[italertb]

I'm new here as some of you may know from my introduction thread. Anyway I was wondering what texts I should study. I started by reading You Are Here by Thich Nhat Hanh and I've done some internet research recently. So I was wondering what you guys would recommend. I guess preferably in the Zen tradition but I'm open to pretty much anything at this point.

[TpDoctorOneTp]

Hi Trilaksasa, personally I'd recommend that first you find out what the Buddha taught.

We have a short pinned text and MP3 'What is Buddhism?' at the Beginning of the topic list in General Buddhist Discussions and also 'On the Four Noble Truths'.

After that I suggest browsing the resources at Access to Insight and then perhaps reading some of the Anguttara Nikaya discourses to begin with.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/help.html#map

There are also some links to resources in our Study Links section.

with kind wishes,

Aloka-D

[hjyAMqqT]

For your selections, I recommend this literature.

http://usa.learndhamma.com/pramote/b...wcomer_eng.pdf

And this literature for meditation.

http://02.learndhamma.com/pramote/bo...Guide_book.pdf

[WaicurtaitfuT]

Trilaksana,
Good morning! Saw your request for direction in reading material following the Zen traditions. Take the time to look into a book by Shunryu Suzuki titled " Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind ". His material is based on informal talks about Zen meditations and practice. If your anything like me there will be times throughout the book that you may have to stop and take a break then go back and reread again. But... each time I did so and got it I found the wisdom to be very enlightening. His words are very direct which is what I liked the most. If you do try his book out let me know what you thought when you finish... I truly would like to know what you felt about his book. Have a compassionate, loving and balanced day! Take care and keep in touch.

[Acrogeokickic]

Hi Trilaksana,

I highly recommend this book:

"Buddhism Plain and Simple" by Steve Hagen.

This is a wonderfull Zen book too:

"Zen Flesh, Zen Bones" by Paul Reps

[chuecafressds]

Trilaksana,
Good morning! Saw your request for direction in reading material following the Zen traditions. Take the time to look into a book by Shunryu Suzuki titled " Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind ". His material is based on informal talks about Zen meditations and practice. If your anything like me there will be times throughout the book that you may have to stop and take a break then go back and reread again. But... each time I did so and got it I found the wisdom to be very enlightening. His words are very direct which is what I liked the most. If you do try his book out let me know what you thought when you finish... I truly would like to know what you felt about his book. Have a compassionate, loving and balanced day! Take care and keep in touch.

I saw a video posted on this forum about always keeping your Beginner's mind (which I guess was an excerpt from the book) and how that is the most difficult practice in Buddhism, keeping your beginner's mind. That video made a lot of sense to me and I think I'll definitely get that book. Thanks for all the suggestions I'll look into all of them.

[favwebbb]

Hi Trilaksana,

A must-have in my opinion is Bhikkhu Bodhi's In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon.

I'd also want to have a good anthology of Zen writings, such as this one. As a general introduction to Zen, Dream Conversations by Muso Kokushi (written in the 14th century!) is clear and concise.

Thich Nhat Hanh's The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching is an excellent layman's overview of the basic Mahayana doctrines. If you're ready for something more scholarly, I'd recommend Mahayana Buddhism: the Doctrinal Foundations by Paul Williams.

Among the many other books by Thich Nhat Hanh, I particularly like his commentaries on the Heart, Diamond and Lotus sutras.

I'm currently reading Red Pine's book on the Heart Sutra, and would probably add that to the list as well.

If you're practicing Soto Zen, Dogen's your man, so you'll want a selection of his writings.

Hope some of this is useful!