The ten courses of action

The ten courses of action (Sanskrit daśakuśalakarmapatha; Pali dasakusalakammapatha) are an everyday moral checklist that sorts conduct into ten kinds of behavior. Each appears in two forms: a harmful version to abandon and a wholesome version to cultivate. They rest on "karma" (Sanskrit; Pali kamma) — the broadly pan-Indian idea, shared in different forms with Hinduism and Jainism, that intentional acts carry moral consequences. Buddhism's particular emphasis is that what makes an act good or bad is above all the intention (cetanā) behind it, not its ritual correctness.

Three of the ten concern the body: not killing living beings; not stealing or taking what isn't given; and not engaging in sexual misconduct (harmful, exploitative, or betraying sexual behavior). Four concern speech, which the tradition takes very seriously: not lying; not speaking divisively (words that split people apart); not speaking harshly (cruel or abusive language); and not engaging in idle chatter (pointless, distracting talk). The final three concern the mind itself: not being covetous (greedily craving what belongs to others); not harboring ill will (wishing harm on others); and not holding wrong view — here, specifically a confused outlook that denies the moral law of cause and effect, for instance claiming that actions have no consequences and that generosity or harm make no difference.

What makes this list distinctive is that it reaches inward. Many ethical codes judge only outward deeds, but here covetousness and ill will are counted as faults even if you never act on them, because in Buddhism the mind is where action truly begins. Living by the wholesome ten is held to incline a person toward peace, fortunate rebirths, and ultimately liberation; living by their opposites entangles a person more deeply in suffering. It is offered less as a set of commandments handed down from above than as a practical map of which habits free the heart and which ones bind it.