rinzai
thezensite's
reading list
This reading list/bibliography is quite extensive so I've broken it into two pages. Page 2 of the reading list incliudes Zen in various countries, Zen Philsophy, Zen Ethics and Politics, Women and Zen, Zen Monastic Life and Zen Arts. More may be added over time as this is an ongoing project. Books sometimes end up in two or more catagories.
Support thezensite: click through from this site to Amazon to purchase any of these books. Thank you.   Page 2 reading list

GENERAL

Robert Aitken, Taking the Path of Zen, San Francisco: North Point Press, 1982. amazon
__________, The Morning Star: new and selected Zen writings, Shoemaker & Hoard, 2003.     buy now

Kenneth Ch'en, Buddhism in China: A Historical Survey, Princeton University Press, 1966.     buy now

Thomas Cleary, trans., Dhammapada: The Sayings of Buddha, New York: Bantam, 1995. buy now

Thomas Cleary, Minding Mind: A course in Basic Meditation, Boston & London: Shambhala, 1995. buy now

Heinrich Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism: A History, 2 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1988, 1990. (book review here) buy now

Bernard Fauré, The Rhetoric of Immediacy: A Cultural Critique of Chan/Zen Buddhism, Princeton University Press, 1994, (1991). (book review here) buy now

Gill Farrer-Halls, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Buddhist Wisdom: A Complete Introduction to the Principles and Practices of Buddhism, Quest Books,2000.    buy now

Nelson Foster and Jack Shoemaker, eds. The Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader. New York: Ecco Press, 1996.     buy now

Steven Heine, Zen Skin, Zen Marrow: Will the Real Zen Buddhism Please Stand Up?, Oxford University Press, 2007.   buy now

Steven Heine & Dale S. Wright (eds), Zen Ritual: Studies of Zen Buddhist Theory in Practice, New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. buy now
__________, Zen Classics: Formative Texts in the History of Zen Buddhism, New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.     buy now
__________, The Zen Canon: Understanding the Classic Texts, New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.     (book review here)     buy now

Kenneth Kraft, Zen: Tradition and Transition: A Sourcebook by Contemporary Zen Masters and Scholars, Grove Press, 1994.     buy now

Thomas P. Kasulis, Zen Action/Zen Person, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1981. buy now

Dainin Katagiri, Returning to Silence: Zen Practice in Daily Life, Boston & London: Shambhala, 1988. buy now

Kenneth Kraft, ed., Zen: Tradition and Transition : A Sourcebook by Contemporary Zen Masters and Scholars, Grove/Atlantic, 1989 buy now

Robert C. Lester, Buddhism: The Path to Nirvana, Prospect Heights: Waveland Press, 1998, (1987) buy now

John Daido Loori, Cave of Tigers: Modern Zen Encounters, New York: Weatherhill, 2000. (book review here) buy now
__________, Finding The Still Point: A Beginner’s Guide to Zen Meditation, Mt. Tremper: Dharma Communications, 1996. buy now

Lu K'uan Yü (Charles Luk), Ch'an and Zen Teaching (3 volumes),York Beach: Weiser, Inc, 1993, (1960). buy now

Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi & Bernard Glassman,
On Zen Practice: Body, Breath, Mind, Boston: Wisdom, 2002. buy now

Isshu Miura & Ruth Fuller Sasaki, The Zen Koan, San Diego: Harvest Books, 1993 (1965) buy now

Kōgen Mizuno, Buddhist Sutras: Origin, Development, Transmission, Tokyo: Kōsei Publishing Co., 1995 (1982) (book review here) buy now

Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Keys: A Guide to Zen Practice, (Clefs Pour le Zen, 1973) New York: Doubleday, 1974. buy now

Stephen Prothero, The White Buddhist: The Asian Odyssey of Henry Steel Olcot, Indiana University Press, 1996. (book review here) buy now

Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught: Revised and Expanded Edition with Texts from Suttas and Dhammapada, Grove Press, 1974.     buy now

Sokei-An Shigetsu Sasaki, Zen Pivots: Lectures on Buddhism and Zen, Weatherhill, 1998. (book review here) buy now

Katsuki Sekida, Zen Training: Methods and Philosophy, Shambhala, 2005.     buy now

Nyogen Senzaki and Ruth Strout-McCandless, Buddhism and Zen, North Point Press, 1988.    buy now

Shambhala, The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, Boston & London: Shambhala, 1991.     buy now

John S. Strong, The Experience of Buddhism: Sources and Interpretations, Wadsworth Publishing, 2007.    buy now

Paul Reps & Nyogen Senzaki, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, North Clarendon: Tuttle, 1998, (1957)  buy now

Katsuki Sekida, Zen Training: Methods and Philsophy, New York: Weatherhill, 1983 (1975) buy now

Shunryu Suzuki, Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen, New York, HarperOne, 2003. (book review here) buy now

Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, New York: Weatherhill, 1970.   buy now

Holmes Welch,  The Practice of Chinese Buddhism, Harvard University Press, 1967.     buy now

Janwillem van de Wetering, The Empty Mirror: Experiences in a Japanese Zen Monastery, New York: Pocket Books, 1972.  buy now

Paul Wienpahl, The Matter of Zen: a brief account of zazen, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1965.  buy now

Takeuchi Yoshinori (ed) Buddhist Spirituality (2 volumes), New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1995, 1999   buy now


SACRED TEXTS

Thomas Cleary, trans., The Flower Ornament Scripture: A Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra, Shambhala, 1993.    buy now  

Hsuan Hua, trans., The Shurangama Sutra: Sutra Text and Supplements Only, Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2003.    buy now

Moti Lal Pandit, trans.,The Lankavatara Sutra: A Mahayana Text, Coronet, 1999.     buy now

Red Pine (Bill Porter) trans., , The Platform Sutra: The Zen Teaching of Hui-neng, Counterpoint, 2006.     buy now
_______________, The Heart Sutra, Counterpoint, 2005.     buy now
_______________, The Diamond Sutra, Counterpoint, 2002.     buy now

Burton Watson, trans., The Lotus Sutra, Columbia University Press, 1993.     buy now
_______________, The Vilamakirti Sutra, Columbia University Press, 2000.    buy now

Philip Yampolsky, The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, Columbia University Press, 1978.     buy now

ZEN AND THE WEST

Enid Adam and Philip J Hughes, The Buddhists in Australia, Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1996. (book review here) out of print

Robert Aitken, Original Dwelling Place: Zen Essays, Upland: Counterpoint, 1996. (book review here)  buy now

Stephen Batchelor. Awakening of the West: the Encounter of Buddhism and Western Culture, London: Aquarian, 1994. (book review here)  buy now

David Chadwick, Thank You and Ok!: An American Zen Failure in Japan, Boston: Shambhala, 1994. buy now
_______________, Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Zen Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki, Broadway, 2000. buy now

James William Coleman, The New Buddhism: The Western Transformation of an Ancient Tradition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001 (book review herebuy now

Michael Downing, Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center, Washington: Counterpoint, 2001. (book review herebuy now

Heinrich Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism in the 20th Century, New York: Weatherhill, 1992.  buy now

Rick Fields, How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in America, 3rd ed., Boston & London: Shambhala, 1992 (1981) (book review here)  buy now

Philip Kapleau, The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice and Enlightenment, rev. ed., New York: Anchor/Doubleday, 1980 (1965) buy now

Philip Kapleau, Zen: Dawn in the West, New York: Anchor/Doubleday, 1980.  buy now

Peter Matthiessen, Nine-Headed Dragon River: Zen Journals 1969-1982, London: Collins Harvill, 1986. buy now

Charles S. Prebish, and Martin Baumann, eds., Westward Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Asia, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. (book review here)  buy now

David L. Preston, The Social Organization of Zen Practice: Constructing Transcultural Reality, Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.  buy now

Sokei-An Shigetsu Sasaki, Zen Pivots: Lectures on Buddhism and Zen, Weatherhill, 1998. (book review here)  buy now

Gary Snyder, Earth House Hold: Technical Notes and Queries to Fellow Dharma Revolutionaries, New York: New Directions Publishing Co., 1969.  buy now

Manfred Steger & Perl Besserman, Grassroots Zen, Tuttle, 2002.    buy now

Carole Tonkinson, Big Sky Mind: Buddhism and the Beat Generation, New York: Riverhead Books, 1995 (book review here)  buy now

Janwillem van de Wetering, Afterzen: Experiences of a Zen Student Out on His Ear , New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2001.    buy now
__________, A Glimpse of Nothingness: Experiences in an American Zen Community, New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 1999.    buy now

Duncan Ryuken Williams and Christopher S. Queen, eds. American Buddhism. Methods and Findings in Recent Scholarship, Richmond: Curzon Press, 1999. (book review here)  buy now


See Page 2


Contemporary Zen Masters

Robert Aitken, Taking the Path of Zen, San Francisco: North Point Press, 1982. amazon
__________, The Gateless Gate: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan), Northpoint Press, 1997.    buy now
__________, Encouraging Words: Zen Buddhist Teachings for Western Students, New York: Panetheon.     buy now

Reb Anderson, Warm Smiles from Cold Mountains: Dharma Talks on Zen Meditation, Berkeley: Rodmell, 2005.     buy now

Charlotte Joko Beck, Nothing Special: Living Zen, New York: HarperCollins, 1995.    buy now

Dr. Andrew Shugyo Daijo Bonnici: Boundless Intimacy: The Eye And Treasury Of Core-Self, Dog Ear Publishing, 2014 buy now

David Chadwick, Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Zen Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki, Broadway, 2000. buy now
__________, Zen Is Right Here: Teaching Stories and Anecdotes of Shunryu Suzuki, Author of “Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind“, Shambhala, 2007.    buy now

James Ishmael Ford, In This Very Moment: A Simple Guide to Zen Buddhism, Skinner House Books , 2002.     buy now

Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Keys: A Guide to Zen Practice, Three Leaves, 1994.     buy now

Thich Nhat Hanh and Bernard Glassman, On Zen Practice: Body, Breath, Mind, Wisdom Publications, 2002.     buy now

Philip Kapleau Roshi, The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment, Anchor; Rev Exp edition, 1989.     buy now

Dainin Katagiri, You Have to Say Something, Boston: Shambhala, 2000.     buy now
__________, Returning to Silence: Zen Practice in Daily Life, Boston & London: Shambhala, 1988. buy now


John Daido Loori, Mountain Record of Zen Talks, Boston: Shambhala, 1988. buy now
__________, The Art of Just Sitting, Second Edition: Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikantaza, Wisdom Pub., 2004    buy now
__________, The Eight Gates of Zen: A Program of Zen Training, Shambhala, 2002 buy now
__________, The Heart of Being: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen Buddhism, Dharma Communications, 2009 buy now
__________, Cave of Tigers: Modern Zen Encounters, New York: Weatherhill, 2000. (book review here) buy now

Taizan Maezumi Roshi, Appreciate Your Life: the Essence of Zen Practice, Boston: Shambhala Classics, 2002.     buy now

Toni Packer, The Silent Question: Meditating in the Stillness of Not-Knowing, Boston: Shambhala, 2007.     buy now
__________, The Work of This Moment, Boston: Shambhala, 2007.    buy now

Daigaku Rumme, trans., The Essence of Zen: The Teachings of Sekkei Harada, Wisdom, 2008.     buy now

Nyogen Senzaki, Eloquent Silence: Nyogen Senzaki's Gateless Gate and Other Previously Unpublished Teachings and Letters, Wisdom Publications, 2008.    buy now

Nyogen Senzaki and Ruth Strout-McCandless, Buddhism and Zen, North Point Press, 1988.    buy now

Seung Sahn, Only Don't Know: Selected Teaching Letters of Zen Master, Shambhala, 1999.     buy now

Sokei-An, Zen Pivots: Lectures on Buddhism and Zen, New York: Weatherhill, 1998.    (book review here)    buy now

Shunryu Suzuki, Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen, New York, HarperOne, 2003. (book review here) buy now
__________, Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness: Zen Talks on the Sandokai, University of California Press, 2001. buy now
__________, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, New York: Weatherhill, 1970.   buy now

Kazuaki Tanahashi, Endless Vow: The Zen Path of Soen Nakagawa,
Shambhala, 1996.     buy now

Kosho Uchiyama, Opening the Hand of Thought, Revised and Expanded Edition: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice, Wisdom, 2004.     buy now


DŌGEN

Masao Abe, A Study of Dōgen: His Philosophy and Religion, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992. buy now

Carl Bielefeldt, Dogen's Manuals of Zen Meditation, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988. (book review here)  buy now

Thomas Cleary, trans., Record of Things Heard: From the Treasury of the Eye of the True Teaching, Boulder: Prajna Press, 1980.  buy now

Thomas Cleary, trans., Shōbōgenzō: Zen Essays by Dōgen, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986.  buy now

Thomas Cleary, trans., Rational Zen: The Mind of Dogen Zenji, Boston & London: Shambhala, 1993  buy now

Francis Cook, trans., How to Raise an Ox: Zen Practice as Taught in Zen Master Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō, Summerville: Wisdom, 2002 (1978)  buy now

Francis Cook, trans., Sounds of Valley Streams: Enlightenment in Dogen's Zen, Albany: SUNY Press, 1989.  buy now

Hee-jin Kim, Eihei Dōgen: Mystical Realist, Revised, Third Edition, Wisdom Pub., 2004 (1975).  buy now

Hee-Jin Kim, Dōgen on Meditation and Thinking: A Reflection on his View of Zen, Albany: SUNY Press, 2007.  buy now

Steven Heine, Did Dogen Go to China?: What He Wrote and When He Wrote It, Oxford University Press, 2006.   (read Heine's essay)  buy the book now

Steven Heine, Dōgen and the Kōan Tradition: A Tale of Two Shōbōgenzō Texts, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994 (book review here)  buy now

Takashi James Kodera, Dogen's Formative Years in China, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980.   buy now

William R. LaFleur, ed., Dōgen Studies, Kuroda Institute, Studies in East Asian Buddhism, no. 2, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1985.   buy now

Taigen Daniel Leighton, Visions of Awakening Space and Time: Dōgen and the Lotus Sutra, New York: Oxford UP, 2007.   buy now

Taigen Daniel Leighton and Shohaku Okumura, trans. Dōgen's Extensive Record: A Translation of the Eihei Koroku, Boston: Wisdom Pub., 2004.  buy now

Taigen Daniel Leighton and Shohaku Okumura, trans. The Wholehearted Way: a translation of Eihei Dōgen's Bendowa, with commentary by Kōshō Uchiyama Roshi, Tuttle Pub., 1997.    buy now

Taigen Daniel Leighton and Shohaku Okumura, trans. Dōgen's Pure Standards for the Zen Community, A Translation of Eihei Shingi. Albany: SUNY Press, 1996.   buy now

John Daido Loorie & Kazuaki Tanahashi, The True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dōgen's Three Hundred Koans, Boston & London: Shambhala, 2005.  buy now

Reiho Masunaga, A Primer of Soto Zen: a Translation of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō Zuimonki, London and Henley: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1972.  buy now

Dennis Genpo Merzel, Beyond Sanity and Madness: the Way of Zen Master Dōgen, Boston: Tuttle, 1994.   buy now

Rev. Hubert Nearman, Shōbōgenzō: The Treasure House of the Eye of the True Teaching, Shasta Abbey, 2007 (free for download here)

Gudo Nishijima, trans., Master Dogen’s Shinji Shōbōgenzō: 301 Koan Stories, Woking: Windbell, 2003. (book review here)  buy now

Gudo Nishijima & Chodo Cross, trans., Master Dogen’s Shōbōgenzō, (4 volumes), Woking: Windbell, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999.   buy now

Joan Stambaugh, Impermanence is Buddha-nature: Dogen's Understanding of Temporality, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990.  buy now

Kazuaki Tanahashi, ed., Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen, San Francisco: North Point Press, 1985.  buy now

Kazuaki Tanahashi, ed. Beyond Thinking: A Guide to Zen Meditation (by Zen Master Dogen), Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2004.   buy now

Norman Waddell and Masao Abe, trans., The Heart of Dogen's Shōbōgenzō, New York, SUNY, 2002.   buy now

Hakuun Yasutani, Flowers Fall: A Commentary on Zen Master Dogen’s “Genjokoan”, Boston: Shambhala, 1996.  buy now


JAPAN

Mikael S. Adolphson, The Gates of Power: Monks, Courtiers, and Warriors in Premodern Japan, University of Hawaii Press, 2000.    buy now

William M. Bodiford, Sōtō Zen in Medieval Japan, Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1993.    buy now

Bernard Faure, Visions of Power: Imagining Medieval Japanese Buddhism, Princeton University Press, 2000.   buy now

Brian D. Ruppert, Jewel in the Ashes: Buddha Relics and Power in Early Medieval Japan, Harvard University Asia Center, 2000.    buy now

Jacqueline I. Stone, Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism, University of Hawaii Press, 2003.   buy now


See Page 2

KOANS

Robert Aitken, trans., The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan), Berkeley, North Point Press,  1990.amazon
Thomas Cleary, trans., No Barrier: Unlocking the Zen Koan, New York: Bantam, 1993. buy now
__________, Transmission of Light: Zen in the Art of Enlightenment by Zen Master Keizan, (Denkoroku), San Francisco: North Point, 1990. buy now
__________, Book of Serenity: One Hundred Zen Dialogues, Hudson: Lindisfarne Press, 1990. buy now
__________, Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record: Zen Comments by Hakuin and Tenkei, Boston & London: Shambhala, 2000. (book review here) buy now

Thomas Cleary & J. C. Cleary, trans., The Blue Cliff Record, Boston & London: Shambhala, 1992. buy now

Francis H. Cook, trans., The Record of Transmitting the Light: Zen Master Keizan’s "Denkoroku.” Los Angeles: Center Publications, 1991. buy now

Steven Heine, Opening a Mountain: Koans of the Zen Masters, New York: Oxford, 2002. (book review here) buy now

Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, eds., The Koan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism, New York: Oxford, 2000. (book review here) buy now

Alexander Holstein, trans., Pointing at the Moon: 100 Zen Koans from Chinese Masters, Rutland & Tokyo: Tuttle,1993.

Victor Sogen Hori, Zen Sand: The Book of Capping Phrases for Koan Practice, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2003. (book review here) (complete introduction free download)

Thomas Yūhō Kirchner, Entangling Vines: Zen Koans of the Shūmon Kattōshū, Kyoto: Tenryu-ji Institute for Philosophy and Religion, 2004. (book review here) buy now

Trever Legget, Samurai Zen: The Warrior Koans, London: Routledge, 2nd ed., 2003. buy now

Trever Legget, Zen and the Ways - Translations of Koans from the Kamakura Period of Japanese Zen, Boston: Tuttle, 1989.

John Daido Loori, ed., Sitting with Koans: Essential Writings on the Practice of Zen Koan Introspection, Boston: Wisdom Pubs., 2006. buy now

John Daido Loori, Two Arrows Meeting in Mid-air: The Zen Koan, ed. Bonnie Myotai Treace and Konrad Ryushin Marchaj, Boston: Tuttle, 1994.  buy now

John Daido Loorie & Kazuaki Tanahashi, The True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's Three Hundred Koans, Boston & London: Shambhala, 2005.   buy now

Isshu Miura & Ruth Fuller Sasaki, The Zen Koan, San Diego: Harvest Books, 1993 (1965) buy now

Gudo Nishijima, trans., Master Dogen’s Shinji Shōbōgenzō: 301 Koan Stories, Woking: Windbell, 2003. (book review herebuy now

Katsuki Sekida, trans., Two Zen Classics: the Gateless Gate & the Blue Cliff Records, New York: Weatherhill, 1977.  buy now

Nyogen Senzaki & Ruth Strout McCandless, The Iron Flute: 100 Zen Koans, Boston: Tuttle, 2000.  buy now

Zenkei Shibayama, Gateless Barrier: Zen Comments on the Mumonkan, Boston & London: Shambhala, 2000, (1974). buy now

Gerry Shishin Wick, The Book of Equanimity: Illuminating Classic Zen Koans, Boston: Wisdom, 2005. buy now
Koun Yamada, Gateless Gate, Somerville: Wisdom, 2004 (1979). buy now

MAHAYANA AND THE ORIGINS

OF ZEN (CHAN) IN CHINA


Wendi L. Adamek, The Mystique of Transmission: On an Early Chan History and its Contexts, New York : Columbia University Press, 2007.  buy now

William M. Bodiford, ed., Going Forth: Visions of Buddhist Vinaya, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2005.  buy now

Robert E. Buswell, Jr., and Robert M. Gimello, eds. Paths to Liberation: The Marga and its Transformations in Buddhist Thought, Honolulu: Univ. of Hawaii Press, 1992. buy now

Chang Chung-yüan, trans., Original Teachings of Ch'an Buddhism Selected from The Transmission of the Lamp, New York: Pantheon Books, 1969.  buy now

Thomas Cleary, trans. Zen Essence: The Science of Freedom, Boston & London: Shambhala, 1989.  buy now<

Thomas Cleary, Entry Into the Inconceivable: An Introduction to Hua-yen Buddhism, Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press, 1983  buy now

J. C. Cleary, trans., Zen Dawn: Early Zen Texts from Tun Huang, Boston & London: Shambhala, 1986.  buy now

Francis Dojun Cook, Hua-yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997.  buy now

Patricia Ebrey and Peter Gregory, eds., Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China, Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press, 1993.  buy now

Bernard Faure, The Will to Orthodoxy: A Critical Genealogy of Northern Chan Buddhism, Standford University Press, 1997. (book review here and here)  buy now

Andy Ferguson, Zen’s Chinese Heritage: The Masters and their Teachings. Boston: Wisdom, 2000.  buy now

Robert M. Gimello and Peter N. Gregory, eds., Studies in Ch'an and Hua-yen, Kuroda Institute, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1983.  buy now

Peter N. Gregory, Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism, Kuroda Institute, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002. (book review herebuy now

Peter N. Gregory, Inquiry Into the Origin of Humanity: An Annotated Translation of Tsung-mi's Yuan jenlun with a Modern Commentary, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1995. (book review here)   buy now

Peter N. Gregory, ed., Sudden and Gradual: Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought, Honolulu: U. of Hawaii Press, 1987.  buy now
_______________, Traditions of Meditation in Chinese Buddhism, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986.  buy now

Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, eds. The Zen Canon: Understanding the Classic Texts, New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. (book review here) buy now
_______________, Zen Classics: Formative Texts in the History of Zen Buddhism, New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.  buy now

John Kieschnick, The Eminent Monk: Buddhist Ideals in Medieval Chinese Hagiography, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1997. (book review here)  buy now

Taigen Daniel Leighton, trans., Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi (revised, expanded ed.). Boston: Tuttle, 2000.   buy now

Lu K'uan Yü (Charles Luk), Ch'an and Zen Teaching (3 volumes),York Beach: Weiser, Inc, 1993, (1960). buy now

Lu K'uan Yü (Charles Luk), The Transmission of the Mind Outside the Teaching, Evergreen, 1975.

John R. McRae, The Northern School and the Formation of Early Ch'an Buddhism, Kuroda Institute, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986.  buy now
_______________,Seeing Through Zen: Encounter, Transformation, and Genealogy in Chinese Chan Buddhism, Berkeley: Univ. of Calif. Press, 2003. (book reviews here, here, and here)  buy now

James Mitchell, Soto Zen Ancestors in China, San Francisco: Ithuriel's Spear, 2005.   buy now

Christine Mollier, Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face: Scripture, Ritual, and Iconographic Exchange in Medieval China, University of Hawaii Press, 2008.    buy now

William F. Powell, trans., The Record of Tung-shan, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986.  buy now

Morten Schlütter, How Zen Became Zen: The Dispute over Enlightenment and the Formation of Chan Buddhism in Song-Dynasty China, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2008.     buy now

Frederick J. Streng, Emptiness: A Study in Religious Meaning, Nashville: Abingdon, 1967.  buy now

Robert A.F. Thurman, trans., The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: a Mahayana scripture, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2001, (1976).  buy now

Marsha Weidner, ed., Cultural Intersections in Later Chinese Buddhism, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2001. (book review herebuy now

Albert Welter, The Linji Lu and the Creation of Chan Orthodoxy: The Development of Chan's Records of Sayings Literature, New York: Oxford University Press, 2008,   buy now

Dale S. Wright, Philosophical Meditations on Zen Buddhism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. (book review here)  buy now

Philip B. Yampolsky, The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch: the text of the Tun-Huang manuscript, translated with notes. New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1967. (sutra available here)

Yifa, The Origins of Buddhist Monastic Codes in China: An Annotated Translation and Study of the Chanyuan Qinggui, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2002. (book review here)  buy now

The Chinese Masters


Urs App, trans., Master Yunmen: From the Record of the Chan Teacher "Gate of the Clouds", New York: Kodansha, 1994.   buy now

John Blofeld, trans., Ch'an Master Hui Hai: Zen Teaching of Instantaneous Awakening, Buddhist Pub. Group, 2006.     buy now
__________, The Zen Teaching of Huang Po: On the Transmission of Mind, New York: Grove, 1958.   buy now

Buddhist Text Translation Society, The Sixth Patriarch's Dharma jewel platform sutra : with the commentary of Venerable Master Hsuan Hua, Burlingame: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2001 (1977). (free download here)

Chang Chung-yüan, trans., Original Teachings of Ch'an Buddhism Selected from The Transmission of the Lamp, New York: Pantheon Books, 1969.   buy now

Cheng Chien Bhikshu, trans., Sun-Face Buddha: The Teachings of Ma-tsu and the Hung-chou School of Ch'an, Fremont: Jain Publishing, 1991.   buy now

J. C. Cleary, trans., Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui, Boston & London: Shambhala, 2006 (1977)  buy now
_______________, Instant Zen: Waking Up in the Present (Foyan), Berkeley: North Atlantic, 1994.  buy now

_______________, A Tune Beyond The Clouds: Zen Teachings frm Old China (Shiqi Xinyue), Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1990.  buy now

J. C. Cleary & Thomas Cleary, trans., Zen Letters: Teachings of Yuanwu, Boston & London: Shambhala, 1994.  buy now

Thomas Cleary, trans., Stopping and Seeing: A Comprehensive Course in Buddhist Meditation by Chih-i, Boston: Shambhala, 1997.  buy now

James Green, trans., The Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Joshu (Chao-chou Chan-Shih Yu-Lu), Boston: Shambhala, 1998.  buy now
_______________, The Sayings of Layman P'ang: A Zen Classic of China, Boston: Shambhala, 2009.   buy now

John Jorgensen;
Inventing Hui-neng, the Sixth Patriarch: Hagiography And Biography in Early Ch'an, Brill Academic, 2005 buy now

Taigen Daniel Leighton with Yi Wu, trans., Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi, San Francisco:Northpoint, 1991.

John McRAe, trans., Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 2000. (free download here)

William Powell, trans., The Record of Tung-shan, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986.  buy now

Red Pine, trans. The Zen Teachings of Bodhidharma, San Francisco:North Point Press, 1987.  buy now

Irmgard Schloegl, trans., The Record of Rinzai, London: The Buddhist Society, 1975. (free download here)

Burton Watson, trans., The Zen Teachings of Master Lin-Chi, Boston & London: Shambhala, 1993. (book review here)  buy now


See Page 2