dharma.

This is a list of all of books I've ever found helpful regarding my practice, organized alphabetically by teacher (who is sometimes also the author, sometimes not). I have other lists at the bottom of this page.

• Charlotte Joko Beck
  • Everyday Zen – ISBN 0061285897
• Bodhipaksa
  • Wildmind: A Step by Step Guide to Meditation. – ISBN 1899579559
• David Chadwick
  • Thank You and OK!: An American Zen Failure in Japan – ISBN 978-1-59030-470-9. This book was extremely useful for overcoming my resistance to practice at one point. This book is hilarious.
• Steve Hagen
  • Buddhism Plain and Simple
  • Buddhism is Not What You Think
  • Meditation: Now or Never
• Dainin Katagiri
  • Each Moment is the Universe. ISBN 978-1-59030-408-2
  • You Have to Say Something. ISBN 978-1-57062-462-9
• John Daido Loori
  • Bringing the Sacred to Life:  The Daily Practice of Zen Ritual. ISBN 978-1-59030-533-1
  • Finding the Still Point ISBN: 978-1-59030-479-2
• Barry Magid
  • Ordinary Mind – ISBN 0861714954
  • Ending the Pursuit of Happiness: A Zen Guide– ISBN 0-86171-553-5
• Franz Metcalf
  • Just Add Buddha! ISBN 1-56975-409-8. A fun little book connecting dharma to modern western annoyances.
  • What Would Buddha Do? ISBN 1-56975-298-2. More of that.
• Sotoshu Shumucho (the Soto Zen Vatican)
  • SOTO ZEN: An Introduction to Zazen. Published in Japan, translated to English by Shohaku Okumura, one way to get familiar with many practice forms, from sitting itself to minding your manners in the zendo. I've never seen this publication in a bookstore. I bought mine from Sanshin Zen Community, Shohaku Okumura's center in Bloomington, Indiana. I find it useful as a reference for practice forms.
  • Heart of Zen: Practice without Gaining mind. Also translated by Shohaku Okumura, also available from his center (as referenced above), this book includes
    1. Points to Watch in Practicing the Way, by Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Japanese Soto School.
    2. Samadhi of the Self, by Menzan Zuiho Osho
    3. Dogen Zen as Religion, by a contemporary zen master, Uchiyama Kosho Roshi, who was Shohaku Okumura's teacher.
• Shunryu Suzuki
  • Crooked Cucumber (a biography by DavId Chadwick)
  • Not Always So
  • To Shine Light in One Corner of the World, which has now been re-released by Shambhala as Zen is Right Here. Teaching Stories and Anecdotes of Shunryu Suzuki, edited by David Chadwick. Either title is fine.
  • Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. ISBN 978-1-59030-267-5

  I also have them organized and grouped in these lists:

  • The heart list, those at the core of my practice. These books directly instructed me in what is now my current practice.
  • The sitting list, these books are about the practice of meditation, the essential thing to do.
  • The rafts, books that got me along the way, the stones along which I have stepped.