READING ZEN

Zen is about the practices of presence. In East Asian traditions, any kind of intellectual study is usually discouraged until one has firmly established a disciplined meditation practice. This caution might well be kept in mind.

At the same time, intellectual study has an important place for anyone on a spiritual path. While reminding people that these are at best cookbooks, and that at some point one needs to actually cook, and eat, the following is a brief listing of significant books addressing Buddhism and particularly the Zen school of Buddhism.

This list includes: introductions; histories; studies of koans, the unique contribution of Zen to meditation disciplines; writings of various contemporary Buddhist teachers in the West; and, some critiques. This is in no manner an exhaustive bibliography. It is, however, particularly oriented to the concerns of a possibly-emerging Western spiritual tradition.

INTRODUCTIONS TO ZEN
Robert Aitken, Taking the Path of Zen, North Point

Martine Batchelor, Principles of Zen, Thorsons

James Ishamel Ford, This Very Moment: A Brief Introduction to Buddhism and Zen for Unitarian Universalists, Skinner House

HISTORIES OF ZEN
Heinrich Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism: A History (2 Volumes), MacMillan

Andy Ferguson, Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings, Wisdom Publications

Rick Fields, How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in America, Shambhala

KOAN COLLECTIONS
Robert Aitken, The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-men Kuan (Mumonkan), North Point

Stefano Mui Barragato, Zen Light: Unconventional Commentaries on the Denkoroku, Tuttle

Thomas and J.C. Cleary, The Blue Cliff Record, Shambhal

Thomas Cleary, Book of Serenity, Lindisfarne

Francis Dojun Cook, The Record of Transmitting the Light, Center

Nyogen Senzaki, The Iron Flute: 100 Zen Koans, Tuttle

SUTRAS, SCHOOLS, AND TEACHERS: STUDIES
Edward Conze, Buddhist Wisdom: The Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra, Vintage

Francis Dojun Cook, How to Raise An Ox: Zen Practice as Taught in Master Dogen's Shobogenzo, Wisdom Publications

Peter Haskel, Bankei Zen: Translations from the Record of Bankei, Grove

Mu Soeng, The Diamond Sutra: Transforming the Way We Perceive the World, Wisdom Publications

CONTEMPORARY ZEN TEACHERS
Robert Aitken, Mind of Clover, North Point

Robert Aitken, Encouraging Words: Zen Buddhist Teachings for Western Students, Pantheon

Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen: Love and Work, Harper & Row

Roko Sherry Chayat, Subtle Sound: The Zen Teachings of Maurine Stuart, Shambhala

Ruben Habito, Healing Breath: Zen Spirituality for a Wounded Earth, Orbis

Roshi Philip Kapleau, The Three Pillars of Zen, Anchor Press

Taizan Maezumi and Bernie Glassman, On Zen Practice: Body, Breath, and Mind, Wisdom Publications

Isshu Miura and Ruth Fuller Sasaki, Zen Koan, Harcourt, Brace

Seung Sahn, Only Don't Know: The Teaching Letters of Zen Master Seung Sahn, Shambhala

Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Weatherhill

John Tarrant, The Light Inside the Dark: Zen, Soul, and the Spiritual Life, Harper Collins

OTHER BUDDHIST TEACHINGS
Stephen Batchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening, Riverhead

Sylvia Boorstein, It's Easier Than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness, Harper San Francisco

Pema Chodron, When Things Fall Apart, Shambhala

Marianne Dresser, Buddhist Women on the Edge: Contemporary Perspectives from the Western Frontier, North Atlantic

Bernie Glassman, Bearing Witness: A Zen Master's Lessons in Making Peace, Bell Tower

Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English: Updated and Expanded Edition, Wisdom  Publications

Jack Kornfield, A Path With Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life, Bantam

Joanna Macy, World as Lover, World as Self, Parralax

Larry Rosenberg, Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation, Shambhala

Sharon Salzberg, Lovingkindess: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness, Shambhala

CONTEMPORARY CRITIQUES OF BUDDHISM AND ZEN
Bernard Faure, Chan Insights and Oversights: An Epistemological Critique of the Chan Tradition, Princeton

Rita Gross, A Feminist History, Analysis, and Reconstruction of Buddhism, SUNY

Christopher S. Queen, Engaged Buddhism in the West, Wisdom

Brian Victoria, Zen at War, Weatherhill