Selected Books

Mindfulness in Plain English,   
by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, is an excellent primer on Vipassana meditation.  It has been translated into dozens of languages and is on the required high school curriculum in Thailand.  I enjoy this book about once a year and every time I get tremendous understanding  from it while also realizing that I have never fully understood a word of it though it  has taught me to have great compassion for that understanding.  Little bits of it go a long way..  It is available in any bookstore.

* Denotes Recommended for beginners.  

Vipassana/Theravadan

 * Sylvia Boorstein, It's Easier Than You Think, (Harper San Francisco, 1995)
Thanissaro Bhikkhu, The Wings to Awakening, (Dharma Dana Publications 1996)
Stephen Batchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening, (Riverhead Books, 1997)
Stephen Batchelor, The Awakening of the West: The Encounter of Buddhism and Western Culture, (Parallax Press, 1994)
Tara Brach, Radical Acceptance -- Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha, (Bantam, 2003)
Achaan Chah, A Still Forest Pool, (Theosophical Publishing House, 1985)
Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield, Seeking the Heart of Wisdom, (Shambhala, 1987)
*Joseph Goldstein, Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom, (Shambala, 1993)
Joseph Goldstein, One Dharma -- The Emerging Western Buddhism, (Harper, 2002)
Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English, (Wisdom Publications, 1991)
* Gavin Harrison, In the Lap of the Buddha, (Shambhala, 1994)
Ayya Khema, Being Nobody Going Nowhere: Meditations on the Buddhist Path, (Wisdom, 1987)
Ayya Khema, Who Is My Self?: A Guide to Buddhist Meditation, (Wisdom, 1997)
* Jon Kabat-Zinn,Wherever You Go There You Are -- Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life, (Hyperion, 1994)
* Jack Kornfield, A Path With Heart -- A Guide through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life, (Bantam Books, 1993)
Jack Kornfield, Living Dharma : Teachings of Twelve Buddhist Masters, (Shambala, 1996)
Jack Kornfield (ed.), Teachings of the Buddha, (Shambhala, 1996)
Jack Kornfield, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry -- How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path, (Bantam Books, 2000)
Sharon Salzberg, Lovingkindness -- The Revolutionary Art of Happiness, (Shambhala, 1995)
Sharon Salzberg, A Heart as Wide as the World -- Stories on the Path of Lovingkindness, (Random House, 1999)
Sharon Salzberg, Faith, (Random House, 2002)
Amy Schmidt, Knee Deep in Grace -- The Extraordinary Life and Teachings of Dipa Ma, with stories from Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg, Joseph Goldstein and others, (Present Perfect Books, 2003) See Dipa Ma Web site.
Nyanaponika Thera, The Heart of Buddhist Meditation – A Handbook of Mental Training Based on the Buddha's Way of Mindfulness, (Samuel Weiser, 1965)

Zen

Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen, (Harper & Row, 1989)
Charlotte Joko Beck, Nothing Special: Living Zen, (Harper San Francisco, 1993)
Robert E. Buswell, Tracing Back the Radiance: Chinul's Korean Way of Zen, (University of Hawaii Press, 1991)
Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, (Weatherhill, 1970)
Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace
Thich Nhat Hanh, Going Home -- Jesus and Buddha as Brothers, (Riverhead Books, 1999)
Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha Living Christ, (Riverhead Books, 1995)
* Thich Nhat Hanh, The Long Road Turns to Joy -- A Guide to Walking Meditation, (Parallax Press, 1996)
* Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness, (Beacon Press, 1975)

Tibetan Buddhism

 Chandrakirti, Introduction to the Middle Way – Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with Commentary by Jamgon Mipham, (Padmakara Translation Group, Shambhala, 2002)
Dalai Lama, A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night -- A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, (Shambhala, 1994)
Dalai Lama, The Good Heart -- Buddhist Perspectives on the Teachings of Jesus, (Wisdom Publications, 1996)
Dalai Lama, The Art of Happiness -- A Handbook for Living, (Riverhead Books, 1998)
Dalai Lama, Essence of the Heart Sutra -- The Dalai Lama's Heart of Wisdom Teachings, (Wisdom, 2002)
Pema Chodron, Start Where You Are -- A Guide to Compassionate Living, (Shambhala, 1994)
Pema Chodron, When Things Fall Apart -- Heart Advice for Difficult Times, (Shambhala, 1997)
Pema Chodron, The Places That Scare You -- A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times, (Shambhala, 2001)
Matthieu Ricard, Journey to Enlightenment -- The Life and World of Khyentse Rinpoche, Spiritual Teacher from Tibet, (Aperture, 1997)
Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, (Harper San Francisco, 1992)
Surya Das, Awakening the Buddha Within -- Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World, (Broadway Books, 1997)
Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Fearless Simplicity -- The Dzogchen Way of Living Freely in a Complex World, (Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 2003)
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Rainbow Painting, (Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 1995)

 Spiritual Journey

 Malidoma Some', The Healing Wisdom of Africa -- Finding Life Purpose Through Nature, Ritual, and Community, (Tarcher/Putnam, 1999)
Lex Hixon, Coming Home: The Experience of Enlightenment in Sacred Traditions, (Larsen Publications, 1978)
Stephen Levine, A Gradual Awakening, (Anchor Books, 1979)
Stephen Levine, Healing Into Life and Death, (Doubleday, 1987)
Stephen Levine, A Year to Live -- How to Live This Year As If It Were Your Last, (Bell Tower, 1997)
Martin Prechtel, Secrets of the Talking Jaguar -- Memoirs from the Living Heart of a Mayan Village, (Tarcher/Putnam, 1998)

The Natural World

Thomas Berry, The Dream of the Earth, (Sierra Club Books, 1988)
Thomas Berry, The Great Work -- Our Way into the Future, (Bell Tower, 1999)
Fritjof Capra, The Web of Life -- A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems, (Anchor Books, 1996)
Fritjof Capra and David Steindl-Rast, Belonging to the Universe -- Explorations on the Frontiers of Science and Spirituality, (Harper San Francisco, 1992)
Joanna Macy, World as Lover, World as Self, (Parallax Press, 1991)
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, I Am That (Chetana, 1973)

Science and Buddhism

David Bohm and F. David Peat, Science, Order, and Creativity, Second Edition, (Routledge, 2000)
David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order, (Routledge, 1981)
Joanna Macy, Mutual Causality in Buddhism and General System Theory -- The Dharma of Natural Systems, (State University of New York, 1991)
Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela, The Tree of Knowledge - The Biological Roots of Human Understanding, (Shambhala, 1987)
*Wes Nisker, Buddha Nature -- Evolution as a Practical Guide to Enlightenment, (Bantam Books, 1998)
Matthieu Ricard and Trinh Xuan Thuan, The Quantum and the Lotus – Journey to the Frontiers Where Science and Buddhism Meet, (Crown, 2001)
Francisco Varela, Evan Thompson, Eleanor Rosch, The Embodied Mind -- Cognitive Science and Human Experience, (MIT Press, 1991)
B. Alan Wallace, Choosing Reality, (Snow Lion, 1996)
Renee Weber, Dialogues with Scientists and Sages -- The Search for Unity, (Arkana, 1986)