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Stealing. A new way to look at it.

comicallyinsanecomicallyinsane Veteran
edited July 2005 in Buddhism Basics
I was thinking again. I know everyone hates when I do this. I was thinking of the subject of stealing. I figure that nothing is truly ours. And if nothing is truly ours then how can something be truly theirs? So if we take it how can we be stealing if it truly belongs to no one?


I don't neccesarily believe this. I am just thinking.

Comments

  • kinleekinlee Veteran
    edited July 2005
    comicallyinsane wrote:
    I was thinking again. I know everyone hates when I do this. I was thinking of the subject of stealing. I figure that nothing is truly ours. And if nothing is truly ours then how can something be truly theirs? So if we take it how can we be stealing if it truly belongs to no one?


    I don't neccesarily believe this. I am just thinking.

    Yes nothing is truly yours. At best, it is just temporary ownership of things. It is really about the your mind and heart. Greed in your mind and heart is an serious obstruction towards the realisation of true-self. When someone steal, it will cause agony and pain to the victim. This is indeed a cause and will have the corresponding karmic consequence (at a higher price) in the future (maybe in future lives) - That you will lose your property, which is happening everywhere now. :) Have do discovered that among your friends, some who frequently lose things and some frequently strike lotteries. And some have luck in gambling and some don't.

    Worldly wise, as we are not fully awakened or have a clouded mind, will always go thru the endless cycle of reincarnation which Karma will determine our lives and rules still apply for stealing. But once you are awakened, breaking through all boundaries, the concept of emptiness will not trigger sense of stealing anymore. :)

    cheers,
  • comicallyinsanecomicallyinsane Veteran
    edited July 2005
    But i have been under the imnpression that Karmha is not this mystic force and that it is actually led by our own guilt of things we have done wrong.
  • emmakemmak Veteran
    edited July 2005
    I have a friend who solemnly beleives that stealing is semi justified as the theif obviously needed the item more than she did. When I probed her about stealing to pay for drugs she said it was irrelevent. Their need for it was stronger than hers.
  • buddhafootbuddhafoot Veteran
    edited July 2005
    Think of how you would feel next payday if someone stole your paycheck.

    "Nothing" may truly be ours, but I think we have to be reasonable in all things.

    I believe there is a difference in a "philosophical" view of "we own nothing" and one of this experience of "reality" we partake of on a daily basis.

    If you have come under an agreement with someone that "if I do this, you will give me that" - it is ours. It's a transaction from one person to another. We have expended our energies, effort, mind, thought - and by doing this for this other person, they will give us that.

    If you take things to extreme - we should stop looking for enlightenment. "Enlightenment" is whatever it is. It's certainly not part of us "now" - and if it never comes to us - we shouldn't fret - it was never ours to begin with.

    Michael
  • comicallyinsanecomicallyinsane Veteran
    edited July 2005
    So do we own our honor?
  • buddhafootbuddhafoot Veteran
    edited July 2005
    Well, given all the choices of arguments one could make in Buddhism about what is "ours" and what is not - it could go both ways.

    But, for me and my Buddhism - yes, I own my honor and integrity.

    All my foibles? That's someone else's fault :)

    Michael
  • comicallyinsanecomicallyinsane Veteran
    edited July 2005
    What is a foible? LOL
  • buddhafootbuddhafoot Veteran
    edited July 2005
    Not that I have any, mind you. It's just what I've heard other people talking about.

    foi·ble Pronunciation Key (foibl)
    n.

    1. A minor weakness or failing of character.
    2. The weaker section of a sword blade, from the middle to the tip.

    Michael
  • comicallyinsanecomicallyinsane Veteran
    edited July 2005
    oh thanks
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