The act of stealing, that is, taking somebody else's possessions and calling them your own whether by force, by deception or simply by borrowing the item and not giving it back will always have a negative impact on your own psyche and karma whether you realize it or not. More so the act of theft will in the long run cause you more suffering whether it is through guilt or by being caught.

Whilst the simple act of taking a small object that is insignificant or is too small to be missed may not seem to be a big think, this small act starts the cultivation in your mind that stealing is ok. As time goes by, that one small act will then get bigger and bigger until you actions of theft get so big that you land in hot water with the law or it costs you your life.

The demand from marketing and advertising houses for us to have the biggest and the best of everything is fuelling the fire for some people to do these acts. Each and every one of us must train our minds that these acts of thefts are not to occur and more so to train our minds that we do not need material wealth to fulfill our inner most desires.

The real challenge we face is that many large corporation bosses and business people do not set the right examples on the way we should behave when it comes to material wealth. Just look at the HIH and Enron executives now serving jail time for acting inappropriately and quite bluntly stealing from their investors to make a few more dollars. In the end, their greed and desire for material wealth out stripped their obligation to do the right thing for their fellow man.

If we act honestly and truthfully in our day-to-day lives then we really do have a chance at influencing our friends, family and colleagues to be better people and not be succumbed to the desires and trappings of material wealth.

If you find that you are guilty of stealing even the smallest of objects try this meditation.

The Meditation -

During the first stage of your meditation reflect on the fact that material wealth is no source of genuine happiness. Focus on the fact that theft causes harm to others as well as our own minds and karma. Reflect on the fact that material wealth will be of no use to us when we pass from this world and that it will be the things we have done that are most important.

In the second stage of your meditation, reflect on a moment in time when you have taken the opportunity to steal an object of value. In your mind reflect on your motivations, were they greed, were they jealousy that they had what you wanted or were it simply desire.

Now in the third stage of your meditation, think of a time when someone has stolen a valuable item of your own. In this reflection, feel the pain and suffering it has caused you. Now that you know that pain and can feel that pain sense how the other person has felt when you stole from then.

In the final stage of this meditation, it is now time for you to resolve that you will avoid the urge to take from other. Teach yourself in this meditation that should you feel the desire to steal again that your mind reminds you of the suffering you felt when somebody stole from you. To help in resolving your pain from the theft you have done in the past, in your mind practice generosity of giving to others who are not as fortunate as you.

Continue to practice this meditation for 20 minutes a day until you have resolved to end the act of theft of material goods from others.