Caveat: 31) 남의 것을 훔치는 생각과 행동을 참회하며 절합니다

“I bow in repentance of any thought or action of stealing another’s things.”

This is #31 out of a series of 108 daily Buddhist affirmations that I am attempting to translate with my hands tied behind my back (well not really that, but I’m deliberately not seeking out translations on the internet, using only dictionary and grammar).


29. 비겁한 생각과 말과 행동을 참회하며 절합니다.
        “I bow in repentance of cowardly thoughts, words and actions.”
30. 거짓말과 갖가지 위선을 참회하며 절합니다.
        “I bow in repentance of all kinds of hypocrisy and lies.”
31. 남의 것을 훔치는 생각과 행동을 참회하며 절합니다.

I would read this thirty-first affirmation as: “I bow in repentance of any thought or action of stealing another’s things.”

Stealing. I once stole a book. From a library. Should I confess this, online, in front of the world?

It wasn’t an act of avarice – I don’t have much problem with avarice.  It was an act of pique – I was angry at the library because they had charged me a fine for stealing (or “losing”) a book that I had most definitely returned. It was an act of revenge, I suppose. So I’ll bow in repentance of thoughts and actions of vengeance and pique.

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