Recommended Books?

[Kelly M.]

This thread has been helpful. Thank you all for your recomendations and links! Jundo, a suggested reading list would be a great idea.

Cheers and Gassho,
Kelly

[Stephanie]

I've read many Buddhist books that have been useful and inspiring, but the ones that come to mind are the ones that I've come back to multiple times.

Two of my favorite Zen books are Joko Beck's books Everyday Zen and Nothing Special. I find that Joko Roshi has a particularly emotionally resonant style and one that is very practical and grounded in the day-to-day. Which isn't to say that she doesn't get into some "deeper," more abstract stuff too--she does, but she always grounds it in tangible experience. I think I've gone back to her books more than any other Buddhist books I own. I think they should be on any Zen practitioner's shelf, personally.

Pema Chodron is another teacher I love and admire for her ability to locate the emotional resonances of the teachings and connect them to out experiences of day-to-day living in the modern world. I think it's wonderful that her books are as popular as they are, because they have some really hardcore Dharma teachings in them. Acharya Pema is particularly good at evoking and addressing the mind-state that accompanies painful and frightening mindstates like loss, fear, and uncertainty, which is powerful as when we are in those states of mind is often when we need a dose of the Dharma the most. When Things Fall Apart is a classic. I gave it to my mom when she was going through a particularly hard time. She started taking it to work with her every day. At some point, I wanted to borrow it back from her for a while, and she was like, "Hell no!" :lol:

Chogyam Trungpa's books are also essential records of Buddhism's transition to the West. Trungpa Rinpoche nailed a lot of the particular problems and pitfalls encountered by Western Buddhists, in a way that seems to have gone unmatched since. Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism is an excellent book to refer to whenever you need a reality check, as it clearly delineates the kinds of fantasies one can get lost in along the way. His book Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior is another favorite of mine. It's a Buddhist book stripped of many of the usual "Buddhist" buzzwords but also with unique material aimed at lay practitioners trying to be "warriors in the world."

John Daido Loori's The Heart of Being features the best writing on the Precepts that I've ever encountered. It goes from the basics (what a precept is, what its main function is) to very subtle and profound examinations of morality. May not be everyone's cup of tea, as Daido Roshi has a bit of a mystical bent, but I find that his style is very helpful, inspiring, and profound. And I'm likely to get my pee-pee whacked for saying this here :lol:, but I think he's the foremost interpreter of Dogen currently teaching in the English language.

John Tarrant's The Light Inside the Dark is a very unique book that stands out in the glut of "pop Zen" books. Tarrant is another excellent interpreter of Buddhist practice, and Zen practice in particular, as it meets the world of modern lay life. Tarrant gets bonus points from me for deftly tackling a topic close to my own heart, which, to use his terms, is the experience of wrestling with and trying to balance the twin inclinations to "spirit" and "soul" (the former referring to the spiritual, transcendent, otherworldly drive, the latter referring to the worldly, embodied, carnal drive). Another bonus is that it's unusually poetic.

Ayya Khema's book Being Nobody, Going Nowhere is the book that really got me into Buddhism and is one I refer back to often. Ven. Khema's voice is unusually clear. She has a unique tone of voice that is stern but also kind. One of the best books on Buddhism's basic core teachings--the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.

Ajahn Brahmavamso's book Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond might be considered a 'heretical' book in a Soto setting :wink:, but it's an excellent resource on deep concentration states in meditation, as well as basic tips on stabilizing and calming the mind.

Taigen Dan Leighton's book Faces of Compassion is a unique and excellent resource on half a dozen basic bodhisattva archetypes. A book of interest for those who enjoy wading through symbolism in a Jungian sort of way and also an excellent resource for those drawn to social action as an expression of the path.

I'm sure that there's others I've forgotten for the moment...