Resources: Books

  • Book Cover - The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation

    The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation

    A wonderful and timeless (modern) guide to the complete path of Tibetan Buddhism and meditation. Mindfulness and Awareness—and Boredom–are must reads.

  • Book Cover - Being Right Here

    Being Right Here

    Short and to the point. A very good primer on Dzogchen view–from preliminaries to awakening.

  • Book Cover - Cultivating the Empty Field

    Cultivating the Empty Field—the Silent Illumination of Master Honghzi

    Dogen’s predecessor provides poetic instruction on just sitting (shikantaza) practice. It shares much in common with Dzogchen meditation. Beautiful.

  • Book Cover - Being Upright

    Being Upright: Zen Meditation and the Bodhisattva Precepts

    Suzuki Roshi and Dogen permeate this text. Zen precepts from a big looking glass; leaning more towards the absolute. Broadly expansive and thought provoking. Take what is pertinent-it is richly offered.

  • Book Cover - Flowers Fall

    Flowers Fall: A Commentary on Zen Master Dogen's Genjokoan

    An amazing description of Dogen's masterpiece on enlightened nature. Yasutani is stern, intense and unabashed. He pierces through marrow - and sometimes beyond.

  • Book Cover - Third Turning of the Wheel

    The Third Turning of the Wheel- Wisdom of the Samdhinirmocana Sutra

    Utterly transformative, subtle and vast. Amazingly precise, yet warmly compassionate in scope. Pure Soto view emanates from this wonderful gift. This is an ongoing work in progress that continuously brings forth deeper understanding. A challenging text, but take your time and hang in there.

  • Book Cover - The Mountains and Waters Sutra

    The Mountains and Waters Sutra

    A Practitioner's Guide

    A profound treasure! I was fortunate to bring this amazing text on retreat. Every other sentence, every other paragraph...The feeling of exuberance as zen seeped into my bones. I actually teared a few times, so thankful for the depth of insights. Not only terribly revealing (Mountains and Waters) but a tribute to his teacher too-Kosho Uchiyama Roshi. Strongly recommended. Thank you Shohaku Okumura!