<P> The Buddha thus explains right speech in the Pali Canon, according to Ganeri, as never speaking something that is not beneficial; and, only speaking what is true and beneficial, "when the circumstances are right, whether they are welcome or not". </P> <P> Right action (samyak - karmānta / sammā - kammanta) is like right speech, expressed as abstentions but in terms of bodily action . In the Pali Canon, this path factor is stated as: </P> <P> And what is right action? Abstaining from killing, abstaining from stealing, abstaining from sexual misconduct . This is called right action . </P> <P> The prohibition on killing precept in Buddhist scriptures applies to all living beings, states Christopher Gowans, not just human beings . Bhikkhu Bodhi agrees, clarifying that the more accurate rendering of the Pali canon is a prohibition on "taking life of any sentient being", which includes human beings, animals, birds, insects but excludes plants because they are not considered sentient beings . Further, adds Bodhi, this precept refers to intentional killing, as well as any form of intentional harming or torturing any sentient being . This moral virtue in early Buddhist texts, both in context of harm or killing of animals and human beings, is similar to ahimsa precepts found in the texts particularly of Jainism as well as of Hinduism, and has been a subject of significant debate in various Buddhist traditions . </P>

Where is right understanding and right purpose found