Reading List - Part 1
Teachings of the Buddha, Jack Kornfield, editor
This pocket-sized volume contains a wealth of essential historical teachings, from the words of Shakyamuni Buddha himself, in the Dhammapada, to more recent sacred texts of the zen and Tibetan traditions. An excellent source of the original teachings.
A Path with Heart, Jack Kornfield
One of the founding fathers of the contemporary flowering of Buddhism in America, Jack has spent many years of study in the east and many years as a psychotherapist, as well as a meditation teacher, in the west. This book contains a lifetime of wisdom about the possibilities and the pitfalls of practice. His clarity and sense of humor are of great help in avoiding the detours of self-delusion that branch off the spiritual path, and his suggestions for guided meditations are rich with insight.
Loving-Kindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness, Sharon Salzberg
The path of metta meditation, as experienced and articulated by a contemporary practitioner and teacher. Salzberg explains not only how to cultivate metta but also how to work with the hindrances that arise in the course of practice. The four “heavenly abodes” of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity are also examined in some detail. More recently, Salzberg’s A Heart as Wide as the World continues to explore the opening of the heart through anecdotes and reflections from her own personal experience and the lives of others on the path.
The Work of This Moment, Toni Packer
Leaving the rituals, traditions and authority of institutional zen behind, Packer has brought back the radical questioning which has been Zen’s strength since the beginning. She brings penetrating psychological insight to questions of trust and fear, hurt and defense, effort and common notions of self-improvement, all the while showing how “sitting quietly, doing nothing” can foster a deep questioning that illuminates and transforms our “problems” into insights about the very nature of our being. Her second book, The Light of Discovery, is composed of interviews, letters and transcribed talks which continue to explore the most profound questions of our experience in the light of meditative awareness.
Mindfulness in Plain English, Henepola Gunaratana
A step-by-step guide to insight meditation (vipassana) in clear and down to earth language. Gunaratana, a monk from Sri Lanka now teaching in the United States, addresses all aspects of meditative practice, including handling difficulties and distractions.