Dhammapada Verses on the Mind

“Intention is the leader of things; intention is first, they’re made by intention. If with corrupt intent you speak or act, suffering follows you, like a wheel, the ox’s foot.”

“Intention is the leader of things; intention is first, they’re made by intention. If with pure intent you speak or act, happiness follows you like a shadow that never leaves.”

“Thinking the inessential is essential, seeing the essential as inessential; they don’t realize the essential, for wrong thoughts are their habitat.”

“Having known the essential as essential, and the inessential as inessential; they realize the essential, for right thoughts are their habitat.”

“Just as rain seeps into a poorly roofed house, lust seeps into an undeveloped mind.”

“Just as rain doesn’t seep into a well roofed house, lust doesn’t seep into a well developed mind.”

“For the hard-working and mindful, pure of deed and attentive, restrained, living righteously, and diligent, their reputation only grows.”

“The mind quivers and quakes, hard to guard, hard to curb. The discerning straighten it out, like a fletcher an arrow.”

“Like a fish pulled from the sea and cast upon the shore, this mind flounders about, trying to throw off Māra’s dominion.”

“Hard to hold back, flighty, alighting where it will; it’s good to tame the mind; a tamed mind leads to bliss.”

“So hard to see, so subtle, alighting where it will; the discerning protect the mind, a guarded mind leads to bliss.”

“The mind travels far, wandering alone; incorporeal, it lies hidden in the heart. Those who will restrain the mind are freed from Māra’s bonds.”

“Those of unsteady mind, who don’t understand the true teaching, and whose confidence wavers, do not perfect their wisdom.”

“One whose mind is not festering, whose heart is undamaged, who’s given up right and wrong, alert, has nothing to fear.”

“Knowing this body breaks like a pot, and fortifying the mind like a citadel, attack Māra with the sword of wisdom, guard your conquest, and never settle.”

“A wrongly directed mind would do you more harm than a hater to the hated, or an enemy to their foe.”

“A rightly directed mind would do you more good than your mother or father or any other relative.”

“As a mighty flood sweeps off a sleeping village, death steals away a man even as he gathers flowers, his mind caught up in them.”

“The terminator gains control of the man who has not had his fill of pleasures, even as he gathers flowers, his mind caught up in them.”

“So too, among those thought of as trash, a disciple of the perfect Buddha outshines with their wisdom the blind ordinary folk.”

“And those whose minds are rightly developed in the awakening factors; who, letting go of attachments, delight in not grasping: with defilements ended, brilliant, they are quenched in this world.”

“The mindful apply themselves; they delight in no abode. Like a swan gone from the marsh, they leave home after home behind.”

“Their mind is peaceful, peaceful are their speech and deeds. Such a one is at peace, rightly freed through enlightenment.”

“Rush to do good, shield your mind from evil; for when you’re slow to do good, your thoughts delight in wickedness.”

“Like a fine horse under the whip, be keen and full of urgency. With faith, ethics, and energy, immersion, and investigation of principles, accomplished in knowledge and conduct, mindful, give up this vast suffering.”

“I’ve seen you, house-builder! You won’t build a house again! Your rafters are all broken, your roof-peak demolished. The mind, set on demolition, has reached the end of cravings.”

“The attentive intent on absorption, who love the peace of renunciation, the Buddhas, ever mindful, are envied by even the gods.”

“Not to do any evil; to embrace the good; to purify one’s mind: this is the instruction of the Buddhas.”

“Not speaking ill nor doing harm; restraint in the monastic code; moderation in eating; staying in remote lodgings; commitment to the higher mind— this is the instruction of the Buddhas.”

“One eager to realize the ineffable would be filled with awareness. Their mind not bound to pleasures of sense, they’re said to be heading upstream.”

“Guard against ill-tempered thoughts, be restrained in mind. Giving up bad mental conduct, conduct yourself well in mind.”

“An attentive one is restrained in body restrained also in speech, in thought, too, they are restrained: they are restrained in every way.”

“They don’t get going when it’s time to start; they’re young and strong, but given to sloth. Their mind depressed in sunken thought, lazy and slothful, they can’t discern the path.”

“Guarded in speech, restrained in mind, doing no unskillful bodily deed. Purify these three ways of performing deeds, and win the path known to seers.”

“So long as the vine, no matter how small, that ties a man to women is not cut, his mind remains trapped, like a calf suckling its mother.”

“As a mighty flood sweeps away a sleeping village, death steals away a man who dotes on children and cattle, his mind caught up in them.”

“Those that have properly undertaken constant mindfulness of the body, don’t cultivate what should not be done, but always do what should be done. Mindful and aware, their defilements come to an end.”

“The disciples of Gotama always wake up refreshed, who day and night are constantly mindful of the body.”

“The disciples of Gotama always wake up refreshed, whose minds day and night delight in harmlessness.”

“The disciples of Gotama always wake up refreshed, whose minds day and night delight in meditation.”

“In the past my mind wandered how it wished, where it liked, as it pleased. Now I’ll carefully guide it, as a trainer with a hook guides a rutting elephant.”

“Delight in diligence! Take good care of your mind! Pull yourself out of this pit, like an elephant sunk in a bog.”

“If you find an alert companion, an attentive friend to live happily together, then, overcoming all adversities, wander with them, joyful and mindful.”

“A person of low views in whom the thirty-six streams that flow to pleasure are mighty, is swept away by lustful thoughts.”

“For a personage churned by thoughts, very lustful, focusing on beauty, their craving grows and grows, tying them with a stout bond.”

“But one who loves to calm their thoughts, developing perception of ugliness, ever mindful, will surely eliminate that craving, cutting off the bonds of Māra.”

“Restraint of the body is good; good is restraint of speech; restraint of mind is good; everywhere, restraint is good. The mendicant restrained everywhere is released from all suffering.”

“When a mendicant of restrained mouth, thoughtful in counsel, not restless, explains the text and its meaning, their words are sweet.”

“Practice absorption, don’t be negligent! Don’t let the mind delight in the senses! Don’t heedlessly swallow a hot iron ball! And when it burns, don’t cry, “Oh, the pain!””

“A mendicant who enters an empty hut with mind at peace finds a superhuman delight as they rightly discern the Dhamma.”

“Whenever they are mindful of the rise and fall of the aggregates, they feel rapture and joy: that is freedom from death for one who knows.”

“Urge yourself on, reflect on yourself. A mendicant self-controlled and mindful will always dwell in happiness.”

“Nothing is better for a brahmin than to hold their mind back from attachment. From wherever a cruel wish recoils, right there suffering subsides.”

“Who does nothing wrong by body, speech or mind, restrained in these three respects, that’s who I declare a brahmin.”