Suggested Readings

While the practice and realization of Zen is “beyond words and letters,” we have found these texts to be helpful in pointing the way and deepening understanding.

This reading list was developed in part through the Zen Foundations Course. Many books may available through your local library or as ebooks or audio downloads.

For purchasing, we encourage supporting independent booksellers. Here are a few:

What is Zen?

  • Hsin Hsin Ming (Trust in Heart-Mind), Seng-ts'an, 3rd Chinese Patriarch of Zen [d. 608 AD]

  • Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. Suzuki, Shunryu. Trumbull, CT: Weatherhill, 2001.

  • Wake Up: How to Practice Zen Buddhism. Treace, Bonnie Myotai. Emeryvilles, CA: Rockridge Press. 2019.

  • A Little Bit of Zen. O’Hara, Pat Enkyo. New York, NY. : Sterling Ethos, 2020.

The Body-Mind of Zen

  • Appreciate Your Life. Maezumi, Hakuyu Taizan. Boulder, CO: Shambhala. 2002.

  • How to Cook Your Life: From the Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment. Uchiyama, Kosho and Eihei Dogen. Boulder, CO: Shambhala. 2005

  • Opening the Hand of Thought : Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice. Uchiyama, Kosho. Somerville, MA: Wisdom. 2004

Working with a Teacher

  • A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life. (Chapters 16-18). Kornfield, Jack. New York, NY: Bantam , 1993.

  • Zen: The Authentic Gate. Yamada, Koun. Somerville, MA: Wisdom. 2015

  • A Rare and Precious Thing. Kain, John. New York, NY: Harmony. 2006

Lineage

  • Making Zen Your Own: Giving Life to Twelve Key Golden Ancestors. Abels, Janet Jiryu. Somerville, MA: Wisdom, 2012.

  • Zen Women: Beyond Tea Ladies, Iron Maidens, and Macho Masters. Schireson, Grace. Wisdom Publications, 2009.

  • One Bird, One Stone: 108 American Zen Stories. Murphy, Sean Tetsudo. Renaissance Books, 2002.

  • How The Swans Came To The Lake. Fields, Rick. Boulder, CO: Shambhala, 1992.

  • The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women. Cablow, Zenshin Florence and Moon, Reigetsu Susan, Editors. Wisdom Publications, 2013.

Zen Meditative Practices

  • Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi pp.29-56 "Practice Instructions". > download pdf Leighton, Taigen Dan, Translation, with with Wu, Yi. Boston, MA: Tuttle Publishing. 2000.

  • Hidden Zen: Practices for Sudden Awakening and Embodied Realization. Moore, Meido. Shambhala, 2020.

  • The Art of Just Sitting. Loori, John Daido. Somervile, MA: Wisdom, 2002.

  • Sitting With Koans. Loori, John Daido. Somerville, MA: Wisdom, 2005.

  • Book of Mu: Essential Writings on Zen’s Most Important Koan. Ford, James Ishmael. Wisdom Publications, 2011.

Liturgy, Ritual and Ceremony

  • Living by Vow: A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts. Okumura, Shohaku. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Experience, 2012.

  • Infinite Circle: Teachings in Zen. Glassman, Bernie. Boulder, CO; Shambhala. 2003

  • Zen Chants. Thirty-five Essential Texts with Commentary. Tanahashi, Kazuaki. Boulder, CO; Shambhala. 2015

  • The Heart Sutra. Trans. Red Pine, Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint, 2005.

Vows and Upaya

  • Opening to Oneness: A Practical an dPhilosophical Guide to the Zen Precepts. Baker, Nancy Mujo; Shambhala. 2023.

  • Invoking Reality: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen. (formerly titled The Heart of Being) Loori, John Daido. Boulder, CO: Shambhala, 2007.

  • Opening to Oneness: A Practical an dPhilosophical Guide to the Zen Precepts. Baker, Nancy Mujo; Shambhala. 2023.

  • The Vow-Powered Life. Bays, Jan Chozen. Boulder, CO: Shambhala, 2016.

  • The Whole Hearted Way: A translation of Eihei Dogen's Bendowa. Trans, Okumura and Leighton. Tuttle Publishing, 1997.

Karma

  • The Great Heart Way. Perez, Ilia Shinko, Roshi and Wick, Gerry Shishin, Roshi. Somerville, MA: Wisdom, 2006.

  • Taking Our Places: The Buddhist Path to Truly Growing Up. Fisher, Norman. HarperOne, 2004.

  • The Wisdom of No Escape and the Path of Loving-Kindness. Chodran, Pema. Shambhala, 2001.

Paramitas

  • The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhissatva Path. Fischer, Norman Zoketsu. Boulder, CO: Shambhala, 2019.

  • The Six Perfections: Buddhism and the Cultivation of Character. Wright, Dale S. Oxford University Press, 2011

  • The Practice of Perfection. Aiken, Robert. Knopf, Doubleday Publishing Group, 2012

Creative Expression

  • The Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life. Loori, John Daido. Dallantine Books, 2005.

  • Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within. 2nd Edition, Expanded. Goldberg, Natalie. Shambhala, 2005.

  • Making Love with Light: Contemplating Nature with Words and Photographs. Daido, John Loori. Dharma Communications, 2000.

Engaged Buddhism

  • True Peace Work: Essential Writings on Engaged Buddhism. Nhat Hanh, Thich, et al. Parallax Press, 2019.

  • Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us About Race, Resilience, Transformation, and Freedom. Yatunde, Pamela Ayo. Shambhala, 2020.

  • Interbeing: Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddhism. Nhat Hanh, Thich. Parallax Press, 1987.

  • Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out. King, Ruth. Sounds True, 2018

  • Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation. Williams, angel Kyodo; Owens, Lama Rod; Syedullah, Jane. Parallax Press, 2019.

  • Ecodharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis. Loy, David. Wisdom Publications, 2019.

  • American Sutra: A Story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War. Williams, Duncan. Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press; 1st Edition, 2019.

  • Not Turning Away: The Practice of Engaged Buddhism. An anthology of 25 Years from Turning the Wheel: The Journal of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. Moon, Susan, editor. Shambhala, 2004.

Zen at Work

  • Instructions to the Cook: A Zen Master’s Lessons in Living a Life that Matters. Glassman, Bernie, and Fields, Rick. Shambhala Publications; 2013.

  • Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader. Lesser, Mark. New World Library, 2019.