Recommended Books

Bhante Gunaratana (2002). Mindfulness in Plain English. Boston: Wisdom Publications.

Download PDF Free (This book was first published in 1990 in printed form. Four years later, the author released it for free electronic distribution.)

Sharon Salzberg (2005). The Force of Kindness. Louisville, CO: Sounds True.

An introduction to lovingkindness & compassion meditations; includes guided meditation CD. For a more complete discussion of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity, see Salzberg's earlier book Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness

Andy Karr. (2007). Contemplating reality. Boston: Shambhala.

This is by far the most accessible book on emptiness as practiced by Tibetan Buddhism. Karr has a gift for taking these seemingly abstruse topics and making them comprehensible to the average person. Some of the topics may seem a little dense and will require more than one read, but it's well worth it.

David Loy. (2010). The world is made of stories. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications.

This is another book on emptiness, about how we take perceptions and weave stories and explanations. Profound but very readable.

Shinzen Young. (2005). The Science of Enlightenment. Sounds True.

This is an audio CD series that supposedly will be coming out in a revised book form. This series of talks covers the whole topic, soup to nuts, including both how to meditate (includes several guided mediations) all the way to enlightenment. Shinzen has a unique ability among meditation teachers to seamlessly integrate Buddhism with other mystical traditions and science in a way that is both sensible and interesting. I found it useful to listen to each CD multiple times and just let it soak in. Highly recommended.