In Ashtanga yoga, another of the yamas (restraints) is asteya, which means non-stealing. This is not a hard precept for me to follow, yet recently I've been thinking about additional responsibilities that might sprout from this tenet. Several times, I have seen one of the children who lives across the street from me, a boy of about seven or eight years old, head to the corner store. Moments later, I've seen the same boy tearing down the street, speeding back to his house and looking back over his shoulder. With the tell-tale shirt end-as-shopping bag, I have little doubt of his activities.
I've been wondering, what is my responsibility here? Do I tell the store owner to keep an eye out for young thieves? Do I approach the boy's mother? Do I approach the boy himself, possibly asking what his church, which I see his spruced-up family leaving to attend some Sundays, teaches about stealing? My conscience tells me that I should do something, even if what I do has no long-term impact. For if I do nothing then I, too, am in effect guilty.
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