Sources on Buddhism

I am not a practicing Buddhist and have no institutional connection with Buddhism. At the same time, I think that Buddhist thought is a most valuable resource for those willing and able to understand and use it.

Those who know about Buddhism mostly from books, as I do, are not well thought of in the Buddhist world. In my defense I will say that in an ad-hoc way I have practiced certain disciplines and austerities which are somewhat rare in the world of today, and will also note that  criticisms of the bureaucratic and authoritarian development of scholastic and academic Buddhism do not apply to me. Nonetheless, I can make no real claim to be a Buddhist.

Below are the books I've found most useful in my studies. Some are primary texts and translations, some are commentaries, and some are secondary works. I have found a number of these books (*)  powerfully illuminating -- readers will note a contemporary western slant to these. Others are mostly informational, and a few are listed  as dubious examples to be avoided.

My longer bibliography on Chinese culture

My general philosophy bibliography

 

Balasooriya, Somaratna et al, eds., Buddhist Studies in Honor of Walpola Rahula, Gordon Fraser, 1980.

Chang, Garma C.C., The Buddhist Teaching of Totality, Penn State, 1971.

Chin-kang pan-jo po-lo-mi ching, Shanghai, 1984.

Chou Yi-liang, "Tantrism in China", Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, vol. 8, March 1945, pp. 241--332.

*Cleary, Thomas, No Barrier, Bantam, 1993.

Conze, Edward, tr., The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Verses & its Verse Summary, Four Seasons, 1973

Conze, Edward, The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom, California, 1975.

Conze, Edward, Thirty Years of Buddhist Studies, U. So. Carolina, 1968.

Conze, Edward, Vajracchedika Pajnaparamita, Roma, 1957.

Conze, Edward, Buddhist Scriptures, Penguin, 1959.

*Cook, Francis, Hua-yen Buddhism, Penn State, 1977.

Doherty, Gerald, "Form Is Emptiness: Reading the Diamond Sutra" Eastern Buddhist: Views & Reviews,  n.s.16-2, 1983, pp. 114-123

Fang Tung-mei (Thomé), Hua-yen-tsung Chieh-hsueh (2 vols), Taipei, 1981.

*Gudmunsen, Chris, Wittgenstein and Buddhism, Harper, 1977.

de Harlez, M.C., "Vajracchedika", Journal Asiatique, 8 ser. 18, Nov-Dec 1981.

Fa Tsang (ed. Fang Li-t'ian), Hua-yen chin-shih-tzu chang chiao-yi, Beijing, 1987.

Jayatilleke, Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge, Motilal Banarsidass, 1980, (repr. of Allen and Unwin, 1963).

Lopez, Donald, Elaborations on Emptiness, Princeton, 1996.

Magliola, Robert, Derrida on the Mend, Purdue University Press, 1984.

Mistry, Freny, Nietzsche and Buddhism, de Gruyter, 1981.

Mu Soeng, tr./comm., The Diamond Sutra, Wisdom Publications, 2000.

Mu Soeng, tr./comm., Heart Sutra, Primary Point, 1991.

Muller, Max, Buddhist Mahayana Texts, Part II, Motilal Banarisdass, 1965 (reprint from 1894).

*Nishitani, Keiji, Religion and Nothingness, California, 1982.

*Odin, Steve, Process Metaphysics and Hua-yen Buddhism , SUNY, 1982.

Price, A.F. and Wong, Mou-lam, trs.,  The Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui Neng, Shambhala, 1969.

*Red Pine (Bill Porter), The Diamond Sutra, Counterpoint, 2001.

Schterbatskoy, Th., "History of Materialism in India", pp. 32-41 in Studies in the History of Indian Philosophy, ed. Chattopadhyaya, Humanities Press, l980.

Soothill, William, and Hodous, Lewis, A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms, Fo Kuang, Kaohsiung Taiwan, 1962 (reprint of 1934).

*Streng, Frederick, Emptiness, Abingdon, 1967.

Thich Nhat Hanh, The Diamond that Cuts Through Illusion, Parralax, 1992.

 

I am emersonj at gmail dot com.

Original materials copyright John J Emerson

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