Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Buddhist
Reading Zen: Fifteen Zen Teachers Each Recommend Five Books

Reading Zen: Fifteen Zen Teachers Each Recommend Five Books

Last updated on: May 13, 2022 at 7:45 pm by James Ford

Reading Zen: Fifteen Zen Teachers Each Recommend Five Books 2022-05-13T19:45:31-07:00 James Ford

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I asked a number of Zen teachers if they would give me five titles on the subject of Zen and Buddhism that they recommend. I originally did not intend to include five of my own, but somewhere along the line got excited about the project and so, in total we have fifteen Zen teachers offering five books each. Well, five more or less. As you will see going through the lists. Zen teachers are not as a rule well known for coloring within the lines.

I gave no guidelines beyond Zen and Buddhism and five titles. Some thought others would include beginning titles and others wanted to make sure books for beginners were included. There are some repetitions. Shunryu Suzuki’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind is listed six times, Shohaku Okamura’s Living by Vow is listed five times, Kosho Uchiyama’s Opening the Hand of Thought, and his Refining Your Life and Hee-Jin Kim’s Dogen on Meditation and Thinking are each noted twice. There is a great deal of Eihei Dogen. We also find some serious exploration of koan literature. And, not a whole lot of early Buddhism, one biography of the founder and one anthology of his putative direct teachings.

On balance I find a pretty good list of very interesting books. One or two, I would never have thought to add to a list of books on Zen and Buddhism. In my view all in all not a bad library for anyone interested in the great Zen project.

I hope you find them helpful.

Mitra Bishop:

Book of Mu: Essential Writings on Zen’s Most Important Koan, (ed by James Ishmael Ford & Melissa Blacker)
Nothing is Hidden: the Psychology of Zen Koans, Barry Magid
Ordinary Mind: Exploring the Common Ground of Zen and Psychoanalysis, Barry Magid
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Shunryu Suzuki
Undying Lamp of Zen: The Testament of Zen Master Torei (trs by Thomas Cleary)

Domyo Burk:

The Wings to Awakening: An Anthology of the Pali Canon, (ed by Bhikku Thanissaro)
(Dogen) Realizing Genjokoan: The Key to Dogen’s Shobogenzo, Shohaku Okumura
(Dogen) How to Cook Your Life: From the Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment, Kosho Uchiyama
Buddhist Religions: A Historical Introduction. Richard Robinson, Willard L. Johnson, and Thanissaro Bhikku.
Seeds of Virtue, Seeds of Change: A Collection of Zen Teachings, (ed by Jikyo Wolfer & Eido Carney)

Anita Feng:

Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi (trs by Taigen Leighton)
Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui (trs by J. C. Cleary)
Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry (ed by Stephen Mitchell)
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Shunryu Suzuki
Blue Cliff Record (various translations)

Norman Fischer:

Everyday Zen, Joko Beck
Living by Vow, Shohaku Okamura
Not Always So, Shunryu Suzuki
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Shunryu Suzuki
Refining Your Life, Kosho Uchiyama

James Ishmael Ford:

Mind of Clover: Essays in Zen Buddhist Ethics, Robert Aitken
Taking the Path of Zen, Robert Aitken
Buddhism Without Beliefs, Stephen Batchelor
Chan Whip Anthology: A Companion to Zen Practice, trs by Jeffrey Broughton & Elise Watanabe
Light Inside the Dark: Zen, Soul, and the Spiritual Life, John Tarrant

Gesshin Greenwood:

Bossy Pants, Tina Fey
Being Peace, Thich Nhat Hanh
Opening the Hand of Thought, Kosho Uchiyama
(Dogen) Bendowa: Talk on the Wholehearted Practice of the Way by Eihei Dogen, Kosho Uchiyama
The Dhammapada, Gautama Siddhartha (various translations)

Joan Halifax:

(Dogen) Moon in a Dewdrop, (trs Kazuaki Tanahashi, et al)
Transmission of Light, Jokin Keizan (trs Francis Cook)
Zen’s Chinese Heritage, Andy Ferguson
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Shunryu Suzuki
Opening the Hand of Thought, Kosho Uchiyama

Mushim Patricia Ikeda:

Zen Monastic Experience, Robert Buswell
Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center, Michael Downing
Cave of Poison Grass: Essays on the Hannya Sutra, Seikan Hasegawa
Zen at War, Brian Daizen Victoria

Barry Magid:

Greek Buddha, Christopher Beckwith
Living & Dying and Zazen, Arthur Braverman
Fathering Your Father, Alan Cole
Patriarchs on Paper, Alan Cole
Living by Vow, Shohaku Okamura

Rafe Martin:

The Gateless Barrier (trs by Robert Aitken)
(Dogen) Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen’s Shobo Genzo, (ed. Kazuaki Takahashi)
The Three Pillars of Zen, ed by Philip Kapleau
The Ox and His Herdsman: A Chinese Zen Text, ( trs by M.H. Trevor)
Vimalakirti Sutra.(trans. Burton Watson)
Poison Blossoms from A Thicket of Thorn, Hakuin Ekaku (trs Norman Waddell)

Wendy Egyoku Nakai:

The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women, (Florence Caplow, Susan Moon, eds)
Infinite Circle: Teachings in Zen, Bernie Glassman
Liberating Intimacy: Enlightenment and Social Virtuosity in Ch’an Buddhism, Peter Hershock
Zen Talks: More than Anyone Can Do, Ton Lathouwers
Art of the Lotus Sutra: Japanese Masterpieces, Tamura Kurata

Dosho Port:

Narrow Road to the Interior, Bassho (trs Hammil)
Dogen’s Extensive Record (trs Leighton and Okumura)
Dogen on Meditation and Thinking, by Hee-Jin Kim
Poison Blossoms from a Thicket of Thorn, Ekaku Hakuin (trs Waddell)
Moon by the Window, by Shodo Harada

Judy Roitman:

(five for beginners)

What the Buddha Taught, Walpola Rahula
Compass of Zen, Seung Sahn
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Shunryu Suzuki
Hardcore Zen, Brad Warner
Sit Down and Shut Up, Brad Warner

(and for more mature practitioners)

Gateless Barrier (trs by Robert Aitken
Elegant Failure, Richard Shrobe
Don’t Know Mind, Richard Shrobe
Diamond Sutra (various translations)
Vimalakirti Sutra (trs by Burton Watson)
Lotus Sutra (trs by either Burton Watson or Gene Reeves)
Platform Sutra of the Sixth Ancestor (various translations)
Mirror of Zen: The Classic Guide to Buddhist Practice by Zen Master So Sahn (ZM Roitman adds: (credited to Boep Jeong Sunim who is actually the monk who translated the Chinese text into contemporary Korean from which it was translated into English by Hyon Gak Sunim and why Shambhala made such a mess of the attribution I don’t know)

(and for people who want a little feminist perspective)

First Buddhist Women, Susan Murcott
Zen Women: Beyond Tea Ladies, Iron Maidens, and Macho Masters, Grace Schireson

(And just for fun)

Buddha, Karen Armstrong

Grace Schireson:

Nothing Special, Joko Beck
Living Zen, Joko Beck
Living by Vow, Shohaku Okamura
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Shunryu Suzuki

Daniel Terragno:

Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist, Hee-Jin Kim
Dogen on Meditation and Thinking: A Reflection on His View of Zen Hee-Jin Kim
Passing Through the Gateless Barrier: Koan Practice for Real Life, Guo Gu
Record of Linji (trs Ruth Fuller Sasaki)
Art of Just Sitting (ed Daido Loori)
Sitting With Koans (ed Daido Loori)

Previous Post

June 30, 2017

The Heart Sutra as a Pointer for Practice: Zen Priest & Scholar Glenn Taylor Webb

Next Post

July 2, 2017 Hesse Begins His Journey to the East

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Christmas Carol Abolitionist African-American Ahmadiyya Alan Watts Aldous Huxley Allen Ginsberg Amedkar Jayanti American politics American Zen Anaheim Zen Sangha Anglican Annie Besant April Fool Armageddon Art and Religion artificial intellegence Atheist Awakening B R Ambedkar Barlaam & Josaphat Beatnik Between Bhagavad Gita Bible biography birthday bodhisattva Bodhisattva Precepts Book burning Book of Common Prayer Book of Mormon Brahmo Samaj Buddha Buddhism Buddhist Buddhist Lord's Prayer Butterflies Calendars cartoons cat ChatGPT Chicken Tortilla Soup choices Christian atheism Christian mysticism Christian origins Christian Science Christian Zen Christianity Christianity and Buddhism christmas Christmas Truce Christopher Isherwood Church of Later Day Saints Cinco de Mayo circus covenant critical thinking culture D. T. Suzuki Dalit Buddhism Daniel Defoe Desert Fathers and Mothers dharma talk Dogen Donald Trump Dongshan's Five Ranks Dorothy Day dream Duty Easter ecology Edwin Arnold emptiness Empty Moon Zen Network Episcopal Church Eternal Now Ethics evolution existentialism Faith fantasy Fathers Day film film review fire Five Ranks Folk music food Form and emptiness Four Seals Francis of Assisi Francis Xavier Free thinker friendship George MacDonald Gerald Heard Glenn Taylor Webb God Good Friday Gospel of Gospel of Mark Gospel of Thomas grace Graduate Theological Unioin Graduate Theological Union Guanyin H R Blyth Hakuin Ekaku Hanamatsuri Hanukkah Harada Yasutani Zen Heart Sutra Henry David Thoreau Hermann Hesse Hinduism History and Religion history of religion Holy Spirit home Hospitality Icon Ides of March Isaac Newton Islam Islamic mysticism Jack Kerouac James Luther Adams Jiddu Krishnamurti Joan of Arc Johannes Gutenberg John Donne joke Judaism justice karma kensho King James Bible koan Koun Yamada Kyoto School Lewis Carrol Liberal Christianity Liberal Religion Life Plan Community Liminal literature Literature and Religion Liturgy Lord's Prayer Love Mahatma Gandhi Mahayana Martin Luther King Jr Mary Baker Eddy Mary Magdelene Mary Oliver Mayflower Compact Meditation memories memory metaphor money money and religioin Mormons Mother's Day movie review mysticism mythic Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church New Thought Nichiren Buddhism Nonduality not knowing Omar Khayyam Pacific School of Religion pagan Palm Sunday Passover peace Pentecost perennialism Phantastes Philip Kapleau philosophy Pilgrimage poetry Poetry and Religion politics Prayer Precepts Printing Press prophecy prophetic spirituality psychology Pure Land Queer religion queering religion Quietism Ram Mohan Roy rebirth recipe Relationships and religion religion religion and history Religious syncretism Resistance Retirement Retreat review Rissho Kosei Kai Ritual Robert Aitken Roshi Robert Ingersoll Rohatsu Romani religion Rosie the Riveter saints samadhi SanboZen Sangha Satyagraha science science and reigion science and religion science fiction seminary sermon Sesshin Sex and Religion Shinran Sikh Sikh tradition silence Social Justice Socially Engaged Buddhism Society and religion Soto Zen soul spiritual community spiritual practice Spirituality Sufism Suicide superstition Taoism Television Teresa of Avila Thanksgiving theological schools Theosophy Thomas Merton Time Transcendentalism Transcendentalist Trinitarian Trinity Uncategorized unitarian Unitarian Christianity Unitarian Universalist Universalism Vajrayana Vedanta Walking war Willa Cather William Ellery Channing wisdom women and religion women in religion World Teacher Writing zazen Zen Zen Center Zen inspired retriement zen meditation Zen Precepts Zen women

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Moses entered the Promised Land before he died.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE