The Theft of Form, Sound, Smell, Taste, Touch, and Dharmas

The contents of stealing are of all kinds, nothing more than form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma. It is not limited to the visible objects the eye contacts, but also includes sounds the ear contacts, scent-objects the nose contacts, taste-objects the tongue contacts, and touch-objects the body contacts. If two people are speaking quietly, the content of their conversation is certainly secret, not meant for others to know; then one must not deliberately eavesdrop—eavesdropping constitutes stealing.

Scent-objects are volatile substances. If they are precious to others, do not deliberately sniff them, especially fragrances offered to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the Three Jewels—smelling them must be avoided. Fragrances offered to devas, ghosts and spirits, and non-humans must all the more not be sniffed, for that is equivalent to consuming food and drink. The taste-objects of food and drink are not easily stolen, but it is not absolutely impossible to steal them. For example, if food has been prepared and one tastes it first without permission, that is stealing. When patients are paralyzed in bed and cannot eat by themselves and need to be fed, they too need to enjoy the flavor of their meals; when feeding them, try not to taste the flavor yourself—one should feed them with the original flavor preserved.

Stealing through touch-objects is less common, but it does occur. Taking the warmth or coolness of implements near another person, or the temperature of their body, or bodily contact without the other person's consent is stealing. Touching soft, delicate items without the owner's consent, causing them to become disordered or spoiled—bedding, quilts, and other soft, comfortable items that the owner has not yet used, but one touches and lies on first—all constitute stealing. If the owner does not mind, it is not stealing; if the owner minds, it is stealing.

What is the situation of stealing the Dharma? Dharma includes the dharmas pertaining to the five sense-objects, as well as Image-Only Objects unrelated to the five sense-objects. The dharmas pertaining to the five sense-objects are material form subsumed under the Dharmāyatana, belonging to dharmas related to and resembling form, sound, smell, taste, and touch. For instance, the mental sense-object of form refers to visible shapes, expressive signs, and non-expressive signs of material things: a person's appearance, bearing, and temperament, the posture and charm of flowers, and so on. If one goes to appreciate and enjoy them without permission, that is stealing. The expressive and non-expressive signs of sound are also mental sense-objects; if without permission one presumptuously appreciates music and enjoys the beauty and pleasantness of sounds, that is stealing. The same applies to smell, taste, and touch.

Mental sense-objects unrelated to the five sense-objects are non-material dharmas, which the five consciousnesses cannot know and the mental consciousness accompanying the five sense consciousnesses (pañcavijñāna-sahagata-manovijñāna) cannot perceive; only the solitary mental consciousness can perceive them. At this point the mental sense-object is an Image-Only Object, including Image-Only Objects in meditative concentration, Image-Only Objects in dreams, and the realms contemplated and imagined by the distracted solitary mental consciousness that is neither in concentration nor in dream. Can this portion of content be stolen? To proclaim another person's mental realm as one's own mental realm, to proclaim another person's meditative states or dream states as one's own states, to proclaim and use another person's views as one's own views, to proclaim and use another person's strategies, tactics, policies, and guiding principles as one's own—this is stealing the Dharma. If the other party has consented, instructed, and permitted it, and does not mind, then it is not stealing the Dharma.

Observing comprehensively, everywhere in the human world there is nothing that is not stealing. Human hearts are selfish and self-serving, seeking only personal comfort and pleasure, never considering others; in all places there is stealing, encroachment, and aggression. The greatest theft of sentient beings since beginningless kalpas is stealing form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma—stealing all the treasures within the tathāgatagarbha—yet they never realize it themselves, feel no shame, and give no gratitude.

When the Buddha first taught the Dharma, it also involved wholesome dharmas, such as the five precepts and ten good deeds: fulfilling the five precepts gains a human rebirth, and perfecting the ten good deeds leads to rebirth in the heavens. This is the foundation for studying and practicing the Buddhadharma; on this foundation, one then progressively cultivates the Āgama liberation path of the Four Noble Truths of suffering, its arising, its cessation, and the path. The Buddhadharma is wholesome dharma, including worldly wholesome dharmas, but it is not merely worldly wholesome dharmas, not merely the wholesome dharmas of humans in Jambudvīpa of the Sahā world; most important are the supramundane wholesome dharmas. Only by cultivating supramundane wholesome dharmas can one eliminate ignorance, attain great liberation, and accomplish the path to buddhahood.