The Path of Wisdom: A Christian Commentary on the Dhammapada

The Dhammapada is Buddhism’s most beloved compendium of the Buddha’s sayings. It is memorized by thousands of monks, nuns, and laypeople, and it is chanted daily by millions of pious Buddhists. The Path of Wisdom presents this distillation of the Buddha’s wisdom in a fresh translation together with an explanation of the Buddhist context in dialogue with wisdom from the Bible and the Christian monastic and spiritual traditions. In continuity with the long tradition of seeking wisdom through the exchange of insights and experience, this work explores the possibilities that arise when Christianity engages the profound teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha. Above all, what this text uncovers is that both wisdom traditions speak piercingly relevant words to us today, and that placing them together in conversation yields surprising insights.