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Recommended Reading

Sītavana Recommended Book List

[Abbreviation: BPS = Buddhist Publication Society]

Beginners

Meditation
  • Mindfulness in Plain English, by Ven. Gunaratana (Wisdom)
  • Calm and Insight: A Buddhist Manual for Meditators, by Bhikkhu Khantipalo (Curzon)
Buddhist Teachings and Practice
  • The Power of Mindfulness, by Nyanaponika Thera (BPS).
  • The Word of the Buddha, by Nyanatiloka Thera (BPS).
  • Going for Refuge: Taking the Precepts, by Bhikkhu Bodhi (BPS).
  • The Noble Eightfold Path, by Bhikkhu Bodhi (BPS).
  • The Buddha and His Teachings, by Narada Mahathera (BPS).
  • Metta: The Philosophy and Practice of Universal Love, by Acariya Buddharakkhita (BPS).
  • Loving-Kindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness, by Sharon Salzberg (Shambhala).
  • Mudita: The Buddha's Teaching on Unselfish Joy, ed. by Nyanaponika Thera (BPS).
  • Dana: The Practice of Giving, ed. by Bhikkhu Bodhi (BPS).
  • Kamma and Its Fruit, by Nyanaponika Thera (BPS).
  • Who Ordered this Truckload of Dung? Inspiring Stories for Welcoming Life's Difficulties, by Ajahn Brahm (Wisdom).
  • The Questions of King Milinda (Milindapanha), trans. by N. Mendis (BPS).

Suttas

  • Everyman's Ethics, Narada Mahathera (BPS).
  • The Scale of Good Deeds, Susan Elbaum Jootla (BPS).
  • The Buddha's Teaching in His Own Words, Bhikkhu Nanamoli (BPS).

 

Intermediate & Advanced

Meditation
  • The Heart of Buddhist Meditation, by Nyanaponika Thera (BPS).
  • Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond, by Ajahn Brahm (Wisdom)
  • Mindfulness in Plain English, by Ven. Henepola Gunaratana (Wisdom).
  • Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization, by Analayo (Windhorse).
  • The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, by Ven. U Silananda (Wisdom).
  • The Jhanas (in Theravada Buddhist Meditation), by Ven. Henepola Gunaratana (BPS).
  • The Path of Serenity and Insight, by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana (Motilal Banarsidass).
  • The Seven Contemplations of Insight: A Treatise on Insight Meditation, by Ven. Matara Sri Nanarama Mahathera (BPS).
  • In This Very Life: Liberations Teachings of the Buddha, by Sayadaw U Pandita (Wisdom).
  • Who is My Self? A Guide to Buddhist Meditation, by Ayya Khema (Wisdom).
Buddhist Teachings and Practice
  • In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon, trans. and intro. by Bhikkhu Bodhi (Wisdom)
  • The Noble Eightfold Path, by Bhikkhu Bodhi (BPS).
  • Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness, by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana (Wisdom).
  • The Vision of Dhamma, by Nyanaponika Thera (BPS) [also from Rider].
  • Path to Deliverance, by Nyanatiloka Thera (BPS).
  • The Road to Inner Freedom, ed. by Nyanaponika Thera (BPS).
  • What the Buddha Taught, by Walpola Rahula (Grove Weidenfeld).
  • The Buddha and His Teachings, by Narada Thera (BPS).
  • The Buddha's Ancient Path, by Piyadassi Thera (BPS).
  • Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, by Ajahn Chah (Wisdom)
  • Everything Arises, Everything Falls Away: Teachings on Impermanence and the End of Suffering, by Ajahn Chah (Shambhala).
  • Being Dharma:The Essence of the Buddha's Teachings, by Ajahn Chah (Shambhala).
  • A Still Forest Pool: The Insight Meditation of Achaan Chah, ed. by Jack Kornfield + Paul Breiter (Quest); [also available from BPS]
  • Being Nobody, Going Nowhere, by Ayya Khema (Wisdom).
  • Be an Island: The Buddhist Practice of Inner Peace, by Ayya Khema (Wisdom).
  • When the Iron Eagle Flies: Buddhism for the West, by Ayya Khema (Wisdom).
  • Questions From the City -Answers From the Forest, by Ajahn Sumano Bhikkhu (Quest).
  • Landscapes of Wonder, by Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano (Wisdom).
  • The Word of the Buddha, by Nyanatiloka Thera (BPS).
  • The Life of the Buddha According to the Pali Canon, by Bhikkhu Namamoli (BPS).
  • Great Disciples of the Buddha, ed. by Nyanaponika Thera, Hellmuth Hecker + Bhikkhu Bodhi (BP); [also available from Wisdom].
  • The Wings to Awakening, by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (for free distribution - Dhamma Dana Publications, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies).
  • Buddhadhamma: Natural Laws and Values for Life, by Phra Prayudh Payutto (State University of New York Press).

Pali Canon & Commentaries

  • The Long Discourses of the Buddha (Digha Nikaya), trans. by Maurice Walshe (Wisdom); [also available from BPS].
  • The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha (Majjhima Nikaya), trans. by Bhikkhu Nanamoli + Bhikkhu Bodhi (Wisdom); [also available from BPS].
  • The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Samyutta Nikaya), 2 vols., trans. by Bhikkhu Bodhi (Wisdom).
  • Numerical Discourses of the Buddha (Anthology of Anguttara Nikaya), trans. by Nyanaponika Thera + Bhikkhu Bodhi (Altamira Press).
  • The Itivuttaka: The Buddha's Sayings, trans. by John D. Ireland (BPS).
  • The Udana: Inspired Utterances of the Buddha, trans. by John D. Ireland (BPS).
  • The Path of Discrimination (Patisambhidamagga), trans. by Bhikkhu Nanamoli (Pali Text Society).
  • The Path of Freedom (Vimuttimagga), trans. by Rev. N.R.M. Ehara, Soma Thera + Kheminda Thera (BPS).
  • The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga), Buddhaghosa, trans. by Bhikkhu Nanamoli (BPS).
  • A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma (Abhidhammattha Sanghaha), ed. by Bhikkhu Bodhi (BPS).
Reference
  • Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Terms and Doctrines, by Nyanatiloka Thera (BPS).
  • Rebirth as Doctrine and Experience, by Francis Story (BPS).
  • Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation, by Ian Stevenson, M.D. (University Press of Virginia).
  • Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect, by Ian Stevenson, M.D. (Praeger Publishers).
  • Buddhist Monastic Life, by Mohan Wijayaratna (Cambridge University Press).

 

Some Valuable Online Sources of Buddhist texts available by donation, or as PDFs:

 

Online, Free Buddhist Texts: