心爲法本 心尊心使 中心念惡 即言即行 罪苦自追 車轢於轍 心爲法本 心尊心使 中心念善 即言即行 福樂自追 如影隨形
xīn wéi fǎ běn xīn zūn xīn shǐ zhōng xīn niàn è jí yán jí xíng zuì kǔ zì zhuī chē lì yú zhé xīn wéi fǎ běn xīn zūn xīn shǐ zhōng xīn niàn shàn jí yán jí xíng fú lè zì zhuī rú yǐng suí xíng
Key Message
Mind is the source of all things: a pure mind brings happiness as inevitably as a shadow follows a form, while an evil mind brings suffering as the wheel follows the rut.
▸The Yamakavagga (Chapter of Pairs) opens the Dhammapada by pairing contrasting verses on good and evil, suffering and happiness, declaring that all phenomena arise from the mind.
The Yamakavagga (Chapter of Pairs) opens the Dhammapada by pairing contrasting verses on good and evil, suffering and happiness, declaring that all phenomena arise from the mind. 'Xīn wéi fǎ běn' — 'Mind is the forerunner of all actions' — is the foundational proposition of Buddhist psychology: every reality we experience is a construction of the mind. When one speaks and acts with an evil mind, suffering follows as surely as the wheel follows the hoof of an ox. When one speaks and acts with a pure mind, happiness follows like a shadow that never departs. These two verses are set as mirror images of each other, illustrating the law of cause and effect (karma) with crystalline clarity.