Using divination and other such methods to pry into another person's information constitutes stealing

Obtaining others' secrets and private information through worldly supernatural powers, divination, and the like constitutes stealing. Some people know the I Ching and the Eight Trigrams and use them to calculate and probe others' trade secrets, corporate information, and confidential information and resources. All such information generally belongs to the secrets of individuals and organizations; to calculate and grasp another's information without their consent is an act of stealing. If the value involved is great, the offense committed is also great; if the other party suffers losses in material benefit or reputation, the transgression is even greater and cannot be repented. Especially toward the Three Jewels, there must not be the slightest thought or act of prying; whatever one is not permitted to know, one should not scheme by every possible means to probe, speculate about, or calculate. Be an upright person: only when the mind is upright and the person is upright, and one has become virtuous and esteemed, can one become a sage.

When ghosts and spirits intrude into and occupy another's living space without permission, that is stealing. Producing counterfeit and shoddy products, abusing official authority, and impersonating others are also stealing. America speaks of human rights: if a person's most basic legitimate rights are used, encroached upon, or deprived by others, that is also stealing—except for those subject to legal sanctions and for illegal, illegitimate rights. When parents make decisions on behalf of their children, or children make decisions on behalf of their parents, without the other's knowledge—and even if they knew, they would not consent—when people make decisions in one another's stead without notifying the other party, that is also stealing: an act of stealing the other's autonomy.

People's use of the basic conditions for survival on this earth is the equal human right of every person and should not be deprived by any reason or in any form; otherwise it constitutes stealing. For example, a piece of public land that falls within a public or government-administered area: if an individual privately encloses it to run a parking lot and forcibly charges fees, profiting from something they had no right to profit from, that is stealing. Those adept at scheming, who only want to take and never to give, have a thieving mind; any mind that seeks to take advantage is a thieving mind.

The stronger a person's self-nature (the nature of self-clinging), the less they respect others and take others seriously; they will forcibly substitute for others, infringe upon others, offend others, suppress others, and exploit others. Modern commercial wars and wars of all kinds—what are they in essence? Wars of deprivation and wars of aggression, all of which are stealing. In many matters, whether individuals or nations, out of foolishness and ignorance, with desires blazing fiercely, they commit theft.