When you thought, “I got it," and you thought it belonged to you, that is base thought. The goal was that you got the item, and thinking that it belongs to you completes the action of stealing. If you did not think that, then the karma is not completed.

It would be very kind to remind the company that you are a Buddhist and you are practicing holy Dharma, which means to not harm sentient beings and only to benefit them. You can remind them of that. Probably they forgot [to charge you for shipping] and this can become a teaching for them. It shows them how to be a good human being and introduces Buddhism to them. In reality, this is the best response.

The student later contacted the company and sent the money, but they didn’t thank her. Rinpoche replied:

That is so good for your ego, the self-cherishing thought and the ignorance which holds the I as real, as existing from its own side, which lets you suffer in the oceans of samsaric suffering in the six realms numberless times. Again your self-cherishing thought is letting you suffer in the six realms numberless times without end.

If we do not practice holy Dharma, with bodhicitta and wisdom seeing right view, [we will suffer] in this life. And not only that; that is nothing. How harmful [the self-cherishing] is, because it causes us to harm numberless sentient beings. We are made to suffer from beginningless rebirths, and again we cause suffering to the sentient beings numberless times.

How harmful it is, causing the heaviest suffering for countless eons for us, but that is nothing compared to the suffering of even ten or five sentient beings in samsara. And our own suffering is nothing compared to that of numberless sentient beings, whose suffering in samsara is unimaginable. We always follow those wrong concepts, the self-cherishing thought and the ignorance holding the I.

What is really needed, the best thing, is to think how kind they are, even though they did not thank you. They are so kind that even if you gave them skies of wish-granting jewels, it is not enough to repay them. This is the most important teaching and meditation—lojong, thought transformation. It can help so many people transform suffering into happiness and enlightenment.

Even skies of wish-granting jewels alone do not stop rebirth in the lower realms, but lojong, transforming our thoughts, causes full enlightenment and helps numberless sentient beings.