Dhammapada 1
Experience is led by mind, with mind foremost, made by mind
Experience is led by mind, with mind foremost, made by mind. If you speak or act with a corrupted mind, suffering follows you as a wheel follows the foot of the animal pulling it.
Translated from the Pāli by Banya
Pāli
Manopubbaṅgamā dhammā,
manoseṭṭhā manomayā;
Manasā ce paduṭṭhena,
bhāsati vā karoti vā;
Tato naṁ dukkhamanveti,
cakkaṁva vahato padaṁ.
In plain words
The mind shapes how you experience things and how you speak and act. This verse connects actions driven by a corrupted mind with suffering, using a wheel that follows a pulling animal as its image.
Key words
- dhammā
- experience, mental states or phenomena — The scope is ambiguous; it need not mean that thought creates everything.
The story behind the verse
The story of the elder Cakkhupāla (Cakkhupālattheravatthu)
In the commentary, Cakkhupāla is a blind monk who accidentally steps on insects while walking. Other monks report their deaths to the Buddha. The Buddha says Cakkhupāla had no intention to kill them. The story also relates his blindness to deliberately blinding a patient in a former life.
Retold by Banya from the traditional commentary, after E. W. Burlingame, Buddhist Legends (1921).
To reflect on
What intention is shaping one action today?
Try it today
Before sending one message, name the intention behind it.
Explanation by Banya. Traditional readings vary.