Recommended Readings

Temple Library

The Temple has an in-person lending library. Members can check out books. Browse our catalog.

Start Here

Our Teachers Rinsen and Do'on recommend starting with Rev. James Myoun Ford Roshi's books: 

1. If You're Lucky, Your Heart Will Break: Field Notes from a Zen Life. 

2. Introduction to Zen Koans: Learning the Language of Dragons

James Ford Roshi was our Teachers' Guiding Teacher and gave Rinsen Roshi full Dharma Transmission as a recognized Zen teacher in the Koan Introspection and Soto Zen traditions on March 19, 2015 followed by Inka Shomei recognition on August 13, 2019.

Teachers Recommendations for Academic Study

Rinsen and Do’on recommend these books for academic study. Most of these books are available from your local public library or in the Temple’s lending library for Members.

• On Zen Practice: Body, Breath, and Mind. Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi and Bernard Glassman.

• The Eight Gates of Zen: A Program of Zen Training. John Daido Loori.

• Taking the Path of Zen. Robert Aitken.

• Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. Shunryu Suzuki.

• The Story of Zen. Richard Bryan McDaniel.

• The Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader. Nelson Foster and Jack Shoemaker.

Recommendations from our Priests

• On Zen Practice: Body, Breath, and Mind. Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi and Bernard Glassman.

• Zen in the Art of Archery.  Eugen Herrigel

• Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen​​​​​​​. Shunryu Suzuki.

Other Great Books for Beginners

• In the Buddhas Words.  Bhikkhu Bodhi.

• What the Buddha Taught.  Rahula, Walpola.

• Everyday Zen: Love & Work.  Beck, Charlotte Joko

• Start Where You Are.  Chödrön, Pema

• The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment.  Kapleau, Roshi Philip, ed.

• Path of Enlightenment: Stages in a Spiritual Journey.  Loori, John Daido

• The Still Point: A Beginner's Guide to Zen Meditation

• Getting the Buddha Mind. Edited by Ernest Heau.  Master Sheng-yen

• Buddha.  Armstrong, Karen.

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

• Essential Buddhism: A Complete Guide to Beliefs and Practices.  Maguire, Jack.

• Historical Buddha.  H.W. Schumann.

• First Buddhist Women.  Susan Murcott.

• Mountain Record of Zen Talks. Mt. Tremper, N.Y.: Dharma Communications, 1988.  Loori, John Daido.

• The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch: The text of the TunHuang Manuscript.  Yampolsky, Philip B., trans.