Transforming adversity · Verse 12 of 37
Verse 12: When robbed: dedicate everything
Verse 12 of The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas, the fourteenth-century Tibetan poem by Gyalse Tokme Zangpo (1295–1369). It belongs to the section on transforming adversity.
Even if someone, driven by great desire, steals all your wealth or lets others steal it, dedicate to them your body, possessions, and all virtues of the three times. This is the way of a bodhisattva.
Even if others, in the grips of great desire, should steal,
Or encourage others to take away, all the wealth that I possess,
To dedicate to them entirely my body, possessions and all my merits
From the past, present and future— this is the practice of all the bodhisattvas.
Even if someone, driven by desperate want,
Steals, or makes someone else steal, everything you own,
Dedicate to him your body, your wealth, and
All the good you've ever done or will do — this is the practice of a bodhisattva.
A facilitator's reading across the commentaries
The karmic-creditor logic (GR, KTGR, KS) and the already-given logic (AB) are two different engines for the same non-retaliation; HHDL's story shows the verse lived rather than argued. Group question: which engine actually works on you when something is taken?
GR Garchen Rinpoche · HHDL H.H. the Dalai Lama · AB Dr. Alexander Berzin · KTGR Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche · KS Khenpo Sodargye · TC Ven. Thubten Chodron · KM Ken McLeod
What the teachers say
Garchen Rinpoche Drikung Kagyu
Thieves are likely karmic creditors — "they may be our past life debtors coming to collect what are truly owed to them." Dedicate merit to them, wish them enlightenment; applied to modern life: forgive uncollectible loans. Anger after loss doubles the damage — even if Amitabha came for you, an angry mind couldn't go. Meeting a thief is reframed as good fortune: debts cleared, generosity practiced.
Full commentary: 37practices.info (37practices.info serves this as one long page; find the verse by number.)
H.H. the Dalai Lama Gelug
Tells the story of the text's own author: robbed near Sakya, Togme Zangpo called "Wait!" — he hadn't had time to dedicate the spoils to them properly — and made a slow, complete dedication. The thieves returned everything and became his disciples. The only verse he illustrates with a biography of the author.
Full commentary: 37practices.info (37practices.info serves this as one long page; find the verse by number.)
Dr. Alexander Berzin Gelug
A bodhisattva has already mentally offered everything to all beings — "if they were to steal something from us, it's fine as mentally we've already offered it to them." Personal story: children stripped his Dharamsala flower garden; his flash of anger showed him he begrudged others enjoyment while claiming to wish everyone happiness.
Full commentary: studybuddhism.com
Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche Karma Kagyu
Two reflections make it possible: the thief was your parent in past lives, and dedication with bodhicitta transforms theft into merit for both parties. Milarepa's aunt and uncle stole everything — and that hardship propelled him into Dharma. Candid about difficulty: you cannot practice Dharma while angry; "compassion enables us to be patient so that we can actually dedicate everything."
Full commentary: dharmaebooks.org (Free ebook, trans. Suzanne Schefczyk.)
Khenpo Sodargye Nyingma, Larung Gar
Three reasonings — karmic (loss is the ripening of having deprived others; no one to be angry at but ourselves), compassionate (the thief was our parent; compassion for a harmer purifies obscurations), and the drawbacks of wealth (possessions fetter us between fear and craving; "we should not risk our lives and our virtuous roots for something so insignificant"). Story: the Buddha regarded Devadatta "the same as his only child Rahula" — persecution perfected his generosity and patience.
Full commentary: khenposodargye.org (Free ebook PDF.)
Ven. Thubten Chodron Sravasti Abbey, Gelug
Winter Retreat vv10–15 talk.
Full commentary: thubtenchodron.org
Ken McLeod Shambhala / independent
Tricycle v12 reply: "Rather than focus on the suffering they will experience in the future, perhaps consider the suffering they are experiencing now that leads them to inflict pain on others." Talk 5 applies tonglen to theft.
Full commentary: unfetteredmind.org (Tricycle's per-verse written commentary is behind a subscriber paywall.)
Further reading: Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, The Heart of Compassion (Shambhala). A purchased book — no text is reproduced here.