Here are 100 books that Mahayana Buddhism fans have personally recommended if you like
Mahayana Buddhism.
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Initially trained as a mathematician, I have
now been an academic philosopher for well over four decades—in the UK,
Australia, and currently at the Graduate Center of the City University of
New York. About halfway through this time I was shocked to discover that
I knew nothing of half of the world’s philosophy: that developed in the
Eastern traditions. I set about educating myself—reading, travelling to India
and Japan to teach and study, working with those who were specialists in
the relevant areas. Nowadays in my philosophical writing and research I
am able to draw on a much richer and deeper understanding of philosophy.
Buddhism is a religion (or family of religions), but its underlying ideas—many of which are independent of the soteriology of Buddhism—have undergone a rich development in the two and a half thousand years since Siddhārtha Guatama (the historical Buddha) lived. Carpenter’s book introduces us to the philosophical development in India in the first 1,000 years of Buddhism. It concentrates on the ethical aspects, and explores, amongst other things, various relationships with ethical ideas from Ancient Greek philosophy.
Organised in broadly chronological terms, this book presents the philosophical arguments of the great Indian Buddhist philosophers of the fifth century BCE to the eighth century CE. Each chapter examines their core ethical, metaphysical and epistemological views as well as the distinctive area of Buddhist ethics that we call today moral psychology. Throughout, this book follows three key themes that both tie the tradition together and are the focus for most critical dialogue: the idea of anatman or no-self, the appearance/reality distinction and the moral aim, or ideal. Indian Buddhist philosophy is shown to be a remarkably rich tradition that…
I began studying philosophy, both western and Asian, as a college freshman, and I never stopped. Much of my career in philosophy was devoted to building bridges between western and Buddhist traditions. The best philosophers try to make their ideas as clear as possible. But standards of clarity can differ across traditions, and this sometimes makes it difficult to present the theories and arguments of one philosophical tradition to those who think in terms of another. I have struggled with this in my own efforts at bridge-building, and I am always appreciative when I see other scholars of Buddhism achieve the sort of clarity I aim for.
This is simply the best available study of the Indian Buddhist philosophical tradition as a whole. It starts with the thought of the Buddha and ends with some 12th-century Buddhist thinkers who tried to synthesize the different strands that Buddhist philosophers had developed in the intervening 16 centuries. Westerhoff does a fine job of laying out all the major figures and schools in a way that makes clear how they supported their different views. His interpretations of the figures he discusses are fair and well supported.
Jan Westerhoff unfolds the story of one of the richest episodes in the history of Indian thought, the development of Buddhist philosophy in the first millennium CE. He starts from the composition of the Abhidharma works before the beginning of the common era and continues up to the time of Dharmakirti in the sixth century. This period was characterized by the development of a variety of philosophical schools and approaches that have shaped Buddhist thought up to the present day: the scholasticism of the Abhidharma, the Madhyamaka's theory of emptiness, Yogacara idealism, and the logical and epistemological works of Dinnaga…
Initially trained as a mathematician, I have
now been an academic philosopher for well over four decades—in the UK,
Australia, and currently at the Graduate Center of the City University of
New York. About halfway through this time I was shocked to discover that
I knew nothing of half of the world’s philosophy: that developed in the
Eastern traditions. I set about educating myself—reading, travelling to India
and Japan to teach and study, working with those who were specialists in
the relevant areas. Nowadays in my philosophical writing and research I
am able to draw on a much richer and deeper understanding of philosophy.
There are a number of distinct forms of Chinese (Mahāyāna) Buddhism. Huayan (華嚴, Skt: Avataṃsaka) Buddhism is usually reckoned to be the most theoretically sophisticated. It flourished for only a few hundred years in the middle of the first millennium of the Common Era (though it still has a small presence in Japan, where it is called Kegon). However, it had a major impact on the thought of the other Chinese schools of Buddhism (and on Neo-Confucianism). Cook’s book is old and a bit dated now, but it is still the best introduction to this form of Buddhist philosophy.
Hua-yen is regarded as the highest form of Buddhism by most modern Japanese and Chinese scholars. This book is a description and analysis of the Chinese form of Buddhism called Hua-yen (or Hwa-yea), Flower Ornament, based largely on one of the more systematic treatises of its third patriarch. Hua-yen Buddhism strongly resembles Whitehead's process philosophy, and has strong implications for modern philosophy and religion. Hua-yen Buddhism explores the philosophical system of Hua-yen in greater detail than does Garma C.C. Chang's The Buddhist Teaching of Totality (Penn State, 1971). An additional value is the development of the questions of ethics and…
Initially trained as a mathematician, I have
now been an academic philosopher for well over four decades—in the UK,
Australia, and currently at the Graduate Center of the City University of
New York. About halfway through this time I was shocked to discover that
I knew nothing of half of the world’s philosophy: that developed in the
Eastern traditions. I set about educating myself—reading, travelling to India
and Japan to teach and study, working with those who were specialists in
the relevant areas. Nowadays in my philosophical writing and research I
am able to draw on a much richer and deeper understanding of philosophy.
Perhaps the best-known form of Chinese Buddhism in the West is Chan (禪). This had a major impact on Buddhism in Japan, when it took off there around the 12th Century. (The Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese character is Zen.) Zen is undoubtedly the most enigmatic form of Buddhism, and many “pop” books on it can be found in local bookstores, but good philosophical books are much harder to find. Kasulis’ book is one of the best. Certainly, you are going to get his take on matters, and there are others, but it’s hard to go past his book for a good philosophical introduction to Zen.
I’ve long been fascinated by the relationship between non-dual spiritual inquiry and the resolution of mental-emotional imbalances. On the one hand, our non-dual essence (the being-awareness that is aware of these words right now) remains wholly independent of and untouched by any phenomenal circumstances. It is non-phenomenal, unconditioned, causeless peace and joy. And yet, the human body-mind almost inevitably manifests physical and/or psychological imbalances that can be skillfully resolved. So, what’s the relationship between the enjoyment of our primordial perfection and the cultivation of this ephemeral yet still precious human body-mind? This is the question that I very much enjoy exploring.
I so appreciate how this book provides a very clear introduction to some complex Buddhist debates regarding the nature of mind and consciousness. Specifically, Yogacara Buddhism is a practical system for identifying and transforming subconscious cognitive patterns at the root of psychological suffering. In other words, these seemingly abstract debates are not merely academic but have real-life consequences.
Yogacara Buddhism offers a path to unwinding mental-emotional patterns that have been binding us and preventing a direct encounter with the peace and joy that is our true nature. How wonderful to have this as a resource!
Through engaging, contemporary examples, Making Sense of Mind Only reveals the Yogacara school of Indian Buddhism as a coherent system of ideas and practices for the path to liberation, contextualizing its key texts and rendering them accessible and relevant.
The Yogacara, or Yoga Practice, school is one of the two schools of Mahayana Buddhism that developed in the early centuries of the common era. Though it arose in India, Mahayana Buddhism now flourishes in China, Tibet, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. While the other major Mahayana tradition, the Madhyamaka (Middle Way), focuses on the concept of emptiness—that all phenomena lack an…
I got involved in Zen Buddhism in 1966 because Shunryu Suzuki was a Zen Buddhist and the San Francisco Zen Center which he founded was where I went to meditate with others free of any heavy trips, not pushing a rigid belief system, just learning to include stillness and silence in our lives so that we can feel and hear what the cosmos has to say to us.
Red Pine’s in-depth translation of and commentary on the heart of the Prajna Paramita Sutras, of the wisdom that has gone beyond, of the heart of Mahayana Buddhism, and brings this ancient text, chanted daily by Zen monks and lay followers, skillfully into our hearts.
The Heart Sutra is Buddhism in a nutshell. It has had the most profound and wide-reaching influence of any text in Buddhism. This short text covers more of the Buddha’s teachings than any other scripture, and it does so without being superficial or hurried. Although the original author is unknown, he was clearly someone with a deep realization of the Dharma.
For this new English translation, Red Pine, award-winning translator of Chinese poetry and religious texts, has utilized various Sanskrit and Chinese versions, refining the teachings of dozens of ancient teachers together with his own commentary to offer a profound…
Jean Muenchrath wrote down her story to heal herself from the trauma of a life-threatening mountaineering accident, an epic survival incident, and decades of chronic pain. She then published her memoir to inspire readers to follow their dreams and to encourage them to overcome whatever challenges their life presents. Before she became an author, Muenchrath was a park ranger with the National Park Service for over thirty years. She’s led trekking tours in Nepal and Thailand and worked in Bhutan with the World Wildlife Fund. Jean enjoys traveling to foreign lands, exploring wild places and sitting quietly in meditation.
I have given this book as a gift to friends and acquaintances who were struggling with health issues, trauma, depression, anxiety, or loss. Recipients of this book have told me how much it has benefited them—they found peace and renewed energy on their path of healing physical and emotional pain. It’s a short book packed with easy-to-practice meditations that are simple, yet profound. It is suitable for reader’s of all backgrounds and belief systems.
The true nature of our minds is enlightened and peaceful, as the depth of the ocean is calm and clear. But when we mentally grasp and emotionally cling to our wants and worries with all our energy, we lose our own enlightened freedom and healing power, only to gain stress and exhaustion, suffering and overexcitement, like the turbulent waves rolling on the surface of the ocean.
Our minds possess the power to heal pain and stress, and to blossom into peace and joy, by loosening the clinging attitudes that Buddhists call "grasping at self." If we apply the mind's healing…
My research into the overlap between mysticism and schizophrenia has garnered one academic monograph on James Joyce, with another on Charlie Kaufman’s films and fiction due out in 2025 (both from Routledge). For 15 years, I’ve been a writing professor at New York University, and the two things I want to impart to my students are: 1) the courage to pursue a singular question or unique viewpoint and (2) the compassion to write clearly for the reader! All five books on my list don’t shy away from profound questions of what it is to be a complex spiritual being, but they always remain lucid and engaging for a general audience.
The problem with a lot of academic philosophy is that it can feel overly cerebral or divorced from any urgent sense of the common suffering of mankind.
What I admire about David Loy’s work is that, despite his incredible erudition about languages and religions, he speaks from the heart about the need for a spiritual path that is accessible to everyone.
Like John Suler, I value Loy as a cultural translator; he effortlessly makes the insights of Eastern and Western philosophy legible in such a way that I feel less alone in the world.
One of Western Buddhism’s most sophisticated thinkers on one of Buddhism’s most central topics.
The concept of nonduality lies at the very heart of Mahayana Buddhism. In the West, it’s usually associated with various kinds of absolute idealism in the West, or mystical traditions in the East—and as a result, many modern philosophers are poorly informed on the topic. Increasingly, however, nonduality is finding its way into Western philosophical debates. In this “scholarly but leisurely and very readable” (Spectrum Review) analysis of the philosophies of nondualism of (Hindu) Vedanta, Mahayana Buddhism, and Taoism, renowned thinker David R. Loy extracts what…
I am on a self-discovery journey, and each day, I discover more of why I am here on earth. The books I mentioned all have themes related to the human condition. I write to express what I understand. I love writing about characters and their journeys. I love all animals, and dogs are a great comfort. I’d like to see animal abuse come to an end in my lifetime. I write about people who have fallen from great heights and how saving animals and others in need saves them. We need to love more.
I loved the arduous human journey that became a great spiritual one. It was about how Buddha became Buddha. That can only happen when one goes beyond their own comforts and reaches within for faith to continue to understand yourself and others. This book deeply influenced my writing and my life.
Here the spirituality of the East and the West have met in a novel that enfigures deep human wisdom with a rich and colorful imagination.
Written in a prose of almost biblical simplicity and beauty, it is the story of a soul's long quest in search of he ultimate answer to the enigma of man's role on this earth. As a youth, the young Indian Siddhartha meets the Buddha but cannot be content with a disciple's role: he must work out his own destiny and solve his own doubt-a tortuous road that carries him through the sensuality of a love…
Bertrand Jouvenot is a French marketing influencer and prominent writer on business, management, marketing, branding, and digital. He has spent over twenty years in a variety of senior marketing roles. He now teaches at several business and fashion schools for Chinese and European students as well as consulting to various businesses. Bertrand lives in Paris, France, and writes for Le Monde, The Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Mediapart, Stratégies, le Journal du Net, Les Echos, and Influencia, the prestigious French quarterly print magazine spotting trends in marketing, communication, and creation.
The author is a world-renowned Buddhist teacher. Using the basic meditation practices the author provides, the reader can discover paths through his problems, transforming obstacles into opportunities to recognize the unlimited potential of his own minds. The monk invites us to join him in unlocking the secrets to finding joy and contentment in the everyday life. The book offers an illuminating perspective on the art of meditation and is a handbook for transforming our minds, bodies, and lives.
For millennia, Buddhists have enjoyed the limitless benefits of meditation. But how does it work? And why? The principles behind this ancient practice have long eluded some of the best minds in modern science. Until now.
This groundbreaking work, with a foreword by bestselling author Daniel Goleman, invites us to join in unlocking the secrets behind the practice of meditation. Working with neuroscientists, the author provides clear insights into modern research, which indicates that systematic training in meditation can enhance activity in areas of the brain associated with happiness and compassion.
With an infectious joy and insatiable curiosity, Yongey Mingyur…
