Revd Chris McDermott, Lead Chaplain for the University of Sussex
Last month I began what will constitute a series of reflections on the Buddhist precepts. As noted earlier, the precepts can be understood in larger terms beyond a Buddhist context or any other confessional view. They are descriptions of what we are like as human beings at our best. The first precept, treated last month, is fundamental: affirm life. All other precepts flow out of that foundation.
The second precept, expressed in positive terms, can be stated as: honour what belongs to someone else. (aka ‘do not steal’.) As with other precepts, the admonition to refrain from stealing goes far beyond pedantic interpretations and has less to do with nicking the occasional office supplies from one’s workplace and more to do with deeply respecting what belongs and is owed to one another. When we get stuck at the level of the pedantic, we lose the sense of what is deeply important.
I recall a news item from the late 80s or early 90s about an elderly priest in the Diocese of London who had publicly averred in a church in which he served as a retired clergyman, that a hungry person stealing food from a corporate entity like Asda was less an act of stealing (in the sense of the command, ‘you shall not steal’) and is more truly seen in the context of a redistribution of resources. His point about social justice was lost in the press furore and outcry of certain politicians that followed. It was deemed an egregious and immoral attack on property rights and the Church of England – ever the establishment – deprived the priest of his permission to officiate at Mass and preach. The institutions of Church, state and media had gotten bogged down in the pedantic. When that happens to us at an individual level, we lose the capacity for creativity and nuanced thinking.
Honouring what belongs to another – a colleague, a friend, a person we casually pass on the street – goes well beyond not stealing things from them. Much of what belongs to us cannot be ‘thingified’ in terms of objects on which we have some legal or rightful claim. We can equally rob each other of our time, dignity and respect.
Honouring what belongs to someone else – whatever implications it might have for pilfering what belongs to another – also entails recognition of one another’s humanity. There are occasions when someone near us needs a bit of our time and attention. When we are able to offer it, and not under undue pressure ourselves, and don’t do so, are we ‘stealing’ something important from them? When I deliberately belittle someone, am I robbing them of dignity and respect owed them as another human being? You get the drift. There may be times when we are so stressed ourselves that we might not be in an optimal place to offer someone else what they may need in the moment – but perhaps they may be able to offer the acknowledgement that we need.
Of course, all of that can sound pollyannish and at the best of times we may lack the attentiveness, inner freedom and energy to offer to everyone in our circle what is their due – attentive listening, support, encouragement, or whatever the moment may call for. That is often the way it is. But, to re-iterate, what is described in this and other precepts is what we are at our best. We owe it to one another to acknowledge that we are not always at our best and that we fall short.
Like other precepts in this series, this one includes an aspirational aspect: what hopefully we intend in regard to our relationships with the human beings around us.
But at least it is clear. The precept against stealing what belongs to another means a lot more than filching paperclips from the office supply.