Stealing Form, Sound, Smell, Taste, Touch, and Dharmas

The contents of theft are diverse, encompassing form, sound, scent, taste, touch, and dharma. It is not limited to material objects perceived by the eyes, but also includes sounds perceived by the ears, scented particles perceived by the nose, flavorful particles perceived by the tongue, and tangible particles perceived by the body. If two people are whispering, and the content is certainly secret and not meant for others to know, then one should not deliberately eavesdrop. To do so constitutes theft.

Scents are volatile substances. If they belong to others and are precious, one should not intentionally smell them, especially fragrances offered to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the Triple Gem; one should avoid smelling them. Scents offered to devas, ghosts, spirits, or non-humans should absolutely not be smelled, as they are equivalent to food and drink. Theft of flavorful particles from food and drink is difficult, but not absolutely impossible. For instance, tasting food before it is permitted, or when a patient is paralyzed and unable to eat independently, requiring feeding—they too need to enjoy the taste of their food. When feeding them, one should avoid tasting the food and should feed it to them in its original flavor.

Theft involving tangible particles is less common, but it still occurs. Stealing the warmth or coolness of utensils near others, or the warmth of their bodies, as well as physical contact without the other party's consent, constitutes theft. Touching soft, delicate items without the owner's permission, causing them to become disordered or damaged; touching and lying on bedding, mattresses, and other soft, comfortable items before the owner uses them—all constitute theft. If the owner does not mind, it is not theft; if they do mind, it constitutes theft.

What constitutes theft of dharma? Dharma includes dharma related to the five dusts (form, sound, scent, taste, touch), as well as exclusive mental realms unrelated to the five dusts. Dharma related to the five dusts refers to form dharmas included in the dharma-ayatana, belonging to dharmas similar to or associated with form, sound, scent, taste, and touch. For example, the form-dust refers to visible material aspects like shape, appearance, and non-appearance. A person's appearance, demeanor, temperament, etc., or a flower's posture, charm, etc.—if one enjoys or appreciates these without permission, it constitutes theft. The appearance and non-appearance of sounds are also part of the dharma-dust. If one listens to music without permission, enjoying the beauty and pleasantness of the sounds, it constitutes theft. The same applies to scent, taste, and touch.

Dharma-dust unrelated to the five dusts is non-form dharma. It cannot be known by the five sensory consciousnesses, nor perceived by the five-accompanying mental consciousness; only the solitary mental consciousness can perceive it. At this point, the dharma-dust is an exclusive mental realm, including exclusive mental realms in meditative states, in dreams, and in scattered states of consciousness that are neither meditative nor dream states. Can this content be stolen? Promoting another person's mental realm as one's own, promoting another's meditative or dream state as one's own, promoting and using another's views as one's own, or promoting and using another's strategies, tactics, policies, or guiding principles as one's own—this constitutes theft of dharma. If the other party agrees, instructs, permits, or does not mind, then it does not constitute theft of dharma.

Upon thorough observation, theft permeates every corner of the human world. Human hearts are selfish and self-serving, seeking only personal comfort and happiness, never considering others. Everywhere, there is theft, encroachment, and invasion. Since beginningless time, the greatest theft committed by sentient beings is stealing form, sound, scent, taste, touch, and dharma—stealing all treasures from the tathagatagarbha—without ever realizing it, feeling ashamed, or being grateful.

The Buddha’s initial teachings also involved wholesome dharmas, such as the Five Precepts and Ten Wholesome Deeds. Fulfilling the Five Precepts results in rebirth in the human realm; fulfilling the Ten Wholesome Deeds sufficiently leads to rebirth in the heavenly realms. This is the foundation for studying the Buddha Dharma. Based on this foundation, one progressively cultivates the Agama path of liberation, the Four Noble Truths of suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path. The Buddha Dharma is wholesome dharma, which includes worldly wholesome dharmas, but is not limited to them. It is not merely the wholesome dharmas of humans in Jambudvipa of the Saha world; most importantly, it is the supramundane wholesome dharma. Cultivating supramundane wholesome dharma is what eradicates ignorance, leads to great liberation, and enables the attainment of Buddhahood.