The top pick, chosen by seven out of nine people
Click a name to jump ahead to see that person’s picks, or scroll down to see them all:
Sam Bercholz
Chairman, Shambhala Publications
Mount Analogue by Rene Daumal
Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
The Spiritual Teaching of Ramana Maharshi by Ramana Maharshi
Ramakrishna and His Disciples by Christopher Isherwood
White Sail by Thinley Norbu
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chogyam Trungpa
Masters of Meditation and Miracles by Tulku Thondup
Zen Flesh, Zen Bones by Nyogen Senzaki and Paul Reps
Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke
Pema Chodron
Buddhist teacher and author
The first two Buddhist books I ever read:
Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa by W. Evans-Wentz
Born in Tibet by Chogyam Trungpa
The two early books that most revolutionized my view of life:
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chogyam Trungpa
The Myth of Freedom by Chogyam Trungpa
The two books that I reread most frequently:
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving Kindness by Chogyam Trungpa
The two books that I continually study:
The Bodhisattva's Way of Life by Shantideva
Kindly Bent to Ease Us by Longchenpa
Two books I highly recommend:
Finding Freedom by Jarvis Jay Masters
Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Teachings of Shunryu Suzuki by David Chadwick
Sam Hamill
Poet and translator
Life in the Forest by Denise Levertov
Mind of Clover by Robert Aitken
Nine-Headed Dragon River by Peter Matthiessen
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
Zen and Zen Classics by R.H. Blyth
Night by Elie Weisel
Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke
Woman and Nature by Susan Griffin
Earth House Hold by Gary Snyder
The Collected Poems of Kenneth Rexroth
bell hooks
author
The Raft is Not the Shore by Thich Nhat Hanh and Daniel Berrigan
The Inner Voice of Love by Henri Nouwen
Forgiveness: A Bold Choice for a Peaceful Heart by Robin Casarjian
The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm
The Innerward Journey by Howard Thurman
A Heart As Wide As the World by Sharon Salzberg
Life Lines: Holding On (And Letting Go) by Forrest Church
When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough by Harold Kushner
Start Where You Are by Pema Chodron
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chogyam Trungpa
Roshi Bernard Glassman
Founder, Peacemaker Community
Collected Works of A.T. Ariyaratne
The Fruitful Darkness by Joan Halifax
Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn
How Can I Help by Ram Dass with Paul Gorman
Living Buddha Zen by Lex Hixon
Shivitti by Ka-Tzetnik, 135633
Street Zen: The Life and Work of Issan Dorsey by David Schneider
The Way of Council by Jack Zimmerman and Virginia Coyle
We're All Doing Time by Bo Lozoff
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
Michael McClure
Poet and playwright
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
The Awakening of Faith by Ashvagosha
Mutual Aid by Peter Kropotkin
Origin of Eukaryotic Cells by Lynn Margulis
Mexico City Blues by Jack Kerouac
Taking the Path of Zen by Robert Aitken
The Buddhist Teaching of Totality by Garma C. C. Chang
Hua-Yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra by Francis H. Cook
The Theater and its Double by Antonin Artaud
In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall
Tim McNeill
President, Wisdom Publications
The Phenomenon of Man/The Divine Milieu by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Guide to a Bodhisattva's Way of Life by Shantideva
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm
The Way of the White Clouds by Lama Govinda
The Church and the Homosexual by John J. McNeill
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
The Good Heart by the Dalai Lama
The Courage to Be by Paul Tillich
Sharon Salzberg
Guiding teacher, Insight Meditation Society
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
Be Here Now by Ram Dass
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chogyam Trungpa
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels
I and Thou by Martin Buber
Dr. Andrew Weil
Author
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
Black Elk Speaks by John Neihardt
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda
Be Here Now by Ram Dass
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chogyam Trungpa
The Tibetan Book of the Dead by W.Y. Evans-Wentz (translator)
The I Ching by Richard Wilhelm (translator)
The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield
The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbel
Text copyright © 2000 Shambala Sun. Reprinted by permission. This article originally appeared here.
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The Lion’s Roar is the current name of the Shambhala Sun from which this article was reprinted.
This page was published on February 15, 2000 and last revised on June 29, 2017.