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A Bibliography for Zen Students (Draft)

A Bibliography for Zen Students (Draft)

Last updated on: November 1, 2011 at 3:09 pm by James Ford

A Bibliography for Zen Students (Draft) 2011-11-01T15:09:46-07:00 James Ford

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Draft

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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