Does Stealing What Belonged to Oneself in a Past Life Count as Stealing?

Question: Suppose a person dies and is reborn as a human again. By chance, he digs open the tomb of his own previous life. Due to the mystery of the intermediate state (the veil between lives), he does not know that this tomb is his own from a previous life. If he takes away the burial objects, does this count as having the owner's permission? If not, does this constitute theft?

Answer: If the owner has not changed—that is, it is still the same person—then it does not count as theft. It is like moving something from one's left hand to one's right hand, or putting a necklace from one's neck into one's handbag. Although this person steals objects belonging to his own previous life, the act still carries the nature of stealing, because there is a thieving mind. All karmic acts of merit and demerit are governed primarily by the mind; without the mind, there is no merit or demerit. However, since what this person steals is his own property, it does not harm others; the objects have not been transferred from another person to himself, and the owner has not changed. The karma of stealing is therefore not fully established or accomplished—the theft has not succeeded—so the offense incurred is slight.

There are cases where someone clearly goes to another person's home to steal a certain thing, yet after rummaging around, he cannot find it. Although there is a thieving mind and thieving conduct, the offense of stealing is not accomplished. Or, just as he is about to take the object away, the owner returns, and he has to abandon the object and flee; the act of stealing is abandoned halfway through, and the offense of stealing is not accomplished. These examples show that when the thieving mind exists but the karma of stealing is not fully established and the object has not been transferred, no crime can be determined; the punishment will be light, and the retributive result will be light.