Kalupahana, David J. A HISTORY OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY: CONTINUITIES AND DISCONTINUITIES. Honolulu: University of Hawaii. Paper. March 1992. 304 pages.

A scholarly account of the development of Buddhist thought. -- R. W. Mann HOP!

Rahula, Walpola. WHAT THE BUDDHA TAUGHT. New York: Grove Press, 1974.

A Buddhist monk and scholar explains the essential teachings of the philosopher Siddhartha Gotama, who came to be called "the Buddha" (the awakened, or enlightened one). -- R. W. Mann

HOP!

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Buddhism -- Japan

Tanaka, Sen'o. THE TEA CEREMONY. Japan: Kondansha, January 1998. CLOTH. 220 pages

In ancient Japan, serving green tea to guests was transformed into a ritual of mindful awareness, kindness, and gratitude. Over the centuries, the tools for brewing and serving the tea, as well as objects present in the tea house, and the tea house itself, became works of art.

HOP!

See also Buddhism -- Zen

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Buddhism -- Tibet

If we put too much emphasis on the superficial differences  --  culture,

ideology, faith, race, color, wealth, and education  --  if we make small

rigid discriminations, we cannot avoid making additional suffering

for human society. . . .

Heart to heart contact is essential.

--  The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, His HolinessTenzin Gyatso

Dalai Lama XIV. FREEDOM IN EXILE: AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA OF TIBET. Abacus. Paperback. April 1996.

The autobiography of the great Tibetan Buddhist leader who has reached the hearts of people throughout the world with his message of kindness, love, and compassion. -- R. W. Mann

HOP!

Dalai Lama XIV. THE GOOD HEART: A BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE ON THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS. Wisdom. 1996. Cloth. 206 pages.

This book is a record of a 1994 seminar sponsored by the World Community for Christian Meditation. The Dalai Lama agreed to lead the seminar and to provide a fresh perspective on familiar passages from the New Testament. His respectful and appreciative comments on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-10) and on Jesus' resurrection appearance to Mary (John 20:10-18) point to the deeper meaning and power of the Christian tradition, while keeping clear the distictions between Buddhist and Christian thought.

A basic tenent of Buddhism is to respect the core teachings of other religions. Indeed the Buddha is said to have turned away one would-be disciple because he did not want the young man to abandon his old teacher, whose teachings the Buddha respected.

At the present time, one nominally Buddhist group has been disavowed by the Dalai Lama because its members actively seek to proselytize (that is, to cause non-members to convert to their practice and to turn away from Christianity, other forms of Buddhism, or other religions). -- R. W. Mann

HOP!

Dalai Lama XIV. HEALING ANGER: POWER OF PATIENCE FROM A BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE. Snow Lion Publications. Paperback. March 1997.

Who on earth has more reason for feeling frustration, anger, hatred, or the other negative emotions than the leader of the Tibetan nation? How is he able to look on those who occupy his country by force of arms as sensient human beings, deserving of understanding and compassion? The Dalai Lama discusses the Buddhist teachings that guide his life. -- R. W. Mann

HOP!

Tarthang Tulku. GESTURE OF BALANCE. Dharma Publishing Company. Paperback. December 1977.

Simple, direct, comforting words for those perplexed by their own disquietude. -- R. W. Mann

HOP!

Tarthang Tulku. HIDDEN MIND OF FREEDOM. Dharma Publishing Company. Paperback. December 1981

Another compassionate and comforting book for those troubled by the pain of life. -- R. W. Mann

HOP!

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Buddhism -- United States

Aitken, Robert. MIND OF CLOVER: ESSAYS IN ZEN BUDDHIST ETHICS. North Point Press. Paper. 1982.

A distinguished American Soto Zen teacher discusses the ethical implications of the Buddhist way. -- R. W. Mann HOP!

Kapleau, Philip. ZEN: MERGING OF EAST AND WEST. Anchor Press. Paperback. March 1998

A new book by the author of the classic Three Pillars of Zen. -- R. W. Mann

HOP!

Tworkov, Helen, and Natalie Goldberg. ZEN IN AMERICA: FIVE TEACHERS AND THE SEARCH FOR AN AMERICAN BUDDHISM. Kodanshainti. Paperback. April 1994. 271 pages. 27 photos.

"This expanded edition of the highly acclaimed investigation of Zen teachings in America, by the founder and editor of America's first Buddhist magazine, lays bare the issues at the heart of the Zen mission. Through in-depth portraits of five American Zen masters, Tworkov creates a trenchant sociological picture of an important strand of American spiritual life." -- Internet Bookshop

HOP!

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Buddhism -- Vietnam

Nhat Hanh, Thich. BE STILL AND KNOW: MEDITATION FOR PEACEMAKERS. Pax Christi. Paperback. March 1987.

Thich Nhat Hanh is the gentle Vietnamese monk and poet whom Martin Luther King, Jr. nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize many years ago. "Thi," as everyone likes to call him as though he were an old friend, has come to the United States many times to teach about the spirit of peace. He once candidly admitted that, as a human being, it was not always easy for him to travel to a country that out of its ignorance made savage war on his homeland in the name of human freedom. -- R. W. Mann

HOP!

Nhat Hanh, Thich. BREATHE! YOU ARE ALIVE: SUTRA ON THE FULL AWARENESS OF BREATHING Parallax. Paperback. March 1996.

Thich Nhat Hanh explains in practical, experiential terms, the crucial unity of body, breath, and mind. When the body is in a relaxed and stable state, the mind is calm and alert. The breath is the link between body and mind, as well as between what we call the inner and outer worlds. -- R. W. Mann

HOP!

Nhat Hanh, Thich. HEART OF BUDDHA'S TEACHING: INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM. Parallax Press. Cloth. December 1996.

Thich Nhat Hanh introduces the life of the Buddha, the Four Noble Truths concerning the origin of human suffering, the Eightfold Path of Buddhism, and the Doctrine of Emptiness described by the Heart Sutra. -- R. W. Mann

HOP!

Nhat Hanh, Thich. HEART OF UNDERSTANDING: COMMENTARIES ON THE PRAJNAPARAMITA HEART SUTRA. Parallax Press, Paperback. November 1988.

Thich Nhat Hanh discusses the Heart Sutra, the central Buddhist scripture that sets forth a penetrating and liberating insight into the nature of reality. This ancient direct expression of meditative experience came to be depicted in human form as the Bodhisattva of Compassion and ultimately evolved into the Chinese Goddess of Mercy. -- R. W. Mann

HOP!

Buddhism -- Zen

HOP TO RECENT BOOKS ON ZEN BUDDHISM

Bielefeldt, Carl. DOGEN'S MANUALS OF ZEN MEDITATION. University of Chicago Press, September 1990. Paper.

In the 13th Century, Dogen, who was to become one of the world's great religious teachers, travelled to China to learn about the teachings of the Buddha. Although it doesn't look like a great journey on a modern map, this was an extremely dangerous sea voyage, given the state of ship-building and navigation at the time, and the sudden storms that blow up in the Sea of Japan. When Dogen finally reached his destination, a Buddhist monastary, he was taken to the kitchen, where he found the head of the monastery absorbed in kitchen work. This was the first of many of Dogen's lessons in Buddhist practice. On returning to Japan, Dogen founded a meditative monastic order that came to be called the Soto school of Zen Buddhism in Japan. The Soto practice was also known as peasants' or farmers' Zen. It eschews esoteric teachings for a direct approach to the question of how to live a good life in this world. Like Shunryu Suzuki, who brought Soto Zen to 20th Century America, Dogen discussed mundane details of monastic discipline as well as the central practice of zazen, or meditative sitting and walking, and the understanding achieved through this practice. -- R. W. Mann HOP!

We do not practice zazen

to attain enlightenment,

but rather to express our true nature.

-- Shunryu Suzuki

Roth, Martin, and John Stevens. ZEN GUIDE: WHERE TO MEDITATE IN JAPAN. Weatherhill. 1985. 121 pages.

An annotated catalog, published 13 years ago, of Zen training centers and monasteries in Japan. Some centers in Japan try to minimize the "culture shock" experienced by non-Japanese students and some seek to accommodate people who wish to experience Zen training for a time as laymen. (The Shogo-Ji Temple in Southern Japan has begun in more recent years to provide monastic training for international students who seek to become Soto Zen priests. ) -- R. W. Mann HOP!

Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro. FIELD OF ZEN. Buddhist Society, September 1969. Cloth.

A very inexpensive little book on Zen Buddhism by the esteemed Japanese scholar who introduced the topic widely to the English-speaking world in the mid-20th Century. -- R. W. Mann HOP!

Suzuki, D. T. INTRODUCTION TO ZEN BUDDHISM. Century, August 1991. Paper

This is one of the most influential popular books published in 20th Century America. D.T. Suzuki's Introduction to Zen Buddhism, published by Grove Press, galvanized a wide interest in Eastern philosophy and Buddhist teachings in the 1960's. Interest reverberated in the popular culture for a time but has also led to an incipient but apparently hardy American Buddhist movement that is still putting its roots down in academia and grassroots meditation centers. -- R. W. Mann HOP!

Sukuki, D. T. ZEN AND JAPANESE CULTURE. (Bollingen Series). MJF, October 1996. Cloth. 478 pages.

Following the horrific events of the Second World War, this landmark book offered Americans the gift of Buddhist philosophy and invited them to look more deeply at their defeated adversaries, the Japanese. -- R. W. Mann HOP!

Suzuki, Shunryu. ZEN MIND, BEGINNER'S MIND. New York: Weatherhill, July 1973. PAPER.

In this collection of informal lectures, the founder of the San Francisco Zen Center presents in various ways the central practice of Soto Zen Buddhism -- a highly disciplined form of quiet sitting (and walking) in which mind, breath, and body are brought into harmony, and one learns to experience the world without anxiety or fear. -- R. W. Mann HOP!

 In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities;  
in
the expert's mind there are few.  --  Shunryu Suzuki

Walpola, Rahula. ZEN AND THE TAMING OF THE BULL. Gordon Fraser, April 1978. Cloth.

A clear and readable discussion of zen meditation by a distinguished Buddhist scholar and monk. A popular subject in traditional Asian art is a small boy searching for, finding, and taming a mighty ox. Such paintings tell, in allegorical terms, the story of a human being observing, taming, and training the mind. -- R. W. Mann HOP!

Yamada, Koun. GATELESS GATE. University of Arizona. April 1991. Cloth.

"Does a dog have Buddha nature?" Koans are seemingly impossible questions used in meditative training. They were developed by Zen masters of the Rinzai school and are at the heart of Rinzai training, although they are sometimes used in Soto Zen training as well. This book is a famous collection of zen koans and commentaries. -- R. W. Mann HOP!

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Psychology -- Meditation

Austin, James H., M. D. ZEN AND THE BRAIN. MIT Press. March 1998. Cloth.

What happens in the brain during meditation? According to Dr. Austin, many regular physiological changes are observed in the brain as muscles relax, breathing slows, and the mind becomes calm. -- R. W. Mann HOP!

Carrington, Patricia. BOOK OF MEDITATION: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO MODERN MEDITATION. Element Books, May 1996. Paper.

An authoritative handbook on meditation from the point of view of Western clinical psychology. Includes practical advice on techniques. -- R. W. Mann HOP!

Hirai, Tomio. ZEN MEDITATION AND PSYCHOTHERAPY. Paperback.

A psychiatrist explains the beneficial physiological effects of meditation and offers practical guidance regarding meditative posture, breathing, and concentration. Dr. Hirai's pioneering studies found that meditators remain alert and reactive to external stimuli (such as the sound of a bell) but have an unusual ability to return quickly to a quiet, relaxed state following stimulation. -- R. W. Mann HOP!

Kalupahana, David S. PRINCIPLES OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY.SUNY Series in Buddhist Studies, July 1987. Cloth.

A comprehensive account of the principles of Buddhist psychology. Early Buddhist thought was influenced by traditional Hindu views on human sensation and perception, which, in some respects, were remarkably economical and sophisticated, even from a modern, scientific point of view. The practice of Buddhist meditation itself has given a unique meaning to the concept of "self." -- R. W. Mann HOP!

The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism,
but to study ourselves.  --  Shunryu Suzuki

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Psychology -- Self-Care

McCullough, Christopher J., and Robert Woods Mann. MANAGING YOUR ANXIETY: REGAINING CONTROL WHEN YOU FEEL STRESSED, HELPLESS, AND ALONE. Berkley Group. Paper. July 1994.

In this book, first published in 1985, my co-author and I "share equally the responsibility for attempting to fit together a picture of the human experience of chronic anxiety and self-defeating fear, a picture that treats their natural and spiritual dimensions as a meaningful unity." For my part, I see this book as "first aid" for those -- often intelligent, conscientious people -- who are feeling stymied by worries and fears. Contains practical, step-by-step advice on several effective approaches to improved self-care, including assertion training, desensitization training, meditation and relaxation, nutrition, and exercise. In writing this book, I was influenced by the beneficial effects of Zazen (Buddhist meditation). We received an honorable mention from the American Psychological Association in its annual book awards. -- R. W. Mann HOP!

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Audio Tapes

Hanh, Thich Nhat. THE ART OF MINDFUL LIVING. Sounds True, December 1992. AUDIO TAPES.

Thich Nhat Hanh explains meditation techniques and discusses the benefits of bringing meditative calmness, awareness, and compassion into everyday life. Two cassettes. -- R. W. Mann HOP!

Hanh, Thich Nhat. PLUM VILLAGE MEDITATIONS. Sounds True, July 1997. AUDIO TAPE.

Thich Nhat Hanh offers listeners a 45-minute bell-sounding meditative exercise taught at the world-famous Plum Village sanctuary and peace center in France. Sister Jina of Plum Village offers three guided meditations -- one on breathing, one on physical relaxation, one on transforming anger into kindness. One cassette. -- R. W. Mann HOP!

Tanahashi, Kazushi, and Gary Snyder. TEACHINGS OF ZEN MASTER DOGEN: SELECTIONS FROM MOON IN A DEWDROP, abridged edition. Audio Library, April 1992. AUDIO TAPES.

"Practical and down-to-earth, paradoxical and mystical" -- this is a not uncommon reaction to Zen Master Dogen's writings. Dogen went to China in the 13th Century to study Buddhist teachings and returned to Japan to found what came to be called the Soto school of Zen Buddhism. The underlying unity in Dogen's thought is found in the cultivation of the practice of zazen, or meditative sitting and walking, as a form of self-understanding and self-discipline. Two cassettes. -- R. W. Mann HOP!

Suzuki, Shunryu. ZEN MIND, BEGINNER'S MIND. As read by Peter Coyote. Audio Library, September 1988.AUDIO TAPES.

In this collection of informal lectures -- read by actor Peter Coyote -- the founder of the San Francisco Zen Center presents in various ways the central practice of Soto Zen Buddhism -- a highly disciplined form of quiet sitting (and walking) in which mind, breath, and body are brought into harmony, and one learns to experience the world without anxiety or fear. Some may find the reading a bit quick-paced for the content, but it is a very good, clear reading apart from an eccentric pronunciation of the word "heretic" on one occasion. Two cassettes. -- R. W. Mann HOP!

It is a mistake to decry other religions; the sincere
 practitioner gives honor to whatever in them is worthy
 of honor. -- King Ashoka, decree inscribed
on stone pillars in India, approximately 250 B.C.

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