What kind of sūtra is it?
The sūtra opens with the familiar «Thus have I heard»: the Buddha is in the palace of Sāgara, the dragon king, with eight thousand great monks and thirty-two thousand great bodhisattvas. Throughout, only the World-Honoured One speaks, addressing the dragon king, who asks nothing; at the end he and the assembly of devas, humans and asuras rejoice and accept the teaching.
This page introduces the sūtra itself. For the concept of the ten wholesome actions in general — how they divide into body, speech and mind, how they differ from the five precepts, and what the Pāli discourses teach — read «What are the ten wholesome actions?» among the related pages.
Structure: from mind-made karma to the ten wholesome ways
It opens with a short teaching on mind and karma: the countless forms in the assembly and in the ocean all come from the mind making karma of body, speech and mind, wholesome or unwholesome; yet the mind has no form, is illusory, without master or self, so all dharmas are by nature like an illusion. The Buddha tells the dragon king to look at the body of the Tathāgata and of the bodhisattvas, all born of the merit of wholesome karma, and to hold to right view without falling into annihilationism or eternalism.
Next the sūtra names one practice that ends suffering in all the lower realms: to recall and contemplate wholesome qualities day and night, letting not the least unwholesome karma mix in. Those wholesome qualities are the ten wholesome ways of action, the foundation on which the states of devas and humans and the awakening of disciples, solitary buddhas and Buddhas are accomplished. The main part goes through the ten one by one, then the ten joined with giving, then the ten adorned with other practices, and closes with a simile.
What the sūtra says about each of the ten
For each, the sūtra lists the qualities gained by one who abstains from that wrong. Abstaining from killing brings ten qualities free from affliction, such as giving beings freedom from fear and always arousing great loving-kindness. Abstaining from stealing brings ten qualities of trustworthiness, such as being loved by many and a constant wish to give. Abstaining from sexual misconduct brings four qualities praised by the wise, such as balanced faculties. Abstaining from lying brings eight qualities praised by the devas, such as being trusted by others.
Abstaining from divisive speech brings five things that cannot be destroyed, from one's body and family to one's good friends. Abstaining from harsh speech brings eight pure ways of speaking, such as measured words. Abstaining from idle talk brings three qualities, such as being cherished by the wise. Abstaining from covetousness brings five freedoms. Abstaining from anger brings eight joys of the mind, such as gentleness, uprightness and always bringing happiness to beings. Abstaining from wrong view brings ten virtues, such as deep faith in cause and effect and freedom from the net of doubt about fortune and omens.
Each passage ends in the same way: if that wholesome action is dedicated to unsurpassed awakening, on becoming a Buddha one gains a corresponding quality; abstaining from lying, for example, leads to the truthful speech of the Tathāgata. The sūtra also speaks of good results in this life and later ones; this page summarises only the qualities of mind and conduct.
The ten as the ground of all practice
The later part widens the view: when a bodhisattva relies on the ten and practises giving, each wholesome action brings its own quality; abstaining from divisive speech, for example, brings a family in harmony. Then the ten are adorned with discipline, patience, diligence, meditation and wisdom, with the four minds of loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity, the four means of gathering people, the thirty-seven aids to awakening, and with calm, insight and skilful means. The sūtra says the ten have the power to bring to fulfilment the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the eighteen unshared qualities and all the qualities of a Buddha.
The sūtra ends with a simile that is easy to remember: towns and villages stand on the earth, and plants and forests grow from it; the ten wholesome ways are that earth, the support of devas and humans, of disciples and solitary buddhas, of the bodhisattvas' practice and vows, and of all the Buddha's teachings.
Reading and chanting it
The sūtra is short and clear, and familiar to many Vietnamese Buddhists from their chanting services. Open the page and press «Tụng» (Chant) to let the text scroll to a wooden-fish beat. The library holds the Vietnamese translation and gives the sūtra's Chinese title; there is no Chinese text, Sino-Vietnamese transliteration, PDF or recording yet.
