Recommended Books

Barnes & Noble.com

 

 

 

Only a Great Rain: A Guide to Chinese Buddhist Meditation
 Only a Great Rain: A Guide to Chinese Buddhist Meditation by Master Hsing Yun. A guide to Chinese Buddhist meditation. One of the few books to describe the Chinese approach to Buddhist meditation. Excellent commentary on Chinese Buddhism in general. Published by Wisdom Publications.

The Way to Buddhahood
The Way to Buddhahood by Venerable Master Yin-shun. Instructions from a Modern Chinese Master. This book is one of the best for overall Buddhist doctrine. It is used in Buddhist Monasteries and Academies as a text book. Published by Wisdom Publications, Boston. Usually available in major book stores or on-line.

Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings
Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings The popular belief is that Zen Buddhism is the property of Japan; this excellent and exhaustive book reminds us of the vast, though often neglected, patrimony of Buddhist spiritual knowledge that comes not from Japan but China. Ferguson's work is at once a history and an anthology of this fascinating tradition and includes many koans, anecdotes, and stories, as well as a wonderfully clear wall chart "Map of the Zen Ancestors." This splendid repository should give instruction and pleasure to the general reader as well as the professed Buddhist. Highly recommended for general and academic collections alike.

The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen
The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen This is an  excellent reference book and should be in every Buddhist's library. Published by Shambhala Publications, Boston, MA

Zen Dawn: Early Zen Texts from Tun Huang. Dating from the eighth century, and only recently rediscovered in Tun Huan, China, these books offer the best information currently available on the early meditation techniques of the "northern school" of Zen (Chan) Buddhism in China.

Ch'an and Zen Teaching, Vol. 1
Chan and Zen Teachings, Vo. l 1by Charles Luk (Lu K'uan Yu). Part 1 of this volume has many of Master Hsu Yun's teaching.

Chan and Zen Teachings, Vo. 2 by Charles Luk (Lu K'uan Yu). Part 2 discusses the Seven Buddhas of Antiquity, The Twenty seven Indian Patriarchs and the Six Chinese Patriarchs.  Part 2 has stories of the founders of the 5 Chinese Chan Sects. Currently out of print. Occasionally Barnes and Noble can obtain copies and I'm sure other book sellers as well.

Chan and Zen Teachings, Vol. 3 by Charles Luk (Lu K'uan Yu). This volume discusses the Sixth Patriarch's Sutra. All three Volumes are published by Samuel Weisner. Currently out of print. Occasionally Barnes and Noble can obtain copies and I'm sure other book sellers as well.

Empty Cloud (Hsu Yun) "The autobiography of the Chinese Zen Master Hsu Yun", by Charles Luk (Lu K'uan Yu). This is an excellent book about the life of Hsu Yun, unfortunately it is currently out of print. Occasionally Barnes and Noble can obtain copies and I'm sure other book sellers as well. Published by Element Books.

A Pictorial Biography of the Venerable Master Hsu Yun
Two volumes. San Francisco: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 1983, 1985. ISBN: 0917512405 Available through the Buddhist Text Translation Society at:  http://www.bttsonline.org/