An assortment of suggested initial readings. Clicking on a link will take you to that book's page on Amazon.com. We have recently become a member of the Amazon Associates Program, and any purchase that is made through these links will generate a small donation to EHZC.  Many excellent titles are also available in our own Library, and can be borrowed for a month at a time. See EHZC Library to view or download a complete listing of all holdings.

Basic Buddhism:

Entering the Stream: An Introduction to the Buddha and His Teachings, ed. Samuel Bercholz, Shambhala, 1993

What the Buddha Taught, Walpola Rahula, Grove Press, 1959, 1974

Buddhism Plain and Simple, Steve Hagen, Broadway, 1998


Teachings of the Ancestors:

Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi, trans. Taigen Leighton, Tuttle, 2000

Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen, ed. K. Tanahashi, Northpoint, 1995

The Gateless Gate, Koun Yamada, Wisdom, 2004

Zen Comments on the Mumonkon, Zenkei Shibayama, HarperCollins, 1984


Contemporary Voices:

Subtle Sound: The Zen Teachings of Maurine Stuart, ed. Roko Chayat, Shambhala, 1996

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Shunryu Suzuki, Weatherhill, 1973

Returning To Silence, Dainin Katagiri, Shambhala, 1988

Opening the Hand of Thought, Kosho Uchiyama, Wisdom, 2004

Everyday Zen: Love and Work, Charlotte Joko Beck, Harper, 2007

Taking the Path of Zen, Robert Aitken, North Point, 1982

Turning Suffering Inside Out, Darlene Cohen, Shambhala, 2002