Buddhist Books of Reference

The following list of Buddhist books are those I have found helpful in understanding Buddhism. They are also excellent reads regarding solving life's problems. I have listed the books in no particular order, simply by author. In no way does this order indicate preference. I have also included a short description as to why I enjoyed the book. The list and reviews are currently incomplete. I am continually working on this. I will be including non Buddhist books since Buddhism is all about mind training and are helpful in this regard.

Awakening The Buddha Within -Lama Surya Das

An extremely good read regarding the nature of Buddhism and Awakening Your Buddha. Especially good is the audio version. Lama Surya Das has a great voice and speaks with justice regarding the essence of Buddhism in each and every one of us.

Awakening The Buddhist Heart -Lama Surya Das

Lama Surya Das is always good in my opinion. He has much experience and knowledge regarding Tibetan Buddhism and Buddhism in general. Awakening the Buddhist Heart is a little grittier than Awakening the Buddha Within.

The Big Questions -Lama Surya Das

Well done book on various, difficult to answer questions like: What is happines? Does God exist? What is enlightenment? and more. The fact that someone has chosen to tackle such difficult questions in a truthful manner is remarkable.

When Things Fall Apart -Pema Chodron

An excellent book for helping to understand impermanance. Sometimes hard for the non or new Buddhist to understand but I believe a job well done by Pema Chodron. Her audio works are excellent as well.

Taking the Leap -Pema Chodron

Another very good book by Pema Chodron. Her writing style, as always, is straight and truthful. She often talks about the mistakes and misfortunes in her own life (if one chooses to call them misfortunes). Again Pema Chodron has various great audio works.

The Origins of Wisdom: Zen Buddhism -O.B. Duanne

Read, but not reviewed yet.

Buddhism: Plain & Simple -Steve Hagen

Steve Hagen informs us with the basics of easy to relate to narrations. An excellent, straight to the point explanation of the essence of Buddhism.

In My Own Words -The Dalai Lama

Written only in a style and manner as can be done by the 14th Dalai Lama. A very worthwhile read. This book is an explanation of the basic beliefs of Buddhism as present by the Dalai Lama.

The Joy of Living -Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

This is an excellent book by Yongey Mingyur. He explains his own troubles of severe anxiety that he experienced as a child and young man and how he overcame anxiety with Buddhist practices. It intrigued me that a Buddhist monk would have anxiety problems. In part one Yongey discusses anxiety as well as how Buddhism practices coincide with the teachings of science. In part two he discusses the path to attaining joy. Overall a very practical book with easy to apply concepts. A good read.

Gems of Buddhist Wisdom -Buddhist Missionary Society

An excellent book with many points of Buddhist wisdom regarding all aspects of life. In particular the writtings of resolving one's problems are very good and plausible.

The Tree of Enlightenment -Peter D. Santi

Entering the Diamond Way -Lama Ole Nydahl

A remarkable journey of one man's path to Buddhism. Written and told by the author. This book is a documentary of sorts by the author. He reveals the gritty truth of a path well traveled. A very interesting read. Lama Ole Nydahl has brought Diamond Way Buddhism to the west.

The Four Noble Truths -Geshe Tashi Tsering

The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Manuscript of the Bardo Thodol -Translated by Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup

The link below is to my amazon.com store. If you go there you are under no obligation what-so-ever to purchase anything. You are free to simply window shop. You can click on many of the book titles and read an excerpt, usually several of the first pages. This is how I came across many of the books I've purchased. Most of those books are purchased through Amazon because they are the best price I can find.
Also, the second page of my amazon.com store is for various Buddhist artifacts and such. I had a hard time locating these sorts of things and wanted to make them more available to people. For instance at local shops I find that there are a lot of laughing Buddhas available but that's about it. I was looking for more than just that, say, a figurine of Bodhidharma or a Buddhist wall mural.
By the way, in case you don't know, Bodhidharma was the monk that brought Zen to China where later it progressed to Japan.
Anyway, thanks to everyone, and thanks for supporting my store. May your path be pleasant and your journey eventful.

More Recommended Buddhist Books .END=OM MANI PADME HUM.( 3 TIMES ).RESEARCH TIBET BUDDHIST DHARMA BY VENERABLE GESHE TESERING TASHI.VIETNAMESE TIBET NUN.( NHA TRANG ).29/1/2012.