The Thief

‘The 12th century master Geshe Ben was renowned for his goodness and integrity.

Once, while begging for alms, a family of devout Buddhists invited him to their home to be fed. He was so hungry that he found it difficult to wait while his hosts were elsewhere preparing the meal.

To his complete shock he found himself stealing food from a jar when no-one was looking.

Geshe Ben suddenly burst into loud cries of “Thief! Thief! I've caught you red-handed.”

His hosts rushed into the room to find him berating himself and threatening his hand with being cut off it ever behaved like that again.'

Tibetan teaching story