Ten Non-Virtues and Ten Virtues

Virtuous actions (positive deeds coming from wholesome intentions) sow seeds of future happiness. On the other hand, non-virtuous actions (negative deeds arising from unwholesome motivations) sow seeds of future suffering. These karmic seeds can remain dormant in our mind until the conditions for them to ripen occur – and then they produce their effect.

The ten non-virtuous actions, and their opposites, are presented in the tables offered below. They consist of three actions of the body, four of speech, and three of the mind.

The ten non-virtues are:

Bodily actions: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct

Verbal actions: lying, slander (divisive speech), harsh speech (hurtful words), and gossip (idle chatter)

Mental actions: covetousness (greed), harmful intent (hatred), and holding wrong views (ignorance)

• For a one-page table showing the five precepts and the ten good deeds, click The Five Precepts and the Ten Good Deeds.
• Click on the title of a PDF file named Ten Non-Virtuous Actions.
• Click on the title of a PDF file named Ten Non-Virtues and Ten Virtues.
• Click on the title of an MS Word file named Ten Non-Virtuous Actions.
• Click on the title of an MS Word file named Ten Non-Virtues and Ten Virtues.
• Click on the title of an MS Word file named Ten Non-Virtuous and Ten Virtuous Actions.