The mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief. They are all mind-wrought.
Even if all sacred Buddhist texts were to perish, and all monasteries turn to ashes, and all the Buddha's teachings be forgotten, and all Buddhists wiped out in an apocalyptic cataclysm from the face of the Earth, and the very memory of the Buddha himself lost in the mist of time, and all that were to remain would be only these two verses, the first two of the Dhammapada, it would suffice for the entire faith to be rebuild from scratch, as a gigantic Sequoia tree rising from just one small seed.
We often think, albeit mistakenly, that it is irresistible outside forces that are actually responsible for us feeling, behaving, or reacting one way or the other, when -in fact- the sheer falsity and shaky logical foundation of this fundamentally-flawed view are sometimes so easily dispelled merely by taking a simple look at reality itself: how many times haven't we seen one heart offering someone forgiveness for a certain fault, while another heart was turning with bitterness towards someone else for making the very same mistake? Some people bite even the hand that feeds them, repaying kindness with ingratitude, while others are thankful even to their worst enemies for turning them into the persons that they have now become, by overcoming all the hurdles and obstacles that have been set in their path over the course of time by the hatred and enmity of their foes. Some men being enslaved by the beauty of a woman, while others remain indifferent to her charms. Some leaders honorably resigning at the slightest sight of error, others still desperately holding on to their chairs even after committing dozens of catastrophic and unpardonable mistakes. Some seeing in failure a reason to get up and keep fighting (or at least viewing it as an indispensable and invaluable part of the learning process), while others are completely crushed at the first sign of defeat, crying out in surrender, and giving up all hope once and for all.
