Dhammapada 1:1

Dhammapada 1:1

1.Mind is the forerunner of all actions.
All deeds are led by mind, created by mind.
If one speaks or acts with a corrupt mind,
suffering follows,
As the wheel follows the hoof of an ox pulling a cart.



First off lets look at the first line:
Mind is the forerunner of all actions.

Here Buddha is explaining that the mind, the one in which we think with, is the forerunner of all actions. Meaning that this mind in some ways predicates all actions. Whatever we "think" can dictate what we "do". As he goes on:

All deeds are led by the mind, created by the mind.
If one speaks or acts with a corrupt mind,
suffering follows

Thoughts can be that powerful as to cause us suffering. If we let bad thoughts or "corrupt thoughts" the freedom to run free in our minds then surely we will have a tendancy to follow those thoughts. This is one cause of suffering.

He concludes:
As the wheel follows the hoof of an ox pulling a cart
Ox carts generally have 2 oxen on both sides of a yoke (the thing around the neck). If the cart has 2- or 4 wheels they will have to go where the ox previously stepped. This last statement wraps up nicely the idea that as long as we are thinking a certain way (driving the cart) then we are doomed to follow that path we have driven. If you drive a car off the road, then you will of course have to go along for the ride and all of the consequences that are sure to follow.

This is a very good truth.