Ten Nonvirtues

The Ten Nonvirtues or Unwholesome Activities are actions of body, speech, and mind that are motivated by negative emotions and that cause harm to others and to oneself. Avoiding these ten nonvirtues is the practice of ethics (Skt. Śīla).

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According to the tradition, the Buddha described 10 actions of body, speech, and mind as non-virtuous or unwholesome. Teachings on these actions are found in multiple sources in both the Pali Canon and in Mahayana scriptures. These can be summarized as unwholesome or nonvirtuous actions of body, speech, and mind. A practitioner is advised to avoid these nonvirtuous activities and to cultivate their opposites.

Four Factors

In order for a negative action to be considered complete, four factors must be present. These are: 

  • an object of the action
  • the intention to commit this unwholesome act
  • the actual action itself
  • the action has to be completed. If one intends to commit an act but it is unsuccessful, although it is still negative, then one has not actually committed the nonvirtue.

Three Bodily or Physical Nonvirtues

  • Taking the life of a sentient being
  • Taking something of value which is not freely given or stealing
  • Sexual misconduct

Four Verbal Nonvirtues

  • Lying
  • Divisive speech intended to cause discord or back-biting
  • Harsh Speech or wounding another through angry words with the intention to hurt
  • Idle gossip or meaningless chatter

Three Mental Nonvirtues

  • Covetousness
  • Malice or ill will—i.e. wishing that others experience harm
  • Wrong view‍

In The Ten Bhūmis chapter of the important Mahayana work the Buddhāvataṃsaka, the bodhisattva Vajragarbha is blessed by the Bhagavat Śākyamuni. From the buddha’s own ūrṇā hair, a light ray called the light of bodhisattva power surrounded by many hundreds of thousands of light rays spontaneously shined forth. Through this miraculous occurrence, he was thus authorized to teach the assembled audience about the practice of bodhisattvas. He begins by expressing the conduct of bodhisattvas training on the Perfect Joy bodhisattva ground or bhūmi.

Bodhisattva Vajragarbha then explains that when a bodhisattva has trained properly and has learned what conduct to adopt and to abandon, the bodhisattva reaches the second stage, the bhūmi known as Stainless. At this point, the bodhisattva’s conduct is free of the ten nonvirtues. And here the text provides clear examples of unwholesome behavior. Bodhisattva Vajragarbha explains:

“O jinaputras, the bodhisattva who is on the Stainless bodhisattva bhūmi will naturally possess the path of ten good actions. What are these ten?

1. “He does not kill: He forsakes clubs, forsakes swords, forsakes revenge, feels shame, and is compassionate, and toward all living beings he has a loving mind and wishes to bring them benefit and happiness. He does not even have thoughts of harming beings, let alone of consciously causing physical harm to other beings, knowing that they are beings.

2. “He also does not take what is not given: He is content with his own possessions and does not desire the possessions of others. He perceives that things owned by others are the property of others and has a definite understanding of what is theft. He will not take even a blade of grass or a leaf that is not given, let alone that which sustains life.

3. “He also does not practice sexual misconduct: He is content with his own wife and does not desire the wife of another. He does not even have desire toward women who belong to others, toward the wives of others, or toward those prohibited because of family, signs, or Dharma, let alone have sexual intercourse with them.

4. “He also does not lie: He speaks the truth, says what has occurred, speaks at the right time, speaks the right amount, and does what he says he will do. He does not even tell a lie in his dreams, let alone tell a lie deliberately.

5. “He also does not slander: He does not cause division and vexation between people and he does not repeat to one person what he has heard from another, nor does he then repeat what that person tells him back to the other. He does not drive apart those who are in harmony. He does not increase conflict. He does not enjoy disharmony and does not delight in disharmony. He does not speak words that will create disharmony whether they are true or not.

6. “He also does not speak harsh words: His speech is not disturbing, abusive, rough, hurtful, wounding, criticizing, accusing, low, vile, worthless, unpleasant, filled with anger or rage, a cause for heartache, disagreeable, or destructive to his own mind and the minds of others. He speaks words that are gentle, agreeable, pleasant, delightful, favorable, charming, respectable, valuable, clear, comprehensible, worth hearing, dependable, pleasing to many, agreeable to many people, and praised by the wise, and words that bring benefit and happiness to all beings, make the mind happy, bring the mind satisfaction, calm his own and others’ minds, and eliminate desire, anger, ignorance, and all kleśas.

7. “He has also forsaken idle talk: He gives answers well, speaks at the appropriate time, speaks truthfully, speaks meaningfully, speaks of the Dharma, speaks logically, speaks with control, speaks with cause, and pays attention to the time. He even avoids telling stories that should not be told, let alone distracting speech.

8. “He is also not covetous: He does not covet the wealth of others, the pleasures of others, the utensils of others, or the property of others. He does not wish for, hope for, or desire them, thinking, ‘May what is theirs be mine.’ 

9. “He also has no malice: Toward all beings his mind has love, altruism, kindness, happiness, gentleness, the wish to benefit the entire world, and the wish to compassionately benefit all beings. He is without anger, enmity, the stain of hardheartedness, malevolence, rage, and so on. His contemplations are contemplations and examinations that are beneficial, loving, and bring benefit and happiness to beings.

10. “He has the true view: He follows the correct path, which is marvelous, fortunate, and free of bad views. He has correct views, is without deception, is without duplicity, and has certainty in the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha.

Excerpt from The Ten Bhūmis chapter from the Mahāvaipulya Sūtra (A Multitude of Buddhas).

The Results of Engaging in Nonvirtue

This detailed explanation emphasizes the ten virtues that are adopted by a bodhisattva who has already renounced habitual mundane activities. The sutra then goes on to explain the result of not observing this ethical conduct. Here, Vajragarbha informs his audience of the results of engaging in the ten nonvirtues. Repeatedly, he reminds his listeners, that beings who act unskillfully will be reborn in the land of the dead ruled over by Yama, the Lord of Death. Beings who take birth there are described as hungry spirits or pretas.

“He teaches in this way: ‘Following, furthering, and practicing a great deal of these paths of the ten bad actions is the cause for beings to be reborn in the hells. Following, furthering, and practicing a medium amount of these paths is the cause for rebirth as an animal. Doing the least amount is the cause for rebirth in Yama’s realm.

“‘Through killing, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: a short life and many illnesses.

“‘Through taking what has not been given, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: little wealth and its being used by others.

“‘Through sexual misconduct, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: a quarrelsome wife and troublesome servants.

“‘Through lying, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: much denigration and being deceived by others.

“‘Through slandering, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: conflict among servants and bad servants.

“‘Through harsh speech, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: hearing unpleasant words and quarrelsome words.

“‘Through idle speech, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: ignoble words and lack of eloquence.

“‘Through avarice, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: dissatisfaction and great desire.

“‘Through malice, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: seeking opportunities to harm and being tormented by others.

“‘Through wrong views, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: falling into bad views and being deceptive.

“‘Therefore as these paths of the bad actions gather an immeasurable great mass of suffering, I shall reject these paths of the ten bad actions and remain happy in enjoying the delights of the pleasure of the Dharma. I shall reject these paths of the ten bad actions, and I shall remain on the paths of the ten good actions and bring others onto them.

Excerpt from The Ten Bhūmis chapter from the Mahāvaipulya Sūtra (A Multitude of Buddhas).

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