' right to propagate the Dharma, directly interfering with and obstructing the monastic sangha's work of spreading the Dharma, obstructing the sangha's guidance and acceptance of sentient beings, disrupting the great work of the Three Jewels in properly leading and accepting sentient beings, and hindering the growth of Buddhist talent, while also causing sentient beings to lose their connection with the Three Jewels and thus their opportunity for practice and liberation. This karmic offense is also extremely serious.

Furthermore, unreasonably restricting others from teaching the Dharma obstructs the fulfillment of others' great bodhisattva vows and limits the development of their bodhisattva work, while also severing the karmic affinity between sentient beings with connections and those others; sentient beings' practice is hindered and their progress on the Path cannot continue to grow—an offense of incomparable magnitude.

If ten people emerged in Buddhism, all vying for the authority of the Dharma Master, wouldn't they tear the very heavens open? Could Buddhism even continue to exist? Among the patriarchs through the kalpas and generations, including bodhisattvas on the bhūmis, which of them ever had the slightest deviant thought or the audacity to foolishly covet the position of Dharma Master? The Dharma Master of the Saha world is Śākyamuni Buddha alone; no other Buddha can come to serve as Dharma Master, but can only assist Śākyamuni Buddha. Which disciple or bodhisattva of the Buddha would have the audacity, the deviant intent, or the virtue and capability to contend for the position of Dharma Master? What kind of person would dare to fight the Buddha for it? If such a person were to appear in Buddhism, how could the grand vows made by all sentient beings to liberate all sentient beings ever be fulfilled?

Yet in Buddhism today there truly is such a person—a lay practitioner who actually dares to silence all monastic monks and forbid them from teaching the Dharma; when monks come out to teach the Dharma, he goes to sabotage them, either charging them with the crime of false teachers teaching false Dharma or with the crime of stealing the Dharma—one or the other, no exception. What kind of person could commit such a vile act? For thirty years he has been scheming how to replace the monastic sangha with their self-proclaimed lay sangha, driving the monastic sangha out of the ranks of the Three Jewels, with their lay group occupying that position. What kind of conduct is this? When monks were teaching the Dharma in the lecture hall of their own monastery, they gathered a crowd and stormed into the lecture hall, dragged the teaching monk down from the platform, and prevented the teaching—what kind of conduct is this? What evil retribution will they receive? This is stealing the sangha jewel's right to propagate the Dharma and benefit sentient beings, and it is theft by forcible seizure—the gravest form of robbery. The evil retribution is naturally also the heaviest among the crimes of robbery and theft.