Some of Our Favorite Books on Buddhism

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
Anapanasati - Mindfulness with Breathing
Mindfulness with Breathing is a meditation technique anchored In our breathing, it is an exquisite tool for exploring life through subtle awareness and active investigation of the breathing and life. The breath is life, to stop breathing is to die. The breath is vital, natural, soothing, revealing. It is our constant companion. Wherever we go, at all times, the breath sustains life and provides the opportunity for spiritual development.

Anapanasati, Citta, Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Insight Meditation, Kaya, Mindfulness with Breathing, Mindfulness with Breathing, Sati, Vedana, Vipassana,

Bhikkhu Bodhi
The Noble Eightfold Path
The present book aims at contributing towards a proper understanding of the Noble Eightfold Path by investigating its eight factors and their components to determine exactly what they involve. I have attempted to be concise, using as the framework for exposition the Buddha's own words in explanation of the path factors, as found in the Sutta Pitaka of the Pali Canon.

Buddha, Dhamma, Dukkha, Four Noble Truths, Mindfulness, Noble Eightfold Path, Right Action, Right Concentration, Right Effort, Right Intention, Right Livelihood, Right Mindfulness, Right Speech, Right View, Sati, Suffering,

Mahathera Henepola Gunaratana
Mindfulness In Plain English
People do not respond to very stern and rigid language especially when we try to teach something which normally people don't engage in during their daily life. Meditation appears to them as something that they cannot always do. As more people turn to meditation, they need more simplified instructions so they can practice by themselves without a teacher around. This book is the result of requests made by many meditators who need a very simple book written in ordinary colloquial language.

Five Hindrances, Insight Meditation, Noble Eightfold Path, Right Concentration, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Seven Enlightenment Factors, Vipassana,

P. A. Payutto
Dependent Origination
The teaching of causal interdependence is the most important of Buddhist principles. It describes the law of nature, which exists as the natural course of things. The Buddha was no emissary of heavenly commandments, but the discoverer of this principle of the natural order, and the proclaimer of its truth to the world. The progression of causes and conditions is the reality which applies to all things, from the natural environment, which is an external, physical condition, to the events of human society, ethical principles, life events and the happiness and suffering which manifest in our own minds.

Dependent Origination, Paticcasamuppada,

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
Handbook for Mankind
The Venerable Buddhadasa offers fresh insights into a timeless Truth (Dhamma), in the direct and simple manner that characterizes all his teaching... As a guide for newcomers to the Buddha-Dhamma, this book is an invaluable guide. In it are contained the essential teachings of Buddhism. The Handbook is especially useful for those who approach the Buddha's teaching, not as a subject for scholarly study, buy as a means to understand and ennoble their lives.

Abhidhamma, Abhidhamma, Anatta, Anicca, Buddha, Dhamma, Impermanence, Insight Meditation, Kamma, Sati,

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
Heart Wood from the Bodhi Tree
In these talks the Ven. Ajaan proposes that the 'heart-wood' or the pith or essence of the Buddhist Teachings is the practice of non-clinging, the dwelling with a mind empty of the feeling of 'I' and 'mine'. He masterfully shows how this practice may be developed and how taking emptiness as the fundamental principle one has a wonderful tool to understand and make use of every one of the many concepts and skilful means that lie within the Buddhist tradition, and also how to distinguish those things that are alien to it.

Abhidhamma, Abhidhamma, Anatta, Anicca, Impermanence, No-self,

Nyanatiloka
The Word of The Buddha
The Word of the Buddha was the first strictly systematic exposition of all the main tenets of the Buddha's Teachings presented in the Master's own words as found in the Sutta-Pitaka of the Buddhist Pali Canon. While it may well serve as a first introduction for the beginner, its chief aim is to give the reader who is already more or less acquainted with the fundamental ideas of Buddhism, a clear, concise and authentic summary of its various doctrines, within the framework of the all-embracing 'Four Noble Truths'.

Buddha, Dhamma, Four Noble Truths, Kamma, Noble Eightfold Path, The Five Precepts, The Threefold Refuge,

K. Sri Dhammananda
What Buddhists Believe?
This book is written with a specific aim in mind: to introduce the original teaching clearly and without recourse to exaggeration, cultural implications or disparaging of particular schools of Buddhism, so that the reader can understand the Buddha Dhamma its modern context. There is a growing interest in Buddhism the world over because many informed people have grown rather weary of religious dogmatism and superstition, on one hand, and greed and selfishness arising from materialism, on the other. Buddhism can teach humanity to walk the Middle Path of moderation and have a better understanding on how to lead a richer life of peace and happiness.

Buddha, Dukkha, Four Noble Truths, Kamma, Nibbana, Noble Eightfold Path, Suffering,

Walpola Rahula
What Buddha Taught
I have tried in this little book to address myself first of all to the educated and intelligent general reader, uninstructed in the subject, who would like to know what the Buddha actually taught. For his benefit I have aimed at giving briefly, and as directly and simply as possible, a faithful and accurate account of the actual words used by the Buddha as they are to be found in the original Pali texts of the Tipitaka.

Buddha, Dhamma, Four Noble Truths, Kamma, Mindfulness, Nibbana, Noble Eightfold Path, Sati, Seven Enlightenment Factors, Suffering, The Five Precepts, The Threefold Refuge,

Narada Mahathera
A Manual of Abhidhamma
In the Abhidhamma both mind and matter, which constitute this complex machinery of man, are microscopically analyzed. Chief events connected with the process of birth and death are explained in detail. Intricate points of the Dhamma are clarified. The Path of Emancipation is set forth in clear terms. Modern Psychology, limited as it is comes within the scope of Abhidhamma inasmuch as it deals with the mind, with thoughts, thought-processes, and mental states but it does not admit of a psyche or a soul. Buddhism teaches a psychology without a psyche. Consciousness is defined. Thoughts are analyzed and classified chiefly from an ethical standpoint. All mental states are enumerated. The composition of each type of consciousness is set forth in detail. The description of thought-processes that arise through the five sense-doors and the mind-door is extremely interesting.

Abhidhamma, Citta, Dependent Origination, Dhamma, Paticcasamuppada,

Ajahn Chah
Living Dhamma
If you have wisdom, wherever you look there will be Dhamma. If you lack wisdom, then even the good things turn bad. Where does this badness come from? Just from our own minds, that's where. Look how this mind changes. Everything changes. Husband and wife used to get on all right together, they could talk to each other quite happily. But there comes a day when their mood goes bad, everything the spouse says seems offensive. The mind has gone bad, it's changed again. This is how it is. So in order to give up evil and cultivate the good you don't have to go looking anywhere else. If your mind has gone bad, don't go looking over at this person and that person. Just look at your own mind and find out where these thoughts come from.

Dukkha, Right Action, Right Concentration, Right Effort, Right Intention, Right Livelihood, Right Mindfulness, Right Speech, Right View, Suffering,

Mahasi Sayadaw
The Satipatthana Vipassana Meditation
Satipatthana Vipassana Meditation is an in depth guide to mindfulness or Sati and explains the Vipassana meditation method as practiced and taught by the Buddha in the Satipatthana Sutta. It explains extensively the instructions given by the Buddha, the practice, and the theory behind it.

Anapanasati, Citta, Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Insight Meditation, Kaya, Mindfulness, Mindfulness with Breathing, Satipatthana, Seven Enlightenment Factors, Vedana, Vipassana,