The Well-Intentioned Thief Receives a Good Reward

Stealing—almost everyone commits it. Taking what has not been given is stealing, and ordinary people don't understand this. I have committed it, and moreover knowingly and deliberately. In the past I liked to give away surplus things to others; I had the habit of giving (dāna), and I also hoped my family members could practice generosity and cultivate merit, letting go of their stinginess. I can't control others, so I could only try to manage my mother, but she was a bit miserly and wouldn't listen to me—she had too many things that were never used, yet she still wouldn't give them away. Having no other choice, I secretly took her seldom-used things and gave them away. Then every time she couldn't find something, she would say I had stolen it and given it away. Actually, secretly taking things from one's own family members also has karmic retribution. What will the future retribution be? Giving things away brings a thousandfold merit—who receives it?

If the merit were mine, then I would receive far more than a thousandfold or ten-thousandfold. But the things were not mine, so how could I receive the merit? The act of giving is something I created, so of course I receive merit. Depending on one's role, the amount of merit differs; depending on one's intention, the amount of merit also differs. But the things belonged to my mother, so she should also receive merit; however, without the mind of giving, the merit she receives is limited, and it is because of me that she receives it—without me, she could not have received it. In the future, when I receive this merit, I will need to give back a portion; I only receive the portion of merit corresponding to my own intention.

Being in mutual debt with one's own close relatives—through such karmic connections, we will still be together in future lives, and even repaying debts is quite good, for after all there is the opportunity to deliver them. Between relatives, it has always been a muddled account that no one can calculate clearly. Through these debtor-creditor relationships, we become entangled with one another life after life: wholesome connections bring happiness, unwholesome connections bring suffering. Form many wholesome connections with all people, and in future lives there will be happiness without suffering.