Audio Resources

Audio Dharma offers a wide variety of downloadable dharma talks.

Dharma Seed and Dharma Stream offers a wide variety of dharma tapes.

Bhavana Society offers a wide range of Dharma talks on tape for a suggested donation of $4 each.

Online Readings

Access to Insight is an Internet website dedicated to providing accurate, reliable, and useful information concerning the practice and study of Theravada Buddhism, as it has been handed down to us through both the written word of the Pali Canon and the living example of the Sangha.

The Dhammapada (The Buddha's Path of Wisdom), translated by the Venerable Acharya Buddharakkhita. The entire text is available here.

Magazines

Shambhala Sun is a Buddhist-inspired magazine, applying the wisdom of the world's great contemplative traditions to the arts, social issues, politics and health.

Tricycle Magazine is a non-profit quarterly magazine with an educational charter to spread the dharma.

Inquiring Mind - Inquiring Mind is highly regarded for its excellent and thought provoking interviews of Buddhist teachers, philosophers, psychologists and artists, as well as for its poetry, stories and humorous essays.

Poem by Cece Cormier

this transparent evening
all luminous, clear
this night when angels fly
and poets die
consumes the healing
and makes me want to scream
of passion brushed lips
the pulse
an aura
love at  fingertips
initiates feeling
and pause
take a breath
rest with me
visualize the possibility
of life in several parts
filling the whole in our hearts
masking this completeness
burning opaque in the dark
(c. november 29, 2001)

Please visit our new website:
lotusinthedesert.org

Sangha Members Reading List

Study Guide for Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness by Bhante H. Gunaratana. Lotus Sangha brought in the new year with the book and an online study guide written by members of the Ganges Sangha. The book and study guide provided a powerful focus for mindfulness practice and for our Tuesday night Dharma discussions. We are grateful to Mike Potter and friends at the Ganges Sangha for maintaining the web version.
The book can be purchased from John Lanzilotta.

Cultivating Equanimity by Narayan Liebenson Grady

Right Understanding in Plain English: The Science of The Buddha's Middle Path by David N. Snyder, Ph.D. Available free from the website.

One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism by Joseph Goldstein

Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience by Sharon Salzberg

Awakening to the Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das.

Awakening to the Sacred by Lama Surya Das.

When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön, resident teacher at Gampo Abbey, a Tibetan monastery in Nova Scotia.

The Places That Scare You by Chödrön.

The Wisdom of No Escape by Pema Chödrön.

Introduction to Tantra by Lama Yeshe.

Wisdom Energy: Basic Buddhist Teachings by Lama Yeshe.

Being Nobody, Going Nowhere by Ayya Khema.

Sangha, please send your book recommendations!

From the Bhavana Society Reading List

Beginner

The Heart of Buddhism, Guy Claxton, Harper Collins, London, 1992. Written by an Oxford educated psychologist, it is an easy to read, but serious discussion of the basic teachings. An excellent analysis and explanation of the three major forms of Buddhism: Theravada, Zen, and Tibetan. The best first book for Westerners to read.

Mindfulness in Plain English, Venerable Henepola Gunaratana, Wisdom Publications, Boston and London, 1993.   A step-by-step guide to insight meditation that is practical and direct.

Experience of Insight by Joseph Goldstein, Shambhala Publications:
A modern classic of practical instructions for Buddhist meditation

A Gradual Awakening by Stephen Levine, Doubleday:
A meditation and self-awareness guide for beginners

Intermediate

The Heart of Buddhist Meditation, Nyanaponika Mahathera, Rider and Co., London, 1962. Eric Fromm said that the work of this scholarly German born Theravada monk might become one of the most important contributions to the spiritual renewal of the West. Written in a simple and direct style, with deep humanity and extraordinary knowledge. Includes important texts and explanations of the basic techniques.

What the Buddha Taught, Walpola Rahula, Grove Weidenfeld, New York, 1974. A lucid and faithful account of the Buddha's teachings which includes a number of the basic texts. Written by a Theravada monk who taught at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Breath by Breath by Larry Rosenberg, Shambhala Publications:
Mindfulness of Breathing explained in an easy, conversational style

Lovingkindness by Sharon Salzberg, Shambhala Publications:
A central meditation subject crucial to the balanced development of the path

Landscapes of Wonder by Bhikkhu Nyanasobano, Wisdom Publications, Boston, 1998:
A beautifully written collection of essays on seeing the Dhamma in the world around us.

Advanced

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness by Ven. U Silananda, Wisdom Publications, Boston, 1990. This is the basic text of and commentary on the meditative techniques which the Buddha described as the only way to peace and happiness. Written by a Theravada monk with 40 years of meditative experience. Explains in detail all the instructions of the Buddha on how to achieve mindfulness.

The Way to Peace and Happiness, compiled by Venerable Yogavacara Rahula. Provides translations of the key doctrines of the Buddha with his own insightful comments. Available from the Bhavana Society.

The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya Translated by Maurice Walshe, Wisdom Publications, London, 1987. The major talks given by the Buddha, covering his basic message. Essential reading when you are ready.

The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya Translated by Bhikkhu Nyanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi, Wisdom Publications, Boston/London, 1995.  The Suttas are the primary resource to refer to.  This collection contains 152 Suttas and an invaluable introduction by Bhikkhu Bodhi.

Publishers

Snow Lion Publications Publisher and distributor of books on Tibetan Buddhism and culture.

Wisdom Publications is a not-for-profit publisher dedicated to making available authentic Buddhist works from all the major Buddhist traditions.

Shambhala Publications Publisher of books on eastern religion and philosophy, specializing in Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and other Tibetan teachers.