A nice teaching..

[fabianfred]

from my friend who is from NZ and was a monk with me here in Thailand...

Manopubbaṅgamā dhammā manoseṭṭhā manomayā
Manasā ce paduṭṭhena bhāsati vā karoti vā
Tato naṃ dukkhamanveti cakkaṃ'va vahato padaṃ.

dhammā manopubbaṅgamā manoseṭṭhā

manomayā ce paduṭṭhena manasā bhāsati vā

karoti vā tato dukkham naṃ anveti vahato padam

cakkam eva.

Dhammā: experience; manopubbaṅgamā : thought preceeds; manoseṭṭhā: thought is predominant; ce: therefore, if; paduṭṭhena: (with)corrupted; manasā: thought; bhāsati:(one)
speaks; karoti vā: or acts; tato: due to it; dukkham: suffering; nam: that person; anveti: follows; vahato padam: draught animals hoof; cakkam eva: as the cart wheel.

This opening verse of the Dhammapada is usually translated... Mind is the forerunner of all(evil) states, mind is chief.

This translation is not actually correct. The word used here is ' Mano ' and mano is thought.
The term mind is a little bit loose, as the mind is a bit more complicated than this.
We have an emotional part to the mind-Citta
and the thinking part of the mind-Mano.

So the opening verse in the Dhammapada should read...

Thoughts precedes experience.
Thought is predominant
Therefore, if one speaks or acts with corrupted thoughts
Suffering follows that person
Like the wheel of the ox cart
Follows the ox's hoof.

A middle aged devout man, named Cakkhupala, become a monk and energetically lead the life of a contemplative.
As a result of his practice he became an Arahat, while an Arahat he also became blind.
On one occasion the Monk Cakkhupala came to visit the Buddha.
One evening, while doing walking meditation, he accidently stood on some insects and killed them.
The next day, some monks went to visit Cakkhupala and saw the dead insects.
Not thinking very good thoughts about this monk, the went to see the Buddha and reported what they had seen.
The Buddha asked them:” Did you see the monk killing those insects?”
When they replied in the negative, the Buddha said: As you did not see him kill those insects, nor had he seen those living insects.
The fact that he was an Arahat, meant that he could have no intention to kill, so he was innocent of any wrongdoing.
The Buddha then went on to explain how it was that the Monk Cakkhupala was blind, even though he was an Arahat.

Cakkhupala was a physician in a previous life.
On one occasion he deliberately made a woman patient blind.
The woman was having problems with her eye sight, and had told the physician that, if he could make her sight better, then she, and her children, would become his servants.
The physician gave her some ointment to treat her eyes with, and her sight was completely cured.
Fearful of having to fulfill her earlier promise to the physician, the woman lied, and told the doctor that her eye sight, was in fact getting worse.
The physician knew that the lady was deceiving him, so out of revenge, he gave her a different ointment to put into her eyes, and it made her totally blind.
As a result of this non virtuous deed, the physician lost his eye sight in many of his later existences.

All that we experience begins with thought.
All of our words and actions are born of our thoughts.
If we speak or act with non virtuous thoughts, then we can be assured that unpleasant circumstances and experiences will inevitably result.
We can move around from place to place, cross vast oceans, travel great distances, but all the time we have non virtuous thoughts, non virtuous circumstances will always be there.
This is because we are tied or yoked to our non virtuous thoughts.

The wheel of the cart follows the footsteps of the ox, because they are yoked together. The ox cannot escape this heavy load, no matter what direction it travels in. It is only when the yoke that holds the two of them together is released, that the ox can find rest.

Dhammapada 1.

[PlastikbinLina]

With respect, what on earth are you trying to say?

[trd]

Is it not clear? You cannot escape from the consequences of your actions. They are tied to you like the ox to the cart.

[fabianfred]

and also the Buddha taught giving examples of how karma worked for beings over many lives.... is this not enough evidence of past lives and rebirth ... not for those full of doubt.

[hookedondhamma]

There's a good translation of the dhammapada stories in pdf in full form floating around on the Internet that I ran across a few years ago.

It analyzes the verses at the end of each story as well.

I remember the 1st story well, it's a staple amongst the pali studies monks.