"I never said the world is an illusion."-The Buddha

The beginning of the Dhammapada, (one of the oldest Buddhist texts) is famous in the west but has been woefully mistranslated in almost every English version I've seen. Even without the attempts at poetry, all of the English translations boil down to the statements:

“We are what we think. / All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world.”

The Pali says NOTHING about the world or the self. It says that suffering follows a corrupted mind and happiness follows a peaceful mind. Period! There is no implication of the world being an illusion of the mind. That the universe is made by our minds or that "we are what we think" are ideas influenced by Hinduism and Vedanta. Not what Buddha was talking about.

The Pali text reads: Manopubbangama dhamma manosettha manomaya. 

Literally this says: “Mental states (dhamma) are preceded by mind (manopubbangama), have mind as their master (manosettha), are created by mind (manomaya).”

The Buddha was making a psychological point, not an ontological one.

Here are the first two verses, more literally rendered.

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 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.