Resources

Web Resources:

  • Insight Meditation Society http://www.dharma.org (mindfulness/vipassana retreat center in Western Massachusetts founded by Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein and others)
  • Vipassana Meditation Center http://www.dhamma.org (vipassana meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka)
  • Spring Rain Sangha http://springrainsangha.com (Toronto mindfulness community who also lead retreats in Batavia, NY founded by Philip Starkman with teaching responsibilities also shared by Jim Bedard and Randy Baker)
  • Springwater Center http://www.springwatercenter.org (retreat center founded by Toni Packer, a former Zen teacher who now teaches a form of choice-less awareness and meditative inquiry)
  • Shinzen Young http://www.shinzen.org (unique vipassana teacher who combines techniques from the 3 major Buddhist traditions and leads retreats every year in Niagara Falls, Ontario)
  • Pema Chödrön http://pemachodrontapes.com (American women who ordained in the Tibetan tradition whose teachings are very accessible to Westerners)
  • Adyashanti http://www.adyashanti.org (former Zen student who now teaches a form of self proclaimed non-duality with no formal acknowledged connection to Zen or Buddhism)
  • Dharma Seed www.dharmaseed.org (free downloads of vipassana teachers dharma talks, please consider giving a donation when downloading a talk)
  • Access to Insight http://www.accesstoinsight.org (excellent resource on Theravada Buddhism)
  • Buddha Net http://www.buddhanet.net (Buddhist education and information network)
  • Dharma Net http://www.dharmanet.org (worldwide study, practice and action)
  • Sounds True www.soundstrue.co (audio series by a variety of meditation and spiritual teachers)

Original Sources:

  • The Dhammapada (beautiful and poetic sayings attributed to the Buddha) – many translations available. See the following link for a free copy: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.intro.than.html.
  • The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Majjihima Nikaya  Translated by Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi

Recommended Books on Meditation:

  • Stephen Levine: A Gradual Awakening, (highly recommended, especially for beginners)
  • Bante H. Gunaratana: Mindfulness in Plain English (also highly recommended)
  • Joseph Goldstein: The Experience of Insight; Seeking the Heart of Wisdom (with Jack Kornfield)
  • Jack Kornfield: A Path With Heart; After The Ecstasy, The Laundry
  • Tara Brach: Radical Acceptance
  • Sharon Salzberg: Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness; Faith
  • Jon Kabat-Zinn: Full Catastrophe Living; Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Daily Life
  • Larry Rosenberg: Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation
  • Ayya Khema: Being Nobody, Going Nowhere; Who is My Self?
  • Sayadaw U Pandita: In This Very Life (advanced teachings on Burmese Buddhist style of insight meditation mental noting practice)
  • Amy Schmidt: Knee Deep in Grace; the Extraordinary Life of Dipa Ma
  • Thich Nhat Hanh (Mindfulness – Mahayana, Zen): The Miracle of Mindfulness: A Manual on Meditation; Transformation and Healing; Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames; The Heart of the Buddha’s Teachings
  • Toni Packer (Originally Trained in Zen): The Work of This Moment
  • Pema Chodron (Tibetan – Tonglen and Compassion Practices): Start Where You Are; When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
  • Sakyong Mipham: (Tibetan – Shambhala Tradition): Turning the Mind Into An Ally

Books on Meditating with Children and Teens:

  • Thich Nhat Hanh A Pebble for Your Pocket
  • Sandy Eastoak, editor Dharma Family Treasures
  • Diana Winston Wide Awake: A Buddhist Guide for Teens
  • Norman Fischer Taking our Places: The Buddhist Path of Truly Growing Up
  • Gordhamer, Soren. Just Say Om! A Teenager’s Guide

Books on Death, Dying, and Illness:

  • Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear
  • Rodney Smith: Lessons from the Dying
  • Larry Rosenberg: Living in the Light of Death
  • Gavin Harrison: In The Lap of the Buddha
  • Sogyal Rinpoche: The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
  • Judith Lief: Making Friends With Death: A Buddhist Guide to Encountering Mortality
  • Christine Longaker, Facing Death and Finding Hope (Tibetan)
  • Padmasambhava according to Karma Lingpa: The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo

Books on Ethics and Social Action:

  • Arnold Kotler, ed. Engaged Buddhist Reader
  • Dalai Lama, Ethics for the New Millennium
  • Thich Nhat Hanh, For a Future to Be Possible

Books on Buddhist/Christian/Jewish Connection:

  • Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ and Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers
  • H.H. Dalai Lama, The Good Heart
  • Patrick Henry, editor: Benedict’s Dharma: Buddhists Reflect on the Rule of St. Benedict
  • Kamenetz, Roger The Jew in the Lotus
  • Kasimow, Harold et. al. Beside Still Waters: Jews, Christians, and The Way of the Buddha

Books on Buddhism in the West:

  • Joseph Goldstein: One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism
  • Buddhism: A Concise Introduction
  • Buddhist Religions: A Historical Introduction
  • The Faces of Buddhism in America
  • The New Buddhism