*indicates good introductory text
Teachings of the Buddha
* Jack Kornfield (Ed.), Teachings of the Buddha
*The Dhammapada (many editions)
Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi (Ed.,Trans.), The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya
Maurice Walshe (Ed., Trans.) Thus Have I Heard: The Long Discourses of the Buddha
* Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught
Nyanaponika Thera, The Heart of Buddhist Meditation
Analayo, Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization
Later Buddhist Texts
Bhikkhu Bodhi (Ed.), A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidharma
Buddhaghosa, The Path of Purification
The Diamond Sutra (many translations)
Stephen Batchelor, Verses from the Center (essay, translation of the main work of Nagarjuna)
Shantideva, A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life (several translations)
Overview and History of Buddhism
Edward Conze, A Short History of Buddhism
* Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism
Richard Robinson and Willard Johnson, The Buddhist Religion
Sangharakshita, A Survey of Buddhism
Paul Williams, Mahayana Buddhism
Ethics
Robert Aitken, The Mind of Clover: Essays in Zen Buddhist Ethics
H.H. Dalai Lama, Ethics for the New Millennium
* Thich Nhat Hanh, For a Future to be Possible: Commentaries on the Five Wonderful Precepts
H. Sadhatissa, Buddhist Ethics
Insight Meditation
* Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield, Seeking the Heart of Wisdom: The Path of Insight Meditation
* Joseph Goldstein, The Experience of Insight: A Gradual Unfolding
* Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart
Jack Kornfield, Living Buddhist Masters
Larry Rosenberg, Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation
* Sylvia Boorstein, It's Easier Than You Think
Christopher Titmuss, Light on Enlightenment
* Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness
Jack Kornfield and Paul Breiter, A Still Forest Pool: The Insight Meditation of Achaan Chah
Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, Heartwood of the Bodhi Tree: The Buddha's Teaching on Voidness
Ajahn Sumedho, The Way It Is
Lovingkindness and Compassion Practices
Tara Brach, Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha
* Jack Kornfield, The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace
* Sharon Salzberg, Lovingkindness
B. Alan Wallace, Boundless Heart: The Four Immeasurables [Tibetan perspectives]
Zen Tradition
Kazuaki Tanahashi (Ed.), Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen
Robert Aitken, The Practice of Perfection: The Paramitas from a Zen Buddhist Perspective
* Joko Beck, Everyday Zen
Ryokan, One Robe, One Bowl
* Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
Tibetan Tradition
Stephen Batchelor (Ed.), The Jewel in the Lotus: A Guide to the Buddhist Traditions of Tibet
Pabongka Rinpoche, Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand: A Concise Discourse on the Path to Enlightenment
* H.H. Dalai Lama, Kindness, Clarity, and Insight; A Policy of Kindness
* Pema Chodron, Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living (on the lojong—"mind training"—teachings and tonglen); also When Things Fall Apart; The Places That Scare You
Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Cutting through Spiritual Materialism; The Sacred Path of the Warrior; Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-Kindness (on the lojong teachings)
Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, Natural Great Perfection (Dzogchen)
Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
* Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Carefree Dignity; also Fearless Simplicity (Dzogchen)
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Rainbow Painting (Dzogchen)
Erik Pema Kunsang and Marcia Binder Schmidt (Eds.), Blazing Splendor: The Memoirs of the Dzogchen Yogi Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Socially Engaged Buddhism
* Fred Eppsteiner (Ed.), The Path of Compassion: Writings on Socially Engaged Buddhism
* Bernie Glassman, Bearing Witness: A Zen Master's Lessons in Making Peace
* Ken Jones, The New Social Face of Buddhism: A Call to Action
Chan Khong, Learning True Love: How I Learned and Practiced Social Change in Vietnam
David Loy, The Great Awakening: A Buddhist Social Theory
Joanna Macy, World as Lover, World as Self
Joanna Macy and Molly Brown, Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World
Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace; Love in Action: Writings on Nonviolent Social Change; Call Me by My True Names (poems)
Christopher Queen (Ed.), Engaged Buddhism in the West
Christopher Queen and Sallie King (Eds.), Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia
* Donald Rothberg, The Engaged Spiritual Life: A Buddhist Approach to Transforming Ourselves and the World
Gary Snyder, Practice of the Wild
Buddhism in the West
Stephen Batchelor, The Awakening of the West; Buddhism without Beliefs; The Faith to Doubt
Sandy Boucher, Turning the Wheel: American Women Creating the New Buddhism
* Rick Fields, How the Swans Came to the Lake
Rita Gross, Buddhism after Patriarchy: A Feminist History, Analysis, and Reconstruction of Buddhism
Stephen Levine, Who Dies?; Healing into Life and Death; A Year to Live
Rodney Smith, Lessons from the Dying
Buddhism and Western Psychology
Harvey Aronson, Buddhist Practice on Western Ground: Reconciling Eastern Ideals & Western Psychology
Tara Bennett-Goleman, Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind Can Heal the Heart
Mark Epstein, Thoughts without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective
Daniel Goleman, Destructive Emotions: How Can We Overcome Them?
Jeremy Safran, Psychoanalysis and Buddhism: An Unfolding Dialogue
John Tarrant, The Light inside the Dark: Zen, Soul, and the Spiritual Life
John Welwood, Toward a Psychology of Awakening