BOOKS

* Books marked with an asterisk are good books to start with if you are a beginner.

  • A Path with Heart – Jack Kornfield *
  • A Gradual Awakening – Stephen Levine *
  • Loving Kindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness (The four Brahma Viharas) *, Faith, A Heart as Wide as the World – all by Sharon Salzberg
  • Seeking the Heart of Wisdom – Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield *
  • Mindfulness in Plain English*, Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness – both by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
  • Radical Acceptance – Tara Brach *
  • The Experience of Insight and Insight Meditation – Joseph Goldstein *
  • The Miracle of Mindfulness *, Being Peace, Peace in Every Step and Old Path White Clouds – all by Thich Nhat Hanh
  • Compassion, The Buddhist Path to Simplicity, Silence, The Boundless Heart – all by Christina Feldman
  • Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life, Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness – both by Jon Kabat-Zinn
  • Buddhism Without Beliefs – Stephen Batchelor
  • What the Buddha Taught, – Walpola Rahula
  • Light on Enlightenment – The Green Buddha – both by Christopher Titmuss
  • The Noble Eightfold Path, In The Buddha’s Words – Bhikkhu Bodhi
  • One Dharma – Joseph Goldstein
  • Being Nobody, Going Nowhere – Ayya Khema
  • The Heart of Buddhist Meditation – Nyanaponika Thera
  • The Heartwood of Bodhi – Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
  • The Mind and the Way – Ajahn Sumedho
  • The Beginner’s Guide to Insight Meditation – Arinna Weisman
  • A Year to Live, Who Dies, Healing into Life and Death – both by Stephen Levine
  • Satipatthana, The Direct Path to Realization – Bhikkhu Analayo
  • Living in the Light of Death: On the Art of Being Truly Alive – Larry Rosenberg
  • Seeing that Frees – Rob Burbea
  • The Life of the Buddha – Bhikkhu Nanamoli
  • The Path of Compassion – Fred Epsteiner
  • Meditation for Life – Martine Batchelor
  • Buddhism Plain and Simple – Steve Hagen
  • Peaceful Piggy Meditation (a book for young children and families) – Kerry Lee MacLean
  • The Zen Teachings of Huang Po – translated by John Blofeld
  • Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind – Suzuki Roshi
  • When Things Fall Apart, The Wisdom of No Escape and The Places that Scare You – all by Pema Chodron
  • The Myth of Freedom and Shambala: Sacred Path of Wisdom, Cutting through Spiritual Materialism – both by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
  • Carefree Dignity and Fearless Simplicity – both by Tsoknyi Rinpoche (Dzogchen teachings)

Other Dharma

  • Soul without Shame – Byron Brown (about working with the inner critic)
  • When the Swans Came to the Lake – Rick Fields (History of Buddhadharma in the West)
  • The Power of Now – Eckhard Tolle
  • I Am That – Nisargadatta Maharaj
  • Freedom from the Known – J. Krishnamurti
  • Be As You Are: The Teachings of Ramana Maharshi – David Goodman
  • The Spiritual Teachings of Ramana Maharshi – Published by Shambhala
  • Star Bright – Maureen Garth (Meditations for children)
  • Diamond Heart, Book One, Elements of the Real in Man – A. H. Almaas
  • Toward a Psychology of Awakening – John Welwood (An interface between Buddhism and psychotherapy)

Translations of the Buddha’s teachings

Access to Insight
Access to Insight is a huge library of translations of Theravada Buddhist teachings and more.

Recommended translations

The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha – Bhikku Nanamoli & Bhikku Bodhi
The Dhammapada – Gil Fronsdal
The Sutta Nipata – H. Saddhatissa