Reading List

The following is a recommending reading list of books to study the Buddhist teachings.

• Old Path, White Clouds

  • Thich Nhat Hanh

• Buddha

  • Karen Armstrong

• Heart of the Buddha’s Teachings

  • Thich Nhat Hanh

• The Four Noble Truths

  • Ajahn Sumedho

• The Noble Eightfold Path

  • Bikkhu Bodhi

• A Concise History of Buddhism

  • Andrew Skilton

• Zen Keys

  • Thich Nhat Hanh

• Women in Buddhism

  • Diana Y. Paul

• Anapanasati Sutra

  • Easily available online, e.g. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.118.than.html

• Satipatthana Sutra

  • Available online, e.g. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/soma/wayof.html. Also contained in the Miracle of Mindfulness

• The Tree of Enlightenment

  • Peter Della Santina

  • Available online, e.g. http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/tree-enlightenment.pdf, or purchasable in hard copy

• How We Live Is How We Die

  • Pema Chodron

• Buddhism in America

  • Richard Hughes Seager

• In the Buddha’s Words

  • Bhikkhu Bodhi

• Living Buddha, Living Christ

  • Thich Nhat Hanh

• Dhammapada

  • Various source, e.g in the Sutta Pitaka of the Pali Tipitaka

  • Ananda Maitreya translation ISBN 0938077872

  • Other versions available for free, e.g. http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/scrndhamma.pdf or http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/

• Heart Sutra

  • The Other Shore: A New Translation of the Heart Sutra with Commentaries, by Thich Nhat Hanh

• Diamond Sutra

  • • There are two versions of this book. This 677 page is the one you want. The other is 133 pages. A presumably public domain copy of the 1938 edition of this book is available (in multiple formats) at https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.279263

• Awakening of the Faith

  • Versions are available online, e.g. Suzuki’s translation at https://archive.org/details/TheAwakeningOfFaithInTheMahayanaDTSuzuki or Hakeda’s at http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Translations/Awakening_of_faith.html

• Amitabha Sutra

  • Finding Our True Home: Living in the Pure Land Here and Now

    • by Thich Nhat Hanh

  • The sutra itself is easily found online, e.g. at tripod.com

• Sutra of Hui Neng

  • Also called ‘Sutra Spoken by the sixth Patriarch’ and ‘The Platform Sutra’

  • Other versions easily available online, e.g. http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Translations/PlatformSutra_McRaeTranslation.pdf or http://info.stiltij.nl/publiek/meditatie/leraren/_historisch/huineng-platform-price.pdf

• Lotus Sutra

  • Peaceful Action, Open Heart: Lessons from the Lotus Sutra

    • by Thich Nhat Hanh

  • An older release of the above book is: Opening the Heart of the Cosmos: Insights on the Lotus Sutra

    • by Thich Nhat Hanh

• Vimalakirti Sutra

  • Translated by Burton Watson

  • This translation appears to be available online at http://lirs.ru/lib/sutra/The_Vimalakirti_Sutra,Watson,1997.html

• Tao Te Ching

  • A Buddhist Bible” by Dwight Goddard

• The Universe in a Single Atom: the Convergence of Science and Spirituality

  • by HH the Dalai Lama

• Understanding Our Mind: 50 Verses on Buddhist Psychology

  • Thich Nhat Hanh

  • Previously published under the title Transformation at the Base

• Stepping into Freedom

  • Thich Nhat Hanh

• Avatamsaka Sutra

  • An online version of Cleary’s translation is downloadable, in multiple formats, from archive.org at https://archive.org/details/TheFlowerOrnamentScriptureATranslationOfTheAvatamsakaSutraByThomasClearypdfdtyxxytd

  • As of 2022, Kalvinka Press offers a three volume translation. Physical versions of these are available for sale. Kalvinka also makes all three volumes available as PDFs for a voluntary donation. See https://www.kalavinka.org/kp_book_pages/HY-EO_V1-V3_book_page.htm for more information

• Anger

  • Thich Nhat Hanh

• The Way of the Bodhisattva

  • Shantideva, Padmakara Translation Group

• The Heroic Heart: Awakening Unbound Compassion

  • Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

• A Heart Full of Peace

  • Joseph Goldstein, Wisdom Publications

• Open Heart, Clear Mind: An Introduction to the Buddha’s Teachings

  • Thubten Chodron

• Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

  • Shunryu Suzuki

• The Story of Buddhism: A Concise Guide to Its History and Teachings

  • Donald S. Lopez, Jr.

• Master Tāng Hôi, first Zen Teacher in Vietnam and China

  • Thich Nhat Hanh

• Learning True Love

  • Sister Chan Khong

• Breathe: You Are Alive

  • Thich Nhat Hanh

• The Miracle of Mindfulness

  • Thich Nhat Hanh

• Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation

  • Larry Rosenberg

• Transformation and Healing

  • Thich Nhat Hanh

• The Four Foundations of Mindfulness in Plain English

  • Bhante Gunaratana

• Mindfulness, A Practical Guide to Awakening

  • Joseph Goldstein

• The Four Foundations of Mindfulness

  • Sayadaw U. Silananda

• What the Buddha Taught

  • Walpola Rahula

• The Vision of Buddhism

  • Roger j. Corless

• Buddhism in Daily Life

  • Nina Van Gorkom

• The World of Tibetan Buddhism: An Overview of its Philosophy and Practice

  • HH the Dalai Lama

• Essential Tibetan Buddhism

  • Robert A. F. Thurman

• Tibetan Buddhism from the Ground Up: A Practical Approach for Modern Life

  • B. Alan Wallace and Steven Wilhelm

• Luminous Passage, The Practice and Study of Buddhism in America

  • Charles S. Prebish

• American Buddhism, Methods and Findings in Recent Scholarship

  • Duncan Ryuken Williams and Christopher S. Queen

• The Faces of Buddhism in America

  • Charles S. Prebish and Kenneth K. Tanaka

• The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya

  • Maurice Walshe and Ajahn Sumedo

• The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya

  • Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi

• The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: A Complete Translation of the Anguttara Nikaya

  • Bhikkhu Bodhi

• The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyatta Nikaya

  • Bhikkhu Bodhi

• The Dhammapada: A New Translation Of The Buddhist Classic With Annotations

  • Gil Fronsdal

  • 7 podcasts covering all 26 chapters of this book are available for free (and can be downloaded) at http://www.zencast.org/ or http://amberstar.libsyn.com/webpage/category/The%20Dhammapada

• Essence Of The Heart Sutra

  • HH the Dalai Lama

• Thunderous Silence – A Practical Guide To The Heart Sutra

  • Dosung Yoo

• The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion

  • Thich Nhat Hanh

• Awakening Of Faith In The Mahayana

  • Asvaghosa And D.T.Suzuki

  • An apparently free copy of various formats is available at https://archive.org/details/TheAwakeningOfFaithInTheMahayanaDTSuzuki

• Pure Land, Pure Mind

  • Chu-Hung And Tsung-Pen Translated By J.C. Cleary

  • An apparently free copy of various formats is available at https://archive.org/details/PureLandPureMind

• The Platform Sutra: The Zen Teaching Of Hui-Neng

  • Red Pine

• The Sutra Of Hui-Neng: Grand Master Of Zen

  • Thomas Cleary

• The Lotus Sutra

  • Translated By Burton Watson

• The Ultimate Dimension

  • Thich Nhat Hanh (Sounds True Audio Cd)

• The Holy Teaching Of Vimalakirti

  • Robert A.F. Thurman

  • This translation is available online at http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Reln260/Vimalakirti.htm

• The Way Of Chuang Tzu

  • Thomas Merton

• Embracing Mind – The Common Ground Of Science And Spirituality

  • B. Alan Wallace

• Buddha Mind, Buddha Body, Walking toward Enlightenment

  • Thich Nhat Hanh

• Transformation at the Base (Understanding our Mind)

  • Talks 1-8 by Norman Fischer commenting on Thich Nhat Hanh’s Transformation at the Base: Fifty Verses on the Nature of Consciousness.

  • Found at everydayzen.org Click on teachings, all teachings, then search for ‘transformation’. All 8 talks should then be available

  • Alternatively, use this link everydayzen.org/teachings. 

• The Ultimate Dimension, an advanced retreat on the Avatamsaka and Lotus sutras

  • Thich Nhat Hanh, a 6 CD collection from Sounds True.

• Avatamsaka talks

  • Norman Fischer, talks 1-5

  • Found at everydayzen.org Click on teachings, all teachings, then search for ‘avatamsaka’. All 5 talks should then be available

  • Alternatively, use this link everydayzen.org/teachings. 

• Hua-yen Buddhism, the Jewel Net of Indra

  • Francis H. Cook

• Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from the Buddhist Perspective

  • HH the Dalai Lama

• The Cow in the Parking Lot, A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger

  • Leonard Scheff and Susan Edmiston

• No Time to Lose

  • Pema Chodron

• A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night: A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life

  • HH the Dalai Lama

• Practicing Wisdom: The Perfection of Shantideva’s Bodhisattva Way

  • HH the Dalai Lama

• Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening

  • Joseph Goldstein

• A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life

  • Jack Kornfield

• Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness

  • Sharon Salzberg