Recommended Reading

Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization

by Analayo

With painstaking thoroughness, Ven. Analayo marshals the suttas of the Pali canon, works of modem scholarship, and the teachings of present-day meditation masters to make the rich implications of the Satipatthana Sutta, so concise in the original, clear to contemporary students of the Dharma.

Unlike other popular books on the subject, he is not out to establish the exclusive validity of one particular system of meditation as against other’s. Rather, his aim is to explore the sutta as a wide-ranging and multi-faceted source of guidance which allows for alternative interpretations and approaches to practice. His analysis combines the detached objectivity of the academic scholar with the engaged concern of the practitioner for whom meditation is a way of life rather than just a subject of study. (Synopsis from windhorse.com.au) -

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Life of the Buddha

by Bhikkhu Nanamoli

This unique biography presents the Buddha’s revolutionary solution for humanity that leads to the end of ill will, craving and delusion. Though born a prince surrounded by luxuries, Gotama the Buddha was transformed by realizing that no one escapes unhappiness. He spent the remainder of his life discovering, then imparting, the answer to the great question: “Is there a way out of the cycle of suffering?”

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Light on Enlightenment

by Christopher Titmuss

Recommended by Subhana, and subtitled “Revolutionary Teachings On the Inner Life”, it provides an excellent overview of the structures (e.g. the Four Noble Truths, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, the Five Hindrances) of the Buddha’s teachings. Available from Windhorse.

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Clearing the Path

By: Nanavira Thera

Mentioned and recommended by Rena. A digital version is available at Buddhanet.

Embracing the Beloved

By: Stephen and Ondrea Levine

Mentioned by Winton.

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Selling Spirituality

By: Jeremy Carrette and Richard King

One of Winton’s “favourite books”. From the cover blurb:

From feng shui to holistic medicine, from aromatherapy candles to yoga weekends, spirituality is big business. It promises to soothe away the angst of modern living, and to offer an antidote to shallow materialism. “Selling Spirituality” is a short, sharp attack on this fallacy. It shows how spirituality has in fact become a powerful commodity in the global marketplace–a cultural addiction that reflects orthodox politics, curbs self-expression and colonizes Eastern beliefs. Exposing how spirituality has today come to embody the privatization of religion in the modern West, Jeremy Carrette and Richard King reveal the people and brands who profit from this corporate hijack, and explore how spirituality can be reclaimed as a means of resistance to capitalism and its frauds.

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Record of Awakening: practice and insight on the Buddhist path

By: David Smith

A RECORD OF AWAKENING is the remarkable fruit of more than twenty years’ immersion in Buddhist practice: a practice that has been both deep and far-reaching.

In this book David smith, ‘an ordinary working-class chap’ who came across Buddhism, shares his extraordinary inner experience. Taking us through his journey – from initial practice in the Zen tradition and three years as a Theravadin monk to his recent years as a lay practitioner in East London – he describes the basic principles of his practice and the process whereby the ‘tap root of ignorance’ is cut and the Awakened Mind is born.

His account reminds us that the Awakened Mind is within the reach of every one of us who is prepared to make the effort. (synopsis from windhorse.com.au).

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Reading List:

  • Alan B Wallace (ed.) (2003) Buddhism & Science (see intro chapter here)
  • Alan B Wallace (2006) Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism And Neuroscience Converge.
  • Stephen Jay Gould (2002) Science & Religion in the Fullness of Life.
  • Pascal Boyer (2002) Religion Explained
  • James H. Austin (2006) Zen-Brain Reflections.
  • His Holiness the Dalai Lama (2005) The Universe in a Single Atom: How Science and Spirituality can serve our world. (see extract here)
  • Susan Blackmore (2004) Consciousness
    • Ch 25 The View from Within.
    • Ch 26 Meditation & Mindfulness.
    • Ch 27 Buddhism & Consiousness

Effects of Meditation: