Can anyone tell me if this is a genuine quote? It’s different from the opening words of the Dhammapada?
No it’s not a genuine quote, but a composite:
“I tell you that there is no making an end of suffering & stress without reaching the end of the cosmos. Yet it is just within this fathom-long body, with its perception & intellect, that I declare that there is the cosmos, the origination of the cosmos, the cessation of the cosmos, and the path of practice leading to the cessation of the cosmos.”—Anguttara Nikaya, 4.45
I think it’s based on this (SuttaCentral), which is the opening of the Pali Dhammapada:
Mind precedes thoughts, mind is their chief, their quality is made by mind,
if with a base mind one speaks or acts,
through that suffering follows him like a wheel follows the ox’s foot.
Mind precedes thoughts, mind is their chief, their quality is made by mind,
if with pure mind one speaks or acts,
through that happiness follows him like a shadow which does not depart.
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for more fake (and fakeish…) Buddha quotes see https://fakebuddhaquotes.com/
for the Real Thing… https://suttacentral.net/
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Here are a few translations of the first two verses of the Dhammapada in order of translation date:
All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or act with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.
All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or act with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
Max Müller, 1870
Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox.
Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts happiness follows him like his never-departing shadow.
Ācāriya Buddharakkhita translation, 1985
Phenomena are preceded by the heart, ruled by the heart, made of the heart. If you speak or act with a corrupted heart, then suffering follows you — as the wheel of the cart, the track of the ox that pulls it.
Phenomena are preceded by the heart, ruled by the heart, made of the heart. If you speak or act with a calm, bright heart, then happiness follows you, like a shadow that never leaves.
Thanissaro Bhikkhu translation, 1997
All experience is preceded by mind, led by mind, made by mind. Speak or act with a corrupted mind and suffering follows as the wagon wheel that follows the hoof of the ox.
All experience is preceded by mind, led by mind, made by mind. Speak or act with a peaceful mind and happiness follows like a never-departing shadow.
Gil Fronsdal translation, 2005
Mind precedes created things; mind is their chief, from mind they spring. With tainted mind who speaks or acts, pain trails that man like the wheel trails ox-tracks.
Mind precedes created things; mind is their chief, from mind they spring. Who speaks or acts with purified mind, joy trails that man, like his shadow, behind.
Bhikkhu Varado and Samanera Bodhesako translation, 2008
Mind precedes thoughts, mind is their chief, their quality is made by mind, if with a base mind one speaks or acts, through that suffering follows him like a wheel follows the ox’s foot.
Mind precedes thoughts, mind is their chief, their quality is made by mind, if with pure mind one speaks or acts, through that happiness follows him like a shadow which does not depart.
Ānandajoti Bhikkhu translation, 2017
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To address the OP, here are the versions of the first line taken from the above translations:
All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts.
Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought.
Phenomena are preceded by the heart, ruled by the heart, made of the heart.
All experience is preceded by mind, led by mind, made by mind.
Mind precedes created things; mind is their chief, from mind they spring.
Mind precedes thoughts, mind is their chief, their quality is made by mind,
EDIT: added this:
What is the verse describing (in its parts)?
All that we are
Mind
Phenomena
All experience
What we have thought
Precedes all mental states
Preceded by the heart
Preceded by mind
Precedes created things
Precedes thoughts
Founded on our thoughts
Mind is their chief
Ruled by the heart
Led by mind
Made up of our thoughts
Mind-wrought
Made of the heart
Made by mind
From mind they spring
Their quality is made by mind
The OP:
Mind precedes all things
The mind dominates all things
The mind creates all things
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