Real Life with Ryuei

Buddhist Book List

Periodically I get asked for a list of books. A particularly interesting challenge was to pick only 3, or 10, or even 20 books on Buddhism that I would recommend over others. This is a difficult of course, because I need to know the audience. But I suppose if I were going to a distant land to teach Buddhism and wanted to be prepared for anything and had limited luggage space I would pick the following:

3 Books

1. Threefold Lotus Sutra - This is a no-brainer since I am a Nichiren Shu minister. I would take the Threefold Lotus Sutra because its the only one with the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings and the Sutra of Meditation on Bodhisattva Universal Virtue. But my second choice would be the Senchu Murano translation that really clarifies the meaning of the text as well as being readable, and my third would be the Leon Hurvitz translation that has an appendix with passages that differ significantly from Kumarajiva in the Sanskrit text. My last choice would be the Burton Watson translation which translated words like maitri as "pity" instead of as "loving-kindness" and which glosses over important things like the "ten suchnesses" which are liturgically and doctrinally important to Nichiren Buddhism.

2. Buddha-Dharma: The Way to Enlightenment Revised 2nd Ed. (the anthology put out by the Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research). This anthology contains abridged and loosely translated passages (sometimes whole sutras) from both the Pali canon and the Mahayana sutras. The passages are very accessible and there is a useful glossary and also a key to where the passages came from. While the originals are better, if one had to only have one book that told the Buddha's life and contained his essential teachings (and even some nonessential but interesting ones) then this would be it for the comprehensiveness of the selections. For instance, the whole Dhammapada is in here, as are all the most important discourses from the Pali Canon, the Heart Sutra, the important parts of the Diamond Sutra (without all the redundancies), and abridged or summarized versions of the Flower Garland Sutra, the Nirvana Sutra, the Surangama Sutra, the Lankavatara Sutra, the Vimalakirti Sutra, the Pure Land Sutras, and of course the Lotus Sutra. In fact, this book functions as a kind of survey of the whole Theravadin and Mahayana canon and would be great for those without the time or patience to read the originals. Also, it could spark interest in finding and reading the originals. In any case, this is good to have as a one stop reference if one can't carry the entire canon to a far land to teach Buddhism

3. In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon translation and commentary by Bhikkhu Bodhi. This anthology is strictly from the Pali Canon, but the material is also arranged to cover the Buddha's life and most important discourses. These discourses are translated more accurately and not so abridged. It is broken down into sections to cover all the basics of Buddhism in a way that will faciliate actual practice, and the introductions to each section make things very clear and practical. While written from a Theravadan perspective, the material here is basic to all forms of Buddhism. If not for the lack of Mahayana writings, I would place it as number 2 rather than number 3.

So, what if I had 10 Books?

1. Threefold Lotus Sutra - as above

2. Buddha-Dharma: The Way to Enlightenment Revised 2nd Ed. (the anthology put out by the Numata Center) - as above

3. In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon - as above

4. Life of the Buddha: According to the Pali Canon by Bhikkhu Nanamoli. Before Bikkhu Bodhi's "In the Buddha's Words" came out, this was the one book I would recommend to get an overview of the Buddha's life and basic teachings. Like Bikkhu Bodhi's book it is an anthology of passages from the Pali Canon arranged to tell the story of the Buddha's life and cover his basic teachings. There is much more info on the Buddha's life here, much more material drawn from early commentaries to provide context, and a lot more discourses covered. But the book is more challenging than the other because it is not arranged so as to teach Buddhism to beginning practitioners. It is more of a survey of the Buddha's life and teachings. And aside from the early commentaries to provide background and context, there are no commentaries on the passages themselves such as Bhikkhu Bodhi provides. I frankly find both books to be complimentary, and while they overlap they are not redundant. But for beginners interested in practice I would recommend Bhikkhu Bodhi's book. For those interested in a deeper understanding of the historical Buddha and the Pali Canon I would recommend this book.

5. Dhammapada - This work is a wonderfully pithy introduction to basic Buddhist values and insight. There are various translations, but I am partial to those by Glenn Wallis or Thomas Cleary due to their comments which really help put the verses in the wider perspective of Buddhist teaching and practice. The Dhammapada is also the book I like to recommend to those who have been in more idiosyncratic (dare I say cultish?) forms of Buddhism and thus find that they are in need of detoxing and reorienation to the genuine perspective of Buddha Dharma.

6. The Holy Teachings of Vimalakirti translated by Robert Thurman. This sutra is short, humorous, and has a very critical and even satirical take on what it sees as the one-sidedness of early Buddhist monasticism (i.e. Hinayana Buddhism). It also contains many profound passages on Mahayana nonduality. This sutra really is a kind of bridge from the Pali Canon to the Lotus Sutra in my view, because it presents the Mahayana critique of pre-Mahayana, but its sharpness will give way to the Lotus Sutra's inclusiveness.

7. The Flower Ornament Scripture translated by Thomas Cleary. Next to the Lotus Sutra, this sutra is viewed as the most important and influential of all Mahayana sutras. Many elements of Mahayana liturgies in East Asia derive from this sutra, and much of the imagery and insights in this sutra pervade the teaching and practice of many forms of East Asian Buddhism, most notably Zen. This is a difficult, very long, and some would say mind blowing sutra to read, but taking the time to immerse oneself in it and float along in its majestic currents would prove to be a very rewarding experience for many.

8. Buddhist Wisdom: The Diamond Sutra and The Heart Sutra translated by Edward Conze. The Diamond Sutra is a handy summary of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras and their emphasis on emptiness. It also contains many images taken from the Pali Canon that have been put in the service of a Mahayana view of the emptiness of all things. It is not long, and many passages are kind of redundant, so it is actually not hard to get through. The Heart Sutra is a very terse one page statement of the teaching of emptiness that is recited by most schools of East Asian Buddhism as part of their regular practice (the Pure Land and Nichiren schools being notable exceptions because of their faith commitments to specific sutras). If one can understand these two sutras, one will understand the most important element of Mahayana teaching. There are many translations, and here I have recommended Edward Conze translation of both in one volume. A less scholarly but perhaps more accessible and practice oriented approach would be Thich Nhat Hanh's translations and commentaries which are in two separate books: "The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion" which is on the Diamond Sutra, and "The Heart of Understanding" which is on the Heart Sutra (not to be confused with Thich Nhat Hanh's "Heart of the Buddha's Teachings" or "Opening the Heart of the Cosmos").

9. A Buddhist Bible by Dwight Goddard. This is yet another anthology. It contains passages from the Pali Canon, the Mahayana, the Vajrayana, even the Tao Te Ching and Zen writings. I would still recommend it because its selection contain just about everything a beginner would need to learn about the Dharma including important instructions on meditation practice - including one by Chih-i the founder of the T'ien-t'ai school.

10. Visuddhimagga: The Path of Purification by Buddhaghosa translated by Bhikkhu Nanamoli. This is not at all a light read for beginners. Rather, it is a very long, very technical, even dry and overly scholastic at times, manual of classical Theravadin meditation and Abhidharma (Buddhist systematic cosmology, psychology, and phenomonology). It is on this list because I would want to have it on hand to be able to consult for the deeper teachings of Buddhist meditation and psychology. It's all here, and even Mahayana techniques can be traced back to the material here (though actually not directly - but that's another story) or else has analogues here. For those not up to tackling this work - I would recommend a very practical and accessible survey of it called "Swallowing the River Ganges: A Practice Guide to the Path of Purification" by Matthew Flickstein. Basically all the "tranquility and insight" or "vipassana" meditation teachers are teaching material that comes from The Path of Purification.

What if I had 20 Books?

1-10 as above

11. Writings of Nichiren Daishonin 2 volumes by SGI (I have some qualms about how some passages were translated and there is nothing here to indicate the authenticity or lack thereof of the various writings and the commentaries are all too often skewed to present an SGI Shoshu derived sectarian take on things - still the translations are very readable, mostly accurate, and cover almost all Nichiren's extant writings, and the footnotes and appendixes are very professionally done and exceedingly helpful). Since I am a Nichiren Shu minister, I would be remiss if I, after having an adequate representation of the Buddha's techings, did not take along as much of Nichiren Daishonin's writings as I could.

12. Dogen's Shobogenzo (I recommend the 4 voume translation by Gudo Wafu Nishijima). After Shakyamuni Buddha, and Nichiren Daishonin, Dogen Zenji is the Buddhist practitioner/teacher/writer whom I have found to be the most helpful in coming to terms with the true meaning of Buddhism and Buddhist practice. There is a scope, maturity, and subtlety to Dogen's understanding that is unrivaled in my view, the only problem being that his way could be viewed as too removed from the "marketplace" (i.e. householder practice in the world) and too elitist (in his latter years he focused almost exclusively on monastic practice). Nichiren Buddhism would view this as shoju (the more retiring contemplative approach to practice) in an age when shakubuku (the more engaged and forthright approach) is called for. It is for this reason that Dogen comes after Nichiren Daishonin.

13. Primer of Soto Zen: A Translation of Dogen's Shobogenzo Zuimonki. This is a translation of Dogen's more accessible and practical instructions to his disciples, as opposed to the more abstruse essays of the Shobogenzo listed above.

14. The Collected Works of Shinran 2 Volumes. Shinran was the third most important reformer in 13th cnetury Japanese Buddhism. While I do not agree with the views of Shinran or his master Honen on the exclusive practice of nembutsu, I think that to understand Buddhism as a whole it is good to take into account their perspective (and why Nichrien criticized it). At the same time, Shinran developed a very deep and subtle understanding of human nature, the human capacity for self-delusion, and the way to open that up into a freer and more natural life marked by kindness and gratitude. Shinran's insights transcend the sectarian boundaries of his system in my view. Though I have listed The Collected Works in 2 Volumes put out by the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, it is a demanding work. A more accessible introduction would be "Tannisho: A Resource for Modern Living" by Alfred Bloom, which is a translation of a collection of Shinran's most profound insights with a commentary by a Pure Land teacher and scholar whose aim is to show how these are relevant to modern life.

15. Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Master's & Their Teachings by Andrew Ferguson. There are many collections of koans, including of course the classics like the Blue Cliff Record, the Book of Serenity, and the Transmission of the Lamp. I am partial to this one because it contains koans and/or anecdotes from all of the classic collections arranged in chronological order with a bit of biographical information about the various Zen Masters, and they don't have all the commentaries that tend to obscure rather than illuminate the stories (at least for someone like myself who is not into all those ancient Chinese literary games). While these stories come from the Zen tradition, many of them have had an influence far beyond their sectarian origins. In any case, these stories illustrate and illuminate basic Buddhist principles in a very creative way. I think they should be appreciated and learned from by all Buddhists, and in fact by all people who want a deeper and more heartfelt understanding of life. In that sense these are, I believe, a treasure for the whole world and not just Zen Buddhists or even just Buddhists, in the same way that the records of the early Desert Fathers of Christianity or Martin Buber's Hasidic Tales can be appreciated by all people.

16. The Practice of Zen by Garma C.C. Chang (out of print but worth hunting for). It is a terrible shame that this book is out of print. It strips away so much of the nonsense about Zen (or at least Ch'an, the original Chinese school). This book also covers basic Buddhist meditation techniques that are used throughout Chinese Buddhism and so are a part of a common heritage. This book not only clarifies the practices of "silent illumination" Zen practice (i.e. shikan taza or "just sitting) and koan contemplation (including the hua-t'ou or "source of speech contemplation on a single word or phrase) but is a practical guide to meditative discipline in the East Asian tradition that transcends narrow sectarian boundaries.

17. Zen Flesh, Zen Bones by Paul Reps. This was one of the first books on Buddhism I ever read. It is a collection of anecdotes, stories, and koans that are quite amusing, insightful, and sometimes paradoxical. Most come from the Zen school, but not all. And again, these stories illustrate points of Buddhist teaching and transcend sectarianism. The collection also contains a translation of the classic koan collection "The Gateless Gate", though it is not necessarily the best translation. Still it is not bad and still illuminating. The Gateless Gate is also a lot more accessible than the much longer and more convoluted collections like the Blue Cliff Record or the Book of Serenity.

18. Meditation: The Buddhist Way of Tranquility and Insight by Kamalashila. This is a very comprehensive modern meditation manual by a member of the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order. In many ways, if I could only pick one practice-manual - I would pick this one, perhaps even over the Path of Purification. The only reason it is in position 18 is that it is not a translation of a classical primary text. Of course, that might in itself recommend it to those with no patience for more antiquated writings.

19. The Heart of Buddhist Meditation by Nyanaponika Thera. This is another modern meditation manual, but this one is based on Theravadan vipassana or "insight" meditation.

20. Bodhicaryavatara by Shantideva (various translations and commentaries). This is a poem written by a late Indian Mahayana monk extolling the virtues, vows, and wisdom of the bodhisattvas. In many ways, it is a good Mahayana follow up to the Dhammapada. Both Pema Chodron and the Dalai Lama have written commentaries on it, or at least on parts of it.

These lists are for a missionary going off to a distant land with limited luggage. What would I recommend to a beginner? Perhaps these:

1. Dhammapada - as above

2. In the Buddha's Words - as above

3. The Life of the Buddha: According to the Pali Canon - as above

4. It's Easier Than You Think by Sylvia Boorstein. (This is a very good beginners book and is also coming out of the Vipassana-mindfulness practices of Theravadin Buddhism.)

5. The Foundations of Buddhism by Rupert Gethin. (An excellent non-sectarian survey of Buddhism which I only found after writing this overview. I highly recommend it. It would make an excellent text book for a college course on Buddhism.)

6. Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience by Donald W. Mitchell. (Another excellent non-sectarian survey which is a little more detailed than Gethin's book, especially in regard to Buddhist developments and schools in different countries and also in its treatment of contemporary issues. This book also has quotes from various contemporary Buddhist teachers which give an inside glimpse of the different teachings and schools. This book is the one to pick if you are teaching a college or even a graduate level course on Buddhism.)

7. Meditation: The Buddhist Way of Tranquility and Insight - as above

8. The Heart of the Buddha's Teachings by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is actually a pretty good survey of basic Buddhist teachings.

9. Zen Keys by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is not only an extremely accessible introduction to Zen but in my view it is also a very accessible introduction to the Madhyamika teaching of emptiness and the Yogacara teaching of consciousness-only. The Madhyamika and Yogacara are the twin pillars of Mahayana thought that are common to all schools of Mahayana Buddhism, and Zen is one example of a creative East Asian appropriation of that material in a more lived and less scholastic way. So altogether I find this book to be a very helpful introduction to general East Asian Mahayana thought and practice.

10. Faces of Compassion: Classic Bodhisattva Archetypes and their Modern Expression by Taigen Dan Leighton. This book has an introduction that is by itself an accessible and to the point introduction to Mahayana values and insights. The book itself is a wonderful introduction to the important Mahayana bodhisattvas and the way in which contemporary figures have exemplified different aspects of them.

So that is my current list of recommendations for beginners to Buddhism in general. Of course, for those specifically interested in Nichiren Shu my primary recommendations are always Lotus Seeds, and Awakening to the Lotus which are both available from the Nichiren Buddhist International Center. After that I would recommend these other books for beginners.

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei

Posted by Ryuei at June 4, 2007 11:20 AM