This reading list is not exhaustive. It is simply a starting place for those who would like to engage with some of the many thousands of available volumes about Buddhism and Buddhist practices.

Good for those newer to formal practice:

  • The Buddha – Karen Armstrong
    “...[retracing Buddha’s] life from prince to savior of humankind, in a philosophical portrait that offers an illuminating look at how his life and path to spiritual enlightenment spawned one of the great religions of the world”

  • Women of the Way – Sally Tisdale
    “In this groundbreaking work, Sallie Tisdale traces women Buddhist masters and teachers across continents and centuries, drawing upon historical, cultural, and Buddhist records to bring to life these narratives of ancestral Buddhist women.”

  • The Essence of Zen – Sekkei Harada
    “The Essence of Zen is an expert's guided tour of the ins and outs of the tradition's approach to meditation, enlightenment, and the oneness of all things.”

  • Tell Me Something About Buddhism: Questions and Answers for the Curious Beginner - Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
    “Written by Soto Zen priest Zenju Earthlyn Manuel and organized in an easy-to-use Question and Answer format, this brief book answers the many common questions people have about Buddhism, everything from who was Buddha to why do monks, nuns, and priests shave their heads.”

Deeper engagement with our literature and heritage:

  • Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness – Shunryu Suzuki
    Transcriptions of talks given to Westerners on the teaching: Merging of Difference and Unity/ Identity of the Relative and Absolute by the founder of San Francisco Zen Center.

  • The Hidden Lamp – Kaplow and Moon
    “Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women” from ancient to contemporary.

  • The Buddhist Religion – Robinson and Johnson
    “This is a comprehensive overview of Buddhism in 'The Religious Life of Man’ series, by two American academics; it also contains an appendix on Buddhist meditation by Shinzen Steven Young, of the International Buddhist Meditation Center, Los Angeles.”

  • Mapping The Dharma: A Concise Guide to The Middle Way Of The Buddha – Paul Gerhards
    “Mapping the Dharma fills a need for a book that organizes and outlines the fundamental concepts of the Buddha s teachings in a way that is accessible and understandable, without excessive explanation of complex subject matter that can take years to fully understand and appreciate.”

  • Living by Vow – Shohaku Okumura
    A Practical Introduction to eight essential zen chants and texts

  • Realizing GenjoKoan – Shohaku Okumura
    “Realizing Genjokoan is a comprehensive introduction to the teachings and approach of [Dogen], taking us on a thorough guided tour of the most important essay-Genjokoan-in Dogen's seminal work, the Shobogenzo. Indeed, the Genjokoan is regarded as the pinnacle of Dogen's writings, encompassing and encapsulating the essence of all the rest of his work.”

  • Each Moment is the Universe – Dainin Katagiri
    “The Zen view of time is radically different than that: time is not something separate from our life; rather, our life is time. Understand this, says Dainin Katagiri Roshi, and you can live fully and freely right where you are in each moment.”

Precepts and Ethics:

  • Being Upright – Reb Anderson
    “Being Upright takes us beyond the conventional interpretation of ethical precepts to the ultimate meaning that informs them.”

  • The Mind of Clover – Robert Aitken
    “In The Mind of Clover [Aitken] addresses the world beyond the zazen cushions, illuminating issues of appropriate personal and social action through an exploration of the philosophical complexities of Zen ethics.”

  • The Unity of Knowledge and Action: A study in Wang Yang-ming’s Moral Psychology – A.S. Cua
    This is a dense, theoretical and rich examination of Chinese philosophical vision and moral agency, very applicable to modern life.

  • Waking Up to What You Do: A Zen Practice for Meeting Every Situation with Intelligence and Compassion – Diane Eshin Rizzetto
    “Diane Rizzetto presents a simple but supremely effective practice for meeting every moment of our lives with mindfulness, using the Zen precepts as tools to develop a keen awareness of the motivations behind every aspect of our behavior—to ‘wake up to what we do’—from moment to moment.”

Contemporary issues:

  • Radical Dharma – Williams, Owens and Syelludah
    “Igniting a long-overdue dialogue about how the legacy of racial injustice and white supremacy plays out in society at large and Buddhist communities in particular, this urgent call to action outlines a new dharma that takes into account the ways that racism and privilege prevent our collective awakening.”

  • Active Hope: How to face the mess we’re in without going crazy – Joanna Macy
    Macy, a Buddhist scholar and teacher, “[d]rawing on decades of teaching an empowerment approach known as the Work That Reconnects, the authors guide us through a transformational process informed by mythic journeys, modern psychology, spirituality, and holistic science.”

  • Ecodharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis — David Loy
    “How can we respond urgently and effectively to the ecological crisis—and stay sane doing it? David R. Loy masterfully lays out the principles and perspectives of Ecodharma—a Buddhist response to our ecological predicament, introducing a new term for a new development of the Buddhist tradition.”

  • The Way of Tenderness: Awakening through Race, Sexuality and Gender — Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
    “In The Way of Tenderness, Zen priest Zenju Earthlyn Manuel brings Buddhist philosophies of emptiness and appearance to bear on race, sexuality, and gender, using wisdom forged through personal experience and practice to rethink problems of identity and privilege.”

  • The Shamanic Bones of Zen — Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
    “Conceived at the crossroads of Buddhism and indigenous earth-based practice, The Shamanic Bones of Zen explores the deep human traditions of transformation that are made possible by meditation, ceremony, ritual, dreams, and spiritual connection to one’s ancestry.”

  • Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life — Dacher Keltner
    “Revealing new re­search alongside an examination of awe across history, culture, and within his own life, Keltner shows us how cultivating awe in our ev­eryday lives leads us to appreciate what is most humane in our human nature.”

  • The Faith to Doubt: Glimpses of Buddhist Uncertainty — Stephen Batchelor
    “In this engaging spiritual memoir, Stephen Batchelor describes his own training, first as a Tibetan Buddhist and then as a Zen practitioner, and his own direct struggles along his path.”

  • Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life — Marshall Rosenberg

  • Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman
    “Kahneman showed that there are two ways we make choices: fast, intuitive thinking, and slow, rational thinking. His book reveals how our minds are tripped up by error, bias and prejudice (even when we think we are being logical) and gives practical techniques that enable us all to improve our decision-making.”

  • Awakening Together: The Spiritual Practice of Inclusivity and Community — Larry Yang

  • Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out — Ruth King

  • Vimalakirti and the Awakened Heart — Joan Sutherland

  • Being-Time: A Practitioner's Guide to Dogen's Shobogenzo Uji — Shinshu Roberts
    “Being-Time thoroughly explores Dogen’s teaching on how we practice as Buddhas by understanding the relationship between being and time as it is—and as we perceive it to be.”

Poetry that expresses the dharma:

  • Mary Oliver

  • Gary Snyder

Study for practitioners immersed in the Way:

History of Buddhism and the early sutras that express the foundation of Buddhist teachings such as:

  • Pali Canon

    • Digha Nikaya

    • Majjhima Nikaya

    • Samyutta Nikaya

    • Anguttara Nikaya

    • Vinaya

  • Mahayana sutras

    • Lotus Sutra

    • Prajnaparamita Sutra in 8,000 Lines

    • Heart Sutra

    • Diamond Sutra

    • Lankavatara Sutra

    • Mahaparinirvana Sutra

    • Vimalakirti Sutra

Writings of significant Japanese Soto Zen ancestors such as:

  • Dogen:

    • Essential teachings

      • Bendowa

      • Genjokoan

      • Fukanzazengi

      • Tenzokyokun

      • Uji

      • Zazenshin

      • Bussho

    • Useful: other writings from Dogen

      • Shobogenzo

      • Eihei Koroku

      • Eihei Shingi

      • Shobogenzo Zuimonki

      • Moon in a Dewdrop

  • Keizan:

    • Denkoroku

    • Zazen-yojin-ki and other writings

Chan texts important to the Soto tradition, such as

  • Seng-T’san’s Faith in Mind

  • The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Ancestor

  • Shi-t’ou’s Harmony of Difference and Equality

  • Tung-shan’s Precious Mirror Samadhi

  • Book of Serenity

  • Blue Cliff Record

  • The Gateless Gate

Mahayana Buddhist Philosophy, such as writings by Ashvaghosha, Nagarjuna, and Vasubandhu