Obviously the literature on the
spirituality of the world religions is vast. What follows is a
small selection of the better and the more recent works. Many are
surveys and provide an introduction to more in-depth studies.
Ewert Cousins, ed., World
Spirituality: An Encyclopedic History of the Religious Quest
(New York: Crossroad, 1980s-1990s) 20 volumes to date, paperback,
$35 per volume. An excellent series examining the spirituality of
each of the world religions; each volume has essays by leading
scholars. See volumes on individual religious traditions below.
Gwilym Beckerlegge, ed., World
Religions Reader, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2001)
paperback, $33.
John Bowker, The Oxford Dictionary
of World Religions (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997)
hardcover, $70. An abridged version is available as The Concise
Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (Oxford University Press,
2000) paperback, $18.
Michael D. Coogan, ed., The
Illustrated Guide to World Religions (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2003) paperback, $20.
Mircea Eliade, ed., The
Encyclopedia of Religion, 16 vol. (New York: Macmillan, 1987).
John Esposito, Darrell Fasching & Todd
Lewis, eds., World Religions Today (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2001) paperback, $60.
Mark Juergensmeyer, Global
Religions: An Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press,
2003) paperback, $15.
Jacob Nuesner, ed., World Religions
in America: An Introduction, rev. and expanded ed. (Louisville,
KY: Westminster John Knox, 1999) paperback, $20.
Willard G. Oxtoby, ed., World
Religions, vol. 1: Western Traditions, vol. 2: Eastern
Traditions, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2001) paperback, $50 per volume.
Geoffrey Parrinder, Mysticism in
the World’s Religions (reprint of 1975 edition: Oxford: One
World, 1995 / 1975) paperback.
Ninian Smart, Dimensions of the
Sacred : An Anatomy of the World’s Beliefs (Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1996) paperback, $20.
Nicholas de Lange, An Introduction
to Judaism (Cambridge University Press, 2000) paperback, $22.
This is part of a superb and reasonably priced series on world
religions published by Cambridge. Like others in the series, this
provides an in-depth introduction, offering a solid and
sophisticated overview of the history, theology, liturgical
practices, and ethical dimensions of Judaism.
David S. Ariel,
Kabbalah: The Mystic Quest in Judaism, 2nd ed.
(Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005) paperback, $18.
Joseph Dan, Jewish Mysticism, 4
vol. (Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1998).
Joseph Dan, ed.,
The Heart and the Fountain: An Anthology of Jewish Mystical
Experiences (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002) paperback,
$30.
W.D. Davies & Louis Finkelstein,
The Cambridge History of Judaism (New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1989- ) 3 vol. to date.
Rachel Elior,
The Three Temples: On the Emergence of Jewish Mysticism (Oxford
/ Portland: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2004) paperback,
$25.
Martin Goodman,
Jeremy Cohen, David Sorkin, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Jewish
Studies (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003) paperback, $50.
Arthur Green, ed., Jewish Spirituality I: From the Bible through
the Middle Ages, World Spirituality Series 13 (New York:
Crossroad, 1986) paperback, $38.
Arthur Green, ed., Jewish
Spirituality II: From the Sixteenth Century Revival to the Present,
World Spirituality Series, Volume 14 (New York: Crossroad, 1987)
paperback.
Moshe Hallamish, An Introduction to
Kaballah, SUNY Series in Judaism: Hermeneutics, Mysticism, and
Religion (New York: SUNY, 1999) paperback, $30.
Hannah Harrington, Holiness:
Rabbinic Judaism in the Graeco-Roman World, Religion in the
First Christian Centuries (New York: Routledge, 2001) paperback,
$33.
Abraham J. Heschel, Man’s Quest for
God (reprint of 1954 edition: Aurora Press, 1998) paperback,
$17. A great book by one of the leading Jewish thinkers of the 20th
century.
Abraham J. Heschel, God in Search
of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism (reprint of 1967 edition:
Noonday Press, 1997) paperback, $17.
Louis Jacobs, ed., The Jewish
Religion: A Companion (New York: Oxford University Press,
1995). See also an abridged version: Concise Companion to the
Jewish Religion (1999) paperback.
Edward W. Kaplan, Holiness in
Words: Abraham Joshua Heschel’s Poetics of Piety, SUNY Series in
Judaica (New York: SUNY, 1996) paperback, $22.
Lee I. Levine, The Ancient
Synagogue: The First Thousand Years (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 2000) hardcover, $75.
Jacob Neusner, An Introduction to
Rabbinic Literature, Anchor Bible Reference Library (New York:
Doubleday, 1999) hardcover, $23.
Jacob Neusner & Alan J. Avery-Peck,
ed., The Blackwell Companion to Judaism (Oxford: Blackwell,
2000).
Jacob Neusner, Judaism as
Philosophy: The Method and Message of the Mishnah (Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins, 1999).
Moshe Rosman, Founder of Hasidism:
The Quest for the Historical Ba’al Shem Tov (Berkeley:
University of California, 1996) hardcover, $50.
Gershom G. Scholem, Major Trends in
Jewish Mysticism (reprint of 1941 ed.: New York: Schocken Books
1995) paperback, $17.
Gershom Scholem, On the Mystical
Shape of the Godhead: Basic Concepts of the Kabbalah, trans.
Joachim
Neugroschel (New York: Schocken, 1997) paperback, $15.
Howard Schwartz, Reimaging the
Bible: The Storytelling of the Rabbis (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1998) paperback, $19.
Shimon Shokek, Kabbalah and the Art
of Being, The Smithsonian Lectures (New York: Routledge, 2001)
paperback, $21.
R.J. Zwi Werblowsky & Geoffrey Wigoder,
ed., Oxford Dictionary of Judaism (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1997).
Arnold J. Band, ed., Nahman of
Bratslav: The Tales, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York:
Paulist Press, 1978) paperback, $22.
Ben Zion Bokser & Baruch M. Bokser,
ed., The Talmud, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York:
Paulist Press, 1989) paperback, $20.
Martin Buber, Tales of the Hasidim
(reprint: New York: Schocken, 1991) paperback, $20.
Joseph Dan & Ronald Keiner, ed.,
The Early Kabbalah, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York:
Paulist Press, 1986) paperback, $20.
Joseph Dan, ed., The Heart and the
Fountain: An Anthology of Jewish Mystical Experiences (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2002) hardcover, $30.
Morris M. Faierstein, ed., Jewish
Mystical Autobiographies: Books of Visions and Book of Secrets,
Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 1999)
paperback, $25.
Lawrence Fine, ed., Safed
Spirituality, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York:
Paulist Press, 1984) paperback, $20.
David J. Halperin, ed., Abraham
Miguel Cardoza: Selected Writings, Classics of Western
Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 2001) paperback, $28.
Reuven Hammer, ed., The Classic
Midrash: Tannaitic Commentaries on the Bible, Classics of
Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 1995) paperback, $27.
Daniel Chanan Matt, ed., Zohar: The
Book of Enlightenment, Classics of Western Spirituality (New
York: Paulist Press, 1988) paperback, $23.
Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, ed.,
Rabbinic Stories, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York:
Paulist Press, 2002) paperback, $25.
Norman Solomon, Judaism: A Very
Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000)
paperback, $10.
David Winston, ed., Philo of
Alexandria: The Contemplative Life, Classics of Western
Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 1981) paperback, $25.
Franklin Lewis, Rumi: Past and
Present, East and West (Oxford: OneWorld, 2000) hardcover, $35.
A massive study of Rumi’s life and poetry. Lewis has extraordinary
mastery of the sources and the traditions, and does a fine job of
rooting Rumi in the tradition he comes from. Lewis also analyzes the
contemporary Rumi craze and alerts one to biases and deficiencies of
different scholarly assessments.
Binyamin Abrahamov, Divine Love in
Islamic Mysticism: The Teachings of al-Ghazali and al-Dabbagh
(New York: Routledge, 2002) hardcover, $75.
Binyamin Abrahamov, ed. The
Blackwell Companion to the Qur'an, Blackwell Companions to
Religion (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006) hardcover, $150. NEW.
Mohammad Abu-Hamdiyyah, The Qur’an:
An Introduction (New York: Routledge, 2000) paperback, $18.
William C. Chittick, Ibn Arabi,
Makers of the Muslim World (Oxford: Oneworld, 2005) hardcover, $40.
William C. Chittick, Sufism: A
Short Introduction (Oxford: One World, 2000) paperback, $18.
William C. Chittick, The Sufi Path
of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi (New York: SUNY, 1983)
paperback, $17. Chittick groups excerpts of Rumi’s verses under theological topics.
William C. Chittick, The Sufi Path
of Knowledge: Ibn al-'Arabi's Metaphysics of Imagination
(Albany, SUNY, 1989) paperback, $33.
William C. Chittick, Imaginal
Worlds: Ibn Al-‘Arabi and the Problem of Religious Diversity,
SUNY Series in Islam (New York: SUNY, 1995) paperback, $22.
Michael Cook, The Koran: A Very
Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000)
paperback, $10.
Henry Corbin, Alone With the Alone:
Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn ‘Arabi (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1998) paperback, $20.
Carl W. Ernst, The Shambhala Guide
to Sufism (Boston: Shambhala, 1997) paperback, $19.
John L. Esposito, The Oxford
History of Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000)
hardcover, $50.
John L. Esposito, ed., The Oxford
Dictionary of Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002)
hardcover, $45.
Seyyed Nasr Hossein, ed., Islamic
Spirituality I: Foundations, World Spirituality 19 (New York:
Crossroad, 1987) paperback, $30.
Seyyed Nasr Hossein, ed., Islamic
Spirituality II: Manifestations, World Spirituality 20 (New
York: Crossroad, 1991 / 1997) paperback, $30.
Leonard Lewisohn & David Morgan, ed.,
The Heritage of Sufism, 3 vol. (Oxford: One World,
1992-2000):
-
Classical Persian Sufism
from Its Origins to Rumi (700-1300)
(1993) paperback, $30.
-
The Legacy of Medieval
Persian Sufism (1150-1500) (1992)
paperback, $26.
-
Late Classical Persianate
Sufism (1500-1750) (2000) paperback,
$43.
Louis Massignon, Hallaj: Mystic and
Martyr, trans., abridged ed. Herbert Mason (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1994) paperback, $25.
Jane Dammen McAuliffe, ed., The
Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an, Cambridge Companions to
Religion (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006) paperback,
$20. NEW.
Ebrahim Moosa, Ghazali and the
Poetics of Imagination (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North
Carolina, 2005) paperback, $25.
James Winston Morris, The
Reflective Heart: Discovering Spiritual Intelligence in Ibn 'Arabi's
'Meccan Illuminations (Louisville, KY: Fons Vitae, 2005)
paperback, $24.
Jane Dammen
McAuliffe, ed., Encyclopaedia of the Qur’an, 5 vol. (Leiden:
Brill, 2001-2004) hardcover.
John Renard, Seven Doors to Islam:
Spirituality and the Religious Life of Muslims (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1996) paperback, $17.
Malise Ruthven, Islam: A Very Short
Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000)
paperback, $10.
Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical
Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1975) paperback, $20.
Annemarie Schimmel, The Triumphal
Sun: A Study of the Works of Jalaloddin Rumi (New York: SUNY,
1993) paperback, $22.
J. Spencer Trimingham, Sufi Orders
in Islam, rev. ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998)
paperback, $15.
David Waines, An Introduction to
Islam (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995) paperback,
$20.
Coleman Barks, trans. The Essential
Rumi, new expanded edition (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco,
2004) paperback, $15; The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems (San
Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 2001) paperback, $18; Rumi: The
Book of Love: Poems of Ecstasy and Longing (New York: Harper
Collins, 2003) paperback, $14. An often brilliant rendering of
Rumi into contemporary American free verse. Barks does not
know Persian and works from the literal
renderings of John Moynes, as well as reworking older
translations of A.J. Arberry and Reynolds A. Nicholson. Barks
can sometimes gloss over the traditional themes and technical
theological terminology in his effort to make Rumi accessible to a
modern audience. Excellent, but use with care.
Jalal al-Din Rumi, The Masnavi,
Book One, Oxford World’s Classics, trans. Jawid Mojaddedi (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2004) paperback, $15.
Jalal al-Din Rumi, The Masnavi,
Book Two, Oxford World's Classics, trans. Jawid Mojaddedi (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2007) paperback, $16. NEW.
A.J. Arberry, Mystical Poems of
Rumi, 2 vol. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968)
paperback, $15 per volume. Great scholarly precision, but very
wooden renderings into English.
R.W.J. Austin, trans., Ibn Al-‘Arabi:
The Bezels of Wisdom, Classics of Western Spirituality (New
York: Paulist Press, 1980) paperback, $27.
William C. Chittick & Peter L. Wilson,
Fakhruddin ‘Iraqi: Divine Flashes, Classics of Western
Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 1982) paperback, $20.
Michel Chodkiewicz & William Chittick,
trans. Ibn al-Arabi: The Meccan Revlations, 2 vol. (Pir
Press, 2002, 2004) paperback, $16 per volume.
Victor Danner, ed., Ibn ‘Ata’ Illah:
The Book of Wisdom, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York:
Paulist Press, 1978) paperback, $20.
William A. Graham, David Burrell &
R.J. McCarthy, eds., Al-Ghazali’s
Path to Sufism: His Deliverance from Error (al-Munqidh min al-Dalal)
and Five Key Texts (Louisville: Fons
Vitae, 2000) paperback, $13.
Th. Emil Homerin, ed., Umar Ibn al-Farid,
Sufi Verses, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist
Press, 2001) paperback, $25.
Paul Jackson, ed., Sharafuddin
Maneri: The Hundred Letters, Classics of Western Spirituality
(New York: Paulist Press, 1979) paperback, $25.
John Renard, ed.,
Knowledge of God in Classical Sufism: Foundations of Islamic
Mystical Theology, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York:
Paulist Press, 2004) paperback, $29.
John Renard, ed., Ibn Abbad of
Ronda: Letters on the Sufi Path, Classics of Western
Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 1986) paperback, $20.
Michael A. Sells, ed., Early
Islamic Mysticism: Sufi, Quran, Miraj, Poetic and Theological
Writings, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist
Press, 1996) paperback, $25. A superb collection of early Sufi
writings, laced with fine commentaries.
Peter Harvey, An Introduction to
Buddhism: Teachings, History, and Practices (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1990) paperback, $20. A valuable
in-depth introduction and an excellent place to start.
Michael Carrithers, The Buddha: A
Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press,
2001) paperback, $10.
James William Coleman, The New
Buddhism: The Western Transformation of an Ancient Tradition
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) paperback, $15.
Edward Conze, Buddhism: A Short
History (reprint of 1980 edition:Oxford: One World, 2000)
paperback, $16.
Richard F. Gombrich, How Buddhism
Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings (New York:
Routledge, 2005) hardcover, $120.
Richard F. Gombrich, Theravada
Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo
, 2nd ed., Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices (New York:
Routledge, 2006) paperback, $30.
Peter Harvey, An Introduction to
Buddhism (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990) paperback,
$19.
Steven Heine and Charles S. Prebish,
eds., Buddhism in the Modern World: Adaptations of an Ancient
Tradition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003).
Matthew T. Kapstein, The Tibetan
Assimilation of Buddhism: Conversion, Contestation, and Memory
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) paperback, $28.
Damien Keown, Buddhism: A Very
Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000)
paperback, $10.
Soho Machida, Renegade Monk: Honen
and Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, trans. Ioannis Mentzas
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999) hardcover, $40.
Donald W. Mitchell, Buddhism:
Introducing the Buddhist Experience, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2007) paperback, $38. NEW edition.
Mario Pockeski, Ordinary Mind as
the Way: The Hongzhou School and the Growth of Chan Buddhism
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2007) hardcover, $65. NEW.
Charles S. Prebish, Luminous
Passage: The Practice and Study of Buddhism in America
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999) paperback, $16.
Charles S. Prebish & Damien Keown,
Introducing Buddhism, World Religion Series (New York:
Routledge, 2006) paperback, $30. NEW.
Sri Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha
Taught (New York: Grove Press, 1974) paperback, $12.
Kevin Trainor, ed., Buddhism: The
Illustrated Guide (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004)
paperback, $20.
Paul Williams & Anthony Tribe,
Buddhist Thought: An Introduction to the Indian Tradition (New
York: Routledge, 2000) hardcover, $50.
Takeuchi Yoshinori, ed., Buddhist Spirituality I: Indian,
Southeast Asian, Tibetan, and Early Chinese, World Spirituality
Series 8 (New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1993) paperback, $25.
Takeuchi Yoshinori, ed., Buddhist
Spirituality II: Later China, Korea, Japan and the Modern World,
World Spirituality Series 9 (New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1999)
paperback, $35.
The Connected Discourses of
the Buddha: A New Translation of Samyutta Nikaya,
trans. Bhikkhu Nikaya, Teachings of the Buddha, 2 vol. (Boston:
Wisdom Publications, 2000) $120 for the 2 vol. This is a
translation, nearly 2000 pages in length, of the 3rd set
of the Tripitaka, the massive Pali canon of Buddhist
Scriptures. This marks an important milestone in Buddhist studies,
the completion of a new translation of the complete Buddhist
scriptures, now available to Westerners in a contemporary
translation. The other two volumes in the series are:
-
The Middle Length
Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Majjhina
Nikaya, Teachings of the Buddha,
trans. Bhikku Ñanomoli & Bhikkhu Bodhi (Boston: Wisdom
Publications, 1995) hardcover, $60.
-
The Long Discourses of
the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya,
The Teachings of the Buddha, trans. Maurice Walshe (Boston:
Wisdom Publishing, 1996) hardcover, $37.
John Ross Carter & Mahinda Palihawdana,
trans., The Dhammapada, Oxford World’s Classics (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2000) paperback, $25.
Edward Conze, I.B. Honer, David
Snellgrove, and Arthur Waley, eds., Buddhist Texts Through the
Ages (reprint: Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 1995) paperback,
$23.
David J. Kalupahana, ed., Nagarjuna:
The Philosophy of the Middle Way, SUNY Series in Buddhist
Studies (New York: State University of New York, 1986).
Donald S. Lopez, Jr., ed., Buddhism
in Practice, Princeton Readings in Religions (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1995) paperback, $22.
Daniel Lopez, ed., The Religions of
Tibet in Practice (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997)
paperback, $23.
Sarah Shaw, Buddhist Meditation: An
Anthology of Texts from the Pali Canon, Routledge Critical
Studies in Buddhism (New York: Routledge, 2006) hardcover, $120.
NEW.
Santideva, The Bodhicaryavatara,
trans. Kate Crosby & Andrew Skilton, Oxford World’s Classics (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1998) paperback, $11.
Steven Heine, Did Dōgen Go to
China? What He Wrote and When He Wrote It (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2006) paperback, $35. NEW. Zen master
Eihei Dogen
(1200-1254) was the founder of the Soto Zen sect and has been
described as Japan's finest religious writer. This is a major
biographical study, cutting through the hagiography that has clouded
standard accounts of Dogen's life. Heine does much to
illuminate the complexities of Dogen's intellectual and social context
and the evolution of his mind. He also brings
English-speaking readers up to date on the complexities of recent Japanese
historical-critical scholarship on this pivotal figure in the Zen
tradition.
Steven Heine, Opening a Mountain:
Kōans of the Zen Masters (New York: Oxford University Press,
2002) paperback, $18. Kōans are terse, seemingly nonsensical
dialogues between Zen (or Ch’an) masters and their disciples. (The
best known is: “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”). Certain
schools of Zen assign them to disciples as the focus of their long
hours of meditation; koans are seen as pedagogical tools to awaken
disciples, to provoke the experience of sudden enlightenment. The
great kōan collections, such as the Blue Cliff Records (Pi-yen
lu) and the Gateless Barrier (Mumonkan), are
difficult for Westerners. Heine masterfully opens them up, using a
historical-critical approach, and introduces readers to the
intricate and often entertaining social world of medieval China and
Japan.
Masao Abe,
A Study of
Dōgen: His Philosophy and Religion, ed. Steven Heine (Albany,
NY: SUNY, 1992). A classic.
Carl Bielefeldt, Dogen’s Manuals of
Zen Buddhism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988)
paperback, $17. A superb study.
William M. Bodiford, Soto Zen in
Medieval Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1993).
Martin Colcutt, Five Mountains: The
Rinzai Zen Monastic Institutions in Medieval Japan (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1981).
Bernard Faure, The Rhetoric of
Immediacy: A Cultural Critique of Chan / Zen Buddhism
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994) paperback, $40.
Bernard Faure, Chan Insights and
Oversights: An Epistemological Critique of the Chan Tradition
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993) paperback, $40.
Bernard Faure, The Will to
Orthodoxy: A Critical Genealogy of Northern Chan Buddhism,
trans. Phyllis Brooks (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997).
Bernard Faure,
ed., Chan Buddhism in Ritual Context (London / New York:
Routledge Curzon, 2003).
Heinrich Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism: A
History, 2 vol. (reprint of 1988-90 edition: World Wisdom, 2005)
paperback, $29 per volume. Back in print.
Robert M. Gimello and Peter N.
Gregory, eds., Studies in Ch'an and Hua-yen, Kuroda Institute
Studies in East Asian Buddhism 1 (Honolulu: University of Hawaii
Press, 1983).
Peter N. Gregory, ed., Sudden and
Gradual: Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought, Kuroda
Institute Studies in East Asian Buddhism 5 (Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press, 1987).
Steven Heine, Dōgen and the Kōan
Tradition: A Tale of Two Shōbōgenzō (Albany, NY: SUNY, 1994)
hardcover, $29. Difficult, but a brilliant and path-breaking
study.
Steven Heine & Dale Wright, ed., The Kōan: Texts
and Context in Zen Buddhism (New York: Oxford University Press,
2000) paperback, $20. An important collection of essays, giving a
historical reading of koan literature.
Steven Heine & Dale Wright, ed., The Zen Canon:
Understanding the Classic Texts (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2004) paperback, $23.
Steven Heine & Dale Wright, ed., Zen
Classics: Formative Texts in the History of Zen Buddhism
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2006) paperback, $25. NEW.
Steven Heine &
Dale Wright, eds., Zen Ritual: Studies of Zen Theory in Practice
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2007) paperback, $26. NEW.
Philip Kapleau, The Three Pillars
of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment, rev. expanded ed.
(New York: Doubleday Anchor, 1989) paperback, $14.
Philip Kapleau, Awakening to Zen:
The Teachings of Philip Kapleau Roshi, ed. Polly Young-Eisendrath
(New York: Scribner, 1997) paperback, $22.
T.P. Kasulis, Zen Action, Zen
Person (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1981) paperback.
Hee-Jin Kim, Eihei Dogen: Mystical
Realist, 3rd ed. (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2004) paperback,
$20. A major study, newly revised and back in print.
Hee-Jin Kim, Dogen on Meditation
and Thinking: A Reflection on His View of Zen (Albany: SUNY,
2007) paperback. NEW.
Taigen Dan Leighton, Visions of
Awakening Space and Time: Dogen and the Lotus Sutra (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2007) hardcover, $45. NEW.
John R. McRae, Seeing Through Zen:
Encounter, Transformation, and Genealogy in Chinese Chan Buddhism
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003)
John R. McRae, The Northern School
and the Formation of Early Ch’an Buddhism, Kuroda Institute
Studies in East Asian Buddhism 3 (Honolulu: University of Hawaii
Press, 1986).
Donald W. Mitchell, Masao Abe: A
Zen Life of Dialogue (Charles E. Tuttle, 1998) paperback, $25.
D.T. Suzuki, An Introduction to Zen
Buddhism (reprint of 1934 edition: New York: Grove Press, 1991)
paperback, $10.
D.T. Suzuki, Manual of Zen Buddhism
(reprint of 1960 edition: New York: Grove Press, 1987) paperback,
$12.
D.T. Suzuki, Essays in Zen
Buddhism: First Series (reprint of 1949 edition: New York Grove
Press, 1986) paperback, $15.
D.T. Suzuki, Zen and Japanese
Culture (reprint of 1949 edition: Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1993) paperback, $19.
Duncan Ryken Williams, The Other
Side of Zen: A Social History of Soto Zen Buddhism in Tokugawa Japan
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005) hardcover, $50.
J.P. Williams, Denying Divinity:
Apophasis in the Patristic Christian and Soto Zen Buddhist
Traditions (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) hardcover,
$70. An unusual cross-cultural study, comparing the negative
theology of Maximus the Confessor and Pseudo-Dionysius with that of Dōgen, the founder of Sōtō
Zen.
Kazuaki Tanahashi, trans.,
Enlightenment Unfolds: The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Dōgen
(Boston: Shambhala, 1999) paperback, $18. This is a major
compilation of Dogen's writings,
and includes sermons, treatises, and poems. See Tanahashi's
earlier collection,
Moon
in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dōgen
(San Francisco: North Point Press, 1985)
Robert Aitken, trans., The Gateless
Barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan) (New York: North Point /
Farrar, Strauss, Giroux, 1991) paperback, $15.
Jeffrey L. Broughton, The
Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1999) paperback, $18.
Thomas Cleary & J.C. Cleary, trans.,
The Blue Cliff Record (Boston: Shambhala, 1992)
paperback, $29.
Thomas Cleary, trans., Classics of
Buddhism and Zen, 4 vol. (Boston: Shambhala, 2002)
paperback, $25 per volume.
-
Vol. 1:
Zen Lessons, Zen Essence, The Five Houses of Zen,
Minding Mind, Instant Zen.
-
Vol. 2: Teaching of Zen, Zen
Reader, Zen Letters, Shobogenzo, The Ecstasy of Enlightenment.
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Vol. 3: The Sutra of Hui-Neng,
Dream Conversations, Kensho, Rational Zen, Zen and the Art of
Insight.
-
Vol. 4:
Transmission of Light, Unlocking the Zen Koan,
Original Face, Timeless Spring, Zen Antics, Record of Things
Heard, Sleepless Nights.
Thomas Cleary, trans. The Book of
Serenity: One Hundred Zen Dialogues (Boston: Shambhala
Publications, 1998) paperback, $29.
James Green, trans., The Recorded
Sayings of Zen Master Joshu (Boston: Shambhala Publications,
1998) hardcover, $25.
Taigen Daniel Leighton and Shohaku
Okanmura, trans., Dogen’s Pure Standards for the Zen Community: A
Translation of Eihei Shingi (New York: SUNY: 1996) paperback,
$20.
Taigen Daniel Leighton and Shohaku
Okumura, trans. Dogen’s Extensive Record: A Translation of Eihei
Koroku (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2004) hardcover, $65.
A major work, crucial for future interpretation of Dogen.
Gudo Nishijima & Chodo Cross, trans.,
Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo, 4 vol. (Windbell Pbn, 1994)
paperback, $20 per volume.
Katsuki Sekida, Two Zen Classics:
Mumonkan and Hekiganroku, ed. A.V. Grimstone (reprint: New York:
North Point, 2005) paperback, $20.
George J. Tanabe, ed., The
Religions of Japan in Practice (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1999) paperback, $22.
Kazuaki Tanahashi
and John Daido Loori, trans. The True Dharma Eye: Zen Master
Dōgen’s Three Hundred Kōans, with commentary and verse by John
Daido Loori (Boston / London: Shambhala, 2005) hardcover, $40.
Norman Waddell, trans., Wild Ivy:
The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin (Boston:
Shambhala, 1999) paperback, $25.
Norman Waddell & Masao Abe, trans.,
The Heart of Dogen’s Shobogenzo (New York: SUNY, 2002)
paperback, $18. A superb annotated translation of key
treatises of Dogen.
Philip Yampolsky, Platform Sutra of
the 6th Patriarch: The Text of the Tun-Huang Manuscript,
Records of Civilization, Sources and Studies #76, 6th
edition (New York: Columbia University Press, 1978) paperback, $20.
Gavin Flood, An Introduction to
Hinduism (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996) paperback,
$20. Like others in this series, a fine in-depth introduction.
Denise Cush, Catherine Robinson, and
Michael York, eds., Encyclopedia of Hinduism (New York:
Routledge, 2007) hardcover, $225. NEW.
Kim Knott, Hinduism: A Very Short
Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000)
paperback, $10.
J.E. Llewellyn,
ed., Defining Hinduism: A Reader, Critical Categories in the
Study of Religion series (New York: Routledge, 2006) paperback, $30.
Sushil Mittal &
Gene Thursby, eds., The Hindu World (New York: Routledge,
2004) NEW in paperback, $50.
Brian K.
Pennington, Was Hinduism Invented? Britons, Indians, and the
Colonial Construction of Religion (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2007) paperback, $22. NEW.
Hillary Rodrigues,
Introducing Hinduism, World Religion Series (New York:
Routledge, 2006) paperback, $30. NEW.
Krishna Sivaraman, ed., Hindu
Spirituality I: Vedas Through Vedanta, World Spirituality Series
6 (New York: Crossroad, 1989) hardcover, $50.
K.R. Sundararajan & Bithika Mukerji,
eds., Hindu Spirituality II: Postclassical and Modern (New
York: Crossroad, 1997) hardcover, $50.
Patrick Olivelle, trans., The Early
Upanisads: Annotated Text and Translation (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1998) hardcover, $65. This is a bi-lingual
Sanskrit-English edition of the classic text of Hindu mystical
spirituality. A paperback version with only the English is
available as part of the Oxford World’s Classics series for
$7. A very readable edition.
Edwin F. Bryant, ed., Krishna: A
Sourcebook (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007) paperback,
$28. NEW.
Louis Fischer, ed., Essential
Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings (New York: Vintage, 1983).
Dominic Goodall, ed. Hindu
Scriptures With New Translations (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1996) paperback, $18.
Donald S. Lopez, Jr., ed.,
Religions of India in Practice, Princeton Readings in Religion
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995) paperback, $22.
Stephen R. Bokenkamp, Early Daoist
Scriptures (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999)
paperback, $20.
Thomas Cleary, ed. The Taoist
Classics (Boston: Shambhala, 1999) 4 vol.:
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Vol. 1: Tao Te Ching,
Chuang-tzu (1999) hardcover, $40.
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Vol. 2: Understanding Reality,
Inner Teachings of Taoism (1999) hardcover, $40.
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Vol. 3: Vitality, Energy,
Spirit; Secret of the Golden Flower (1999) hardcover, $45.
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Vol. 4: The Taoist I Ching
(1999) hardcover, $45.
Donald S. Lopez, Jr., ed.,
Religions of China in Practice, Princeton Readings in Religion
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996) paperback, $22.
Bruce Watson, trans., Chuang Tzu:
Basic Writings, Translations from the Asian Classics (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1996) paperback, $16.
Tu Weiming & Mary Evelyn Tucker, eds.,
Confucian Spirituality, World Spirituality 11 (New York:
Herder & Herder, 2002) paperback, $35.
Xinzhong Yao, An Introduction to
Confucianism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000)
paperback, $20.
A.H. Armstrong, ed., Classical
Mediterranean Spirituality, World Spirituality 15 (New York:
Crossroad, 1989) paperback.
Mary Beard, John North, & Simon Price,
Religions of Rome, 2 vol. (New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1998) paperback, $25 per volume.
Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic
Techniques of Ecstasy, trans. Willard Trask (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1972) paperback, $20.
Gary H. Gossen, ed., South and Meso-American Native Spirituality:
From the Cult of the Feathered Serpent to the Theology of Liberation,
World Spirituality 4 (New York: Crossroad, 1993) paperback, $30.
Miguel Leon-Portilla, ed., Native
Mesoamerican Spirituality: Ancient Myths, Discourses, Stories,
Hymns, Poems from the Aztec, Yucatec, Quiche-Maya, and other Sacred
Traditions, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist
Press, 1980) paperback.
John Mbiti, African Religions and
Philosophy, 2nd ed. (Heinemann, 1990) paperback, $23.
John C. Niehardt, ed., Black Elk
Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1988) paperback, $12.
A.D. Nock, Conversion: The Old and
New in Religion from Alexander the Great to Augustine (reprint
of 1933 edition: Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1998) paperback,
$15.
Jacob K. Olupona, African
Spirituality, World Spirituality 3 (New York: Herder & Herder,
2000) paperback, $35.
Elizabeth Tooker, ed., Native
American Spirituality of the Eastern Woodlands: Sacred Myths,
Dreams, Visions, Speeches, Healing Formulas, Rituals, and
Ceremonials, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist
Press, 1988) paperback, $25.
Richard Valantasis, Religions of
Late Antiquity in Practice (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 2000) paperback, $22.
Peter H. Van Ness, ed., Spirituality and the Secular Quest,
World Spirituality 22 (New York: Crossroad, 1996) paperback, $30.