Grave Robbing Is Also a Sin

Who owns the items stolen by tomb raiders? Whose things are they stealing? The items in a tomb all belong to the tomb's owner. The owner is the deceased, not the deceased's family members; the family members merely have the responsibility and right of guardianship and supervision. Because burial objects are given to accompany the deceased, in principle and in fact they belong to the deceased; therefore the deceased is the owner of the items in the tomb.

Although the deceased's body has perished and is no longer functional, the deceased is still a sentient being: the manas and the ālayavijñāna do not perish, and the deceased can own, guard, and use the burial objects—regardless of whether they can actually be used, and regardless of whether the deceased is attached to these items. Until the burial objects rot away, no one else is permitted to touch them. Unless the tomb's owner appears in someone's dream to entrust instructions on how to use them, taking them away privately constitutes theft—including family members, who also may not make use of them. Even for living people with bodies, all possessions are likewise owned and used by the conscious mind; the body is used by the conscious mind, and the conscious mind ought to care for and cherish the body. Whether the owner is pleased or not, the items forever belong to the owner.

Even if the deceased has become a ghost, an animal, or a deva, those items still belong to that person, and others may not casually take and use them—unless they exchange some item as a substitute. For example, suppose you bought a set of furniture and put it in your home, and then you went abroad to settle down, perhaps never to return; that set of furniture and that house still belong to you. Regardless of whether the items are useful or not, whosever things they are, they remain that person's things forever. Regardless of whether the owner is compassionate or not, generous or not, magnanimous or not, only when the owner—the owner of the items—permits it may they be used and disposed of; otherwise, anyone who makes use of them is guilty of misappropriation.