Sangha Property Is the Most Complex Among the Three Jewels' Properties: Understand the Differences to Avoid Breaking the Precept Against Stealing

▲ The Commentary on the Precepts (Jie Shu) states: "Within Sangha property, there are four distinct categories.

1. Permanent Monastic Property (Changzhu Changzhu Wu): Such as halls and buildings, fields and gardens, servants and livestock, as well as rice and flour. Their ownership is fixed to a specific location and cannot be divided. If one wishes to gift them to another monastery, it must be formally approved through a Sangha karma procedure (jiemo). To give them away directly constitutes theft and depletion of the property."

"Halls and buildings" (tangyu) refers to the various halls within a Buddhist monastery. Of course, the main Buddha halls are not included here, as they belong to the property of the Buddha.

All structures in the monastery fall under this, including the various halls, monastic quarters, dining halls, and other buildings. "Fields and gardens" refers to the fields traditionally owned by a monastery; in some, the monastics farm them themselves, while more strictly observant monasteries hire "pure attendants" (jingren, lay practitioners) to do the farming. "Servants" (ren) does not refer to the monastics, but to the people working for the monastery. In ancient times, there were servants, and some might donate servants to the monastery for the monastics to use and assist them with chores—this is what "servants" refers to.

"Livestock" (chu) refers to cattle, horses, and other beasts of burden that belong to the Sangha and help with physical labor.

"Rice and flour" refers to food supplies stored in the monastery's pantry. All of these constitute permanent monastic property. Who is allowed to use them? The "permanent residents" (changzhu)—the people residing in this specific monastery may use them, hence the term "Permanent Monastic Property" (Changzhu Changzhu Wu).

The second part: "Their ownership is fixed to a specific location and cannot be divided." This means they already have a clear, designated ownership and cannot be partitioned or reallocated.

"Gifting them to another monastery": If we want to give items to another monastery—for example, if our pantry has too much flour and we want to give it away—we must "formally transfer them through a karma procedure" (jiemo he yu). This requires making a public announcement to the monastics. When the assembly gathers, it is announced: "Our pantry has too much rice and flour, and we want to give some to XYZ Monastery. You may go and inspect it. If anyone has an objection, please raise it; if there are no objections, we will send it to XYZ Monastery." This type of public announcement karma is used for relatively simple matters.

If it involves money or other more complex items, a different, more formal karma procedure must be conducted. This falls strictly under the purview of the ordained Sangha.

Therefore, although Sangha property is the most complex category among the properties of the Three Jewels, fortunately, it does not have much direct bearing on lay practitioners. Thus, it is enough for everyone to have a general understanding without needing to know all the intricate details.

You just need to know that monastic property—that is, anything belonging to the monastery, including tables, chairs, rice, and flour—should never be casually given away.

For instance, if you are volunteering in the monastery kitchen (da liao) and there is an excess of food like rice or flour in the pantry that you want to send to another temple, this can only be done after the ordained Sangha has performed the karma procedure. If a volunteer simply gives it away to another temple directly, they break the precept against stealing. Moreover, the offense of stealing Sangha property carries exceptionally severe karmic consequences.

Even if you are volunteering out of good intentions and have no desire to keep the items for yourself, you could still commit a grave offense. Therefore, you must be extremely careful. If you ever have the opportunity to work in a monastery kitchen, it is best to ask the monastics there first. Do not casually give things away to other lay practitioners or devotees; otherwise, you break the precept against stealing.

Even the monastics serving as the Head Cook (dianzuo) or Storekeeper (kutou) cannot casually give pantry items away to lay practitioners.

Consequently, if a monastic takes something from the monastery pantry and gives it to you, you should decline it if at all possible. If you cannot decline it, when receiving the item, you should generate this thought in your mind: "I am buying this from the monastery," and subsequently make a donation to compensate them. Otherwise, both of you will have committed theft—and since it involves the theft of Sangha property, the offense is exceedingly severe.

In the past, a lay practitioner noticed that the bowls and chopsticks at a monastery were too old. Without informing the monastery, they threw them out and bought new ones as replacements. It is best not to do this. If something needs to be discarded or disposed of, you must inform the managing monastics of the monastery. You cannot just arbitrarily handle it yourself, because disposing of certain items requires the Sangha to perform a karma procedure. If it is a monastery that strictly studies the precepts, they will know how to handle it themselves.

Therefore, as for "giving them away directly" (zhi song zhe): giving things away directly—whether to another monastery, a charitable organization, a lay patron, or even taking them home yourself—is all considered stealing and depleting monastic property. You must be very mindful of this.