The Scope of the Precept Against Stealing Among the Five Precepts

Stealing refers to obtaining anything that does not belong to oneself without the owner's permission—what is not one's own, yet one takes possession of it as if it were. The scope of stealing is very broad, including stealing another's merit, stealing another's reputation, and stealing another's achievements. For example, in a group, person A is the best, but person B claims to be the best; B takes the reputation of being the best as his own, and A's reputation of being the best is thus appropriated by B. B's conduct constitutes stealing A's reputation.

If a certain piece of work was clearly done by A, but B claims he did it himself, B has stolen A's work performance. If in a group A holds a certain authority, but B, without realizing it, exercises that authority, B has stolen A's power. Such stealing can also be called false speech; one set of bodily, verbal, and mental actions can touch upon two precepts, violating two precepts at the same time.

Without the owner's permission, privately disseminating or selling personal, family, or group information also constitutes stealing. Freely spreading another person's private matters or family privacy, or providing them to a third party—even between spouses, if one party does not consent to the dissemination and the other privately spreads it—constitutes an invasion of privacy and is stealing. The various confidential information of different groups, if obtained through various means and freely spread or traded, all constitutes stealing. In particular, a company's technological information, various patents, and talent: privately providing these to a third party, or taking and using them oneself, poaching talent and technology—all of this constitutes stealing. If one secretly installs surveillance equipment at the premises of another person or group to steal relevant information, this constitutes the offense of stealing.

Stealing does not necessarily involve stealing objects; therefore, even when no phenomenon of an object leaving its original place occurs, a change in ownership or right of use also constitutes stealing. For example, suppose there is an agreement between a company and an employee requiring the employee to work eight or nine hours a day, or a certain number of hours, working a certain number of days per month, with the company paying a certain monthly salary as remuneration, plus overtime pay of a certain amount per hour or per day; both parties agree and the contract takes effect. However, the employee arrives late and leaves early, malingers and shirks, so the actual working hours are greatly reduced, yet the wages remain the same. This conduct constitutes stealing. If the total value the employee fails to create for the company exceeds five ancient coins, an irremediable offense (an offense that cannot be repented) is committed; if the work performance is unaffected and the company suffers no loss, then it does not count as stealing.

On the other hand, if an employee diligently and conscientiously completes the daily and monthly workload, but the company withholds wages without cause, the company is also guilty of stealing. If the amount exceeds five ancient coins, the company's main leaders and responsible persons commit an irremediable offense. Similar things are very common in society and the workplace—too many to count.

Stealing also includes tax evasion, keeping false accounts, poaching people and clients from other enterprises, and stealing business deals—there are too many such things to enumerate. Tax evasion not only violates national law but also violates the precept against stealing. Every citizen living within a nation's territory should abide by the country's laws, rules, and regulations—whether non-Buddhists or Buddhists, whether secular groups or Buddhist groups, all should abide by the laws and regulations of the place where they reside. Buddhist groups and individuals should be no exception. Some Buddhist groups have certain revenues, such as incense offerings and the like; according to the law, taxes should be paid—except for the tax-exempt portion of temple groups. For the non-exempt portion, tax evasion exceeding five ancient coins constitutes a violation of the precepts. If one operates a business involving the property of the Three Jewels, this violates the Buddha's regulations. For example, selling sutra books, Buddha statues, and the like constitutes trafficking in the Three Jewels, which violates the law both for the nation and for the teaching.