Audiobook · read by volunteers
She-rab Dong-bu (The Tree of Wisdom)
Nagarjuna
Read by Chris Masterson · 8 chapters · 1 h 33
About the book
Numbered verses of practical wisdom, gathered in seven parts after a short preface, make up this ancient collection of ethical advice. The Tree of Wisdom, known in Tibetan as She-rab Dong-bu, is a set of short verses on how to live and whom to trust. It offers counsel on how to speak, whom to trust and how to judge character. The verses come from a Sanskrit text ascribed to the Buddhist teacher Nagarjuna, preserved in a Tibetan version and later rendered into English with notes. Chris Masterson reads the whole of the book in about an hour and a half, one clear verse at a time. Each part gathers forty numbered verses, so the book can be taken in small, calm doses, a few verses at a time. The advice is quiet, practical and surprisingly modern.
Introduction
The She-rab Dong-bu, or Tree of Wisdom, is a collection of ethical maxims in Tibetan verse. It is a translation of a Sanskrit work attributed to Nagarjuna, the Indian Buddhist philosopher who is generally placed around the second century of our era, best known as a founder of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy. Scholars discuss which of the ethical works attributed to him are really his. The text is known above all through its Tibetan version, probably made several centuries later.
The verses are numbered, and they are arranged in groups of forty in the recording. Their subject is practical morality: how to choose friends, how to speak and how to judge character. The tone is that of a teacher offering advice. Texts of this kind belong to a tradition of proverbial wisdom that appears in many cultures, and this one has travelled a long way to reach us.
The English version recorded here was published in 1919, with a preface explaining the origin of the work. This LibriVox recording lasts about an hour and a half and is divided into 8 parts, a preface and seven groups of verses. It is read by one volunteer, Chris Masterson. It makes a calm listen for anyone interested in Buddhist literature or in the proverbs of the ancient world.
The verses are short and independent, so they can be heard in any order, a few at a time. Their advice on friendship, speech and character is easy to follow, and the cultural interest of a text that has travelled from Sanskrit into Tibetan and then into English adds to the pleasure.
Public domain
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text