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BOUNDLESS WAY ZEN
A BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR ZEN STUDENTS
Two points. This bibliography isn’t meant to be exhaustive. Nor, that every book on this list needs to be read by a serious Zen student. Still, that serious student, particularly anyone pursuing ordination as a Zen priest within the Boundless Way, will find these books an important beginning to the intellectual side of Zen study.
Also, one more point: this is very much a work in progress. Suggestions for addition or deletion (very much deletion! This is a cumbersome document already) will be gratefully read. Please write me at monkeymind (at) live.com
And last a list of some ten books to start with will be added soon.
So, check back…
Historical Foundations of Buddhism
Buddha, Karen Armstrong
Historical Buddha: The Times, Life and Teachings of the Founder of Buddhism, H.W. Schumann
The Story of Buddhism: A Concise Guide to its History and Teachings, Donald Lopez
Foundational Documents of Early Buddhism
The Dhamapada, available in various translations
In the Buddha’s Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon, trs & ed Bhikkhu Bodhi
Connected Discourses of the Buddha ed Bhikkhu Bodhi
Buddhist Sutras: Origin, Development, Transmission, Kogen Mizuno
Buddhist Thought
Heartwood of the Bodhi Tree: The Buddha’s Teachings on Voidness, Buddhadasa Bikkhu
Yogacara Idealism, Ashok Kumar Chatterjee
Buddhism: It’s Essence and Development, Edward Conze
Emptiness Appraised: A Critical Study of Nagarjuna’s Philosophy, David Burton
Basic Buddhist Concepts, Kogen Mizuno
What the Buddha Taught, Rahula Walpola
Mahayana Buddhism, the doctrinal foundation, Paul Williams
Mahayana Studies
Awakening of Faith, various translations
The Diamond Sutra, various translations and commentaries
The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines, trs Edward Conze
Heart Sutra, various translations and commentaries
The Lotus Sutra, various translations
Vimalakirti Sutra, trs Burton Watson; also Robert Thurman
Avatamsaka Sutra (The Flower Ornament Sutra), trs Thomas Cleary
Gandarvyuha Sutra (Entry Into the Realm of Reality), trs Thomas Cleary
First Buddhist Women: Translations and Commentaries on the Therigata, Susan Murcott
The Development of Zen
Huayen
Hua-Yen Buddhism, Francis Cook
The Buddhist Teaching of Totality: the Philosophy of Hua-yen Buddhism, Garma C.C. Chang
The History of Foundations of Zen
Zen Master Who? A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen, James Ishmael Ford
Zen Buddhism: A History, 2 vols, Heinrich Dumoulin
Seeing Through Zen, John McRae
The Foundational Document
The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, trs Philip Yampolsky; Red Pine
Anthologies
Zen Sourcebook: Traditional Documents from China, Korea and Japan, Stephen Addiss, Stanley Lombardo & Judith Roitman
Roaring Stream, Nelson Foster & Jack Shoemaker
Zen’s Chinese Heritage, Andy Ferguson
Koan collections
(Koans are engaged within the Boundless Way under the guidance of one of our teachers. While interesting and of value outside the context of a formal meditative discipline, it is within the discipline that their true value is discovered and how they’re formally pursued within our sangha.)
Book of Serenity (Congronglu (Chinese) Shoyoroku (Japanese)), trs Thomas Cleary; Gerry Shishin Wick; John Tarrant & Joan Sutherland (forthcoming)
The Blue Cliff Record (Biyanlu (Chinese) Hekiganroku (Japanese)), trs Thomas and J.C. Cleary; John Tarrant & Joan Sutherland (forthcoming)
Flowing Bridge: Guidance on Beginning Koans, Elaine MacInnes (The “Miscellaneous Koan” collection of the Harada Yasutani lineage)
The Gateless Gate (Wumenguan (Chinese) Mumonkan (Japanese)), trs and commentary, Robert Aitken; Zenkei Shibiyama; Koun Yamada; Nyogen Senzaki; John Tarrant & Joan Sutherland (forthcoming)
Record of Transmitting the Light, Keizan Jokin, trs by Francis Cook; Thomas Cleary
Dogen Studies
History
Dogen’s Formative Years in China, Takashi James Kodera
Soto Zen in Medieval Japan, William M. Bodiford
Texts
Anthologies
Moon In a Dewdrop, selections, trs Kazuaki Tanahashi & collaborators
Enlightenment Unfolds, selections, trs Kazuaki Tanahashi & collaborators
Primary
Eihei Koroku: The Extensive Record o Zen Mater Dogen, trs Taigen Dan Leighton & Shohaku Okumura
Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo 4 vols, trs Gudo Nishijima & Chodo Cross
Analysis
Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist, Hee-jin Kim
A Study of Dogen, Masao Abe
Hakuin Studies
Wild Ivy: The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin, trs Normal Waddell
Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin, trs Norman Waddell
Zen Master Hakuin, trs Philip Yampolsky
Zen Words from the Heart: Hakuin’s Commentary on the Heat Sutra trs Norman Wadell
Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record (Hakuin Commentaries) trs T. Cleary
Buddhist Meditation
Focused and Fearless, Shaila Catherine
When Things Fall Apart, Pema Chodron
Mindfulness in Plain English, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
Dzogchen Teachings Chogyal Namkhai
Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation, Larry Rosenberg
The Revolutionary Art of Happiness, Sharon Salzberg
Shikantaza & Koan Introspection Practice
Zen Meditation in Plain English, John Daishin Buksbazen
The Book of Mu: Essential Writings on Zen’s Most Famous Koan, eds James Myoun Ford & Melissa Myozen Blacker (forthcoming)
Zen Sand: The Book of Capping Phrases for Koan Practice, Victor Sogen Hori
Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi, trs & commentary, Taigen Dan Leighton
The Art of Just Sitting, ed John Daido Loori
Sitting With Koans: Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Koan Study, ed John Daido Loori
Zen Dust, Isshu Miura & Ruth Fuller Sasaki
Bring Me the Rhinoceros: And Other Zen Koans to Bring You Joy, John Tarrant
Opening the Hand of Thought, Kosho Uchiyama
Precepts and ethics
Buddhist Ethics: A Very Short Introduction, Damien Keown
The Mind of Clover, Robert Aitken
Being Upright, Tenshin Reb Anderson
Waking Up to What You Do, Diane Eshin Rizzetto
Zen Teaching in the West
Practice of Perfection Robert Aitken
The Morning Star, Robert Aitken
Taking the Path of Zen Robert Aitken
Principles of Zen, Martine Batchelor
At Home in Muddy Water, Ezra Bayda
Saying Yes to Life, Ezra Bayda & Josh Bartok
Everyday Zen, Joko Beck
Nothing Special, Joko Beck
Subtle Sound: The Zen Teachings of Maruine Stuart, Roko Sherry Chayat
In This Very Moment, James Ishmael Ford
Pure Heart: Enlightened Mind, Maura O’Halloran
Three Pillars of Zen, Philip Kapleau
You Have to Say Something, Dainin Katagiri
Appreciate Your Life, Taizan Maezumi
Ending the Pursuit of Happiness Barry Magid
Keep Me in Your Heart a While, Dosho Port
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Shunryu Suzuki
Light Inside the Dark: Zen Soul, & the Spiitual Life, John Tarrant
Dropping Ashes on the Buddha, Seung Sahn ed by Stephen Mitchell
The Critical Analysis of Buddhism & Zen
Women Living Zen: Japanese Soto Buddhist Nuns, Paula Kane Robinson Arai
Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening, Stephen Batchelor
Buddhism, Sexuality and Gender, ed Jose Ignacio Cabezon
Buddhist Women on the Edge: Contemporary Perspectives from the Western Frontier, ed Marianne Dresser
Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center, Michael Downing
Buddhism After Patriarch: A Feminist History, Analysis and Reconstruction of Buddhism, Rita Gross
Neither Monk Nor Layman: Clerical Marriage in Modern Japanese Buddhism, Richard Jaffe
Great Awakening, David Loy
Money, Sex, War, Karma, David Loy
Psychoanalysis and Buddhism, ed Jeremy Safran
Pruning the Bodhi Tree, Jamie Hubbard & Paul Swanson
The New Social Face of Buddhism: A Call to Action, Ken Jones
The Koan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism Stephen Heine
Zen Ritual: Studies of Zen Buddhist Theory in Practice ed Steven Heine & Dale Wright
Zen Classics: Formative Texts in the History of Zen Buddhism ed Stephen Heine & Dale Wright
Zen at War, Brian Victoria
Philosophical Meditations on Zen Buddhism, Dale Wright
The Zen Cannon: Understanding the Classic Texts ed Dale Wright & Stephen Heine
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