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 and Philosophical 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.

• 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.