great Buddhist books

~terry Sun, Sep 7, 1997 (14:22) seed

What are the great books of Buddhism? What is your personal favorite? What books do you keep going back to over and over? What book would you give as a gift to a newcomer to Buddhism?

~terry Sun, Sep 7, 1997 (14:49) #1

My two favorite books are the I Ching and Zen Mind, Beginners Mind.

~terry Sun, Sep 14, 1997 (14:36) #2

From Tom Carr: J. van de Wetering wrote another book "A Glimpse of Nothingness" about an American Zen community. I read it years ago and really liked it. He later wrote a series of detective mystery books. I never read them but a friend told me they were good. I don't remember if the detective was a Buddhist or not. One of my favorites is "How the Swans came to the Lake" by Rick Fields, about how Buddhism came to America. Also I would recommend to practice a lot. That contributed more to my understanding of Buddhism than reading. Reading was much easier for me so I had a tendency to read a lot and practice a little. This is sort of like reading lots of books about exercise techniques and muscle development but never exercising.

~terry Sun, Sep 14, 1997 (17:37) #3

Tom Carr: Wed Sep 13 '95 (16:41) 6 lines . . . as I was reading your post just now I had a strong flash that you might get a lot from reading a guy name David Reynolds, who is into a sort of Japanese, Zen influenced psychotherapy that he calls "constructive living". He had a magor influence on me. Two of his books are "Pools of Lodging for the Moon", and "Playing Ball on Running Water". Are you familiar with him ?

~zen Mon, Sep 15, 1997 (00:51) #4

from J. Weltman (jaxers@well.com): The WISDOM catalogue of Buddhist Books: 361 Newbury St. Boston, Mass., 02115 617-536-1897 (voice) Very LARGE and thorough Collection - including rare choices from the Pali Text society.

~ddv Tue, Oct 28, 1997 (11:18) #5

Dharma Bums - Jack Kerouac

~stacey Wed, Oct 29, 1997 (11:14) #6

i concur.

~KitchenManager Wed, Jan 7, 1998 (13:35) #7

Confession time: Until yesterday I had never read any Buddhist/Zen literature, but I am thoroughly enjoying Essential Zen by Kazuaki Tanahashi and Tensho David Schneider. Decided after meeting someone *wink* it was time to further educate myself. Dharma Bums is out of print, anyone know where I can get a copy? It will make me relive a certain part of my life best forgotten, but it has been recommended to me before by people I trusted.

~terry Thu, Jan 8, 1998 (23:25) #8

Have you tried Half Price Books? Or BookPeople?

~KitchenManager Fri, Jan 9, 1998 (01:01) #9

Actually got lucky...after I posted this, told the wife and she has a copy in a 3 book collection.

~KitchenManager Thu, Jul 2, 1998 (02:17) #10

Currently reading the Te of Piglet, finished the Tao of Pooh on Tuesday

~stacey Mon, Jul 6, 1998 (16:00) #11

I did not think the Te of Piglet was nearly as worthy as the Tao of Pooh.

~KitchenManager Wed, Jul 8, 1998 (03:03) #12

of course not, for he is a Very Small Animal... I'm waiting for The Etiquette of Eyeore...

~stacey Wed, Jul 8, 1998 (15:25) #13

*smile* how about the Esteem of Eyeore (since he surely has none of his own!)

~KitchenManager Wed, Jul 8, 1998 (18:39) #14

you know, I think that that is probably Quite A Good Suggestion...

~KitchenManager Wed, Jul 8, 1998 (18:40) #15

(just out of paranoid curiosity...you upset with me about something?)

~stacey Wed, Jul 8, 1998 (19:10) #16

no... should I be? *grin*

~KitchenManager Wed, Jul 8, 1998 (21:45) #17

not sure...tis why I asked...

~stacey Thu, Jul 9, 1998 (14:58) #18

I would ask what you have done that could've upset me but... I am sure you could think of something! *laugh* (may I ask though, what gave you that impression?) (or was it perchance, just a cybersensation?)

~KitchenManager Thu, Jul 9, 1998 (15:13) #19

hehe... (I dunno) (maybe...)

~stacey Thu, Jul 9, 1998 (15:13) #20

Hello Mr. Eyeore!

~KitchenManager Thu, Jul 9, 1998 (15:21) #21

I been waiting on that one! How about, for the next title, The Enzo of Eyeore

~stacey Thu, Jul 9, 1998 (15:29) #22

and I have been selfishly refusing to give you the satisfaction (until just a bit ago, of course)

~KitchenManager Thu, Jul 9, 1998 (15:36) #23

tis not always selfish...sometimes it is quite enjoyable to have one's satisfaction delayed...

~stacey Thu, Jul 9, 1998 (15:42) #24

WOO WOO! i HEAR you!

~KitchenManager Thu, Jul 9, 1998 (15:55) #25

if only...although, possibly in this case, we're delaying about as much as we can, huh? *wink* craving another tiramisu yet?

~stacey Thu, Jul 9, 1998 (15:57) #26

serving any in August?

~KitchenManager Thu, Jul 9, 1998 (16:00) #27

why, yessum, I believe so...

~stacey Thu, Jul 9, 1998 (16:01) #28

please save one (or three!) for me!

~KitchenManager Thu, Jul 9, 1998 (16:04) #29

got it...any other reservations?

~stacey Thu, Jul 9, 1998 (19:09) #30

no... but you need to give us the info on your days off so's you can come to the swim party at Paul's!

~KitchenManager Thu, Jul 9, 1998 (23:49) #31

don't you have to give me a definite on when you're going to be here first?

~stacey Fri, Jul 10, 1998 (14:42) #32

ummm.. that will come AFTER the tix are purchased... *dumb grin*

~KitchenManager Fri, Jul 10, 1998 (14:50) #33

then what do you want from me, woman? (well, besides a mushroom marsala, some tiramisu, and a rw massage...) (oh, yeah, and a better all around mood...)

~stacey Fri, Jul 10, 1998 (15:05) #34

that would be about it... (see how easy I am to maintain?)

~KitchenManager Fri, Jul 10, 1998 (15:10) #35

yep, just preventive maintenance...that way, there's more money available for my repair bills...

~stacey Fri, Jul 10, 1998 (18:02) #36

(i just had a fabulous skate... to the foothills... hot and sweaty for an hour and then the cloud cover arrived (briefly) and i felt as if someone had dipped me in a pina colada Slurpee... yum!) i feel good. my spirit feels light and whole and honest and strong...