Reading List

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BOOKS BY DIANE MUSHO HAMILTON

COMPASSIONATE CONVERSATIONS: HOW TO SPEAK AND LISTEN FROM THE HEART

DIANE MUSHO HAMILTON, GABRIEL MENEGALE WILSON, KIMBERLY LOH

The definitive guide to learning effective strategies for engaging in open and honest conversations about divisive issues.

 

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Everything is Workable: A Zen Approach to Conflict Resolution

Diane Musho Hamilton

Seasoned mediator Diane Musho Hamilton provides the skill set you need to engage conflict with wisdom and compassion, and even—sometimes—to be grateful for it.

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The Zen of You and Me: A Guide to Getting Along with Just About Anyone

Diane Musho Hamilton

Diane Musho Hamilton’s practical, reality-based guide to living harmoniously with even your most irritating fellow humans—spouses, partners, colleagues, parents, children--shows that “getting along” is really a matter of discovering that our differences are nothing other than an expression of our even deeper shared unity.

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The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women

Florence Caplow, Susan Moon, editors.
Diane Musho Hamilton, contributor

The Hidden Lamp is a collection of one hundred koans and stories of Buddhist women from the time of the Buddha to the present day. These are the voices of the women ancestors of every contemporary Buddhist.

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Radical Compassion: Shambhala Authors on the Path of Boundless Love

Diane Musho Hamilton, contributor

What is compassion? Much more than just being nice, compassion is about looking deeply at ourselves and others and recognizing the fundamental goodness we all share. Empowering personal awakening and social change, it might be the most radical and transformative thing we can do.

Kindle

RECOMMENDED READING: ZEN & BUDDHISM

Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's Shobo Genzo

Kazuaki Tanahashi, editor

This monumental work is considered to be one of the most profound expressions of Zen wisdom ever put on paper, and also the outstanding literary and philosophical work of Japan. It is a collection of essays by Eihei Dogen (1200–1253), founder of Zen’s Soto school.

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Timeless Calling, Timely Response: A Guide for Zen Buddhist Practice

Anton Tenkei Coppens Roshi

Tenkei Roshi provides guidelines for Zen Buddhist practice based on the “Four Modes of Meditation” that he developed over recent years at Zen River Temple in The Netherlands. He also addresses how these modes can be extended to koan training, ritual, study, work, and social interaction. This book will inspire anyone interested in hearing their life’s calling and finding their own way to respond to it.

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Appreciate Your Life: The Essence of Zen Practice

Taizan Maezumi Roshi

Here is the first major collection of the teachings of Taizan Maezumi Roshi (1931-1995), one of the first Japanese Zen masters to bring Zen to the West and founding abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles and Zen Mountain Center. These short, inspiring readings illuminate Zen practice in simple, eloquent language.

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On Zen Practice: Body, Breath, and Mind

Taizan Maezumi Roshi

This updated landmark volume makes available for the first time in decades the teachings that were formative to a whole generation of American Zen teachers and students. Conceived as an overarching primer on the practice of Zen, chapters in this volume address every aspect of practice: beginning practice, shikantaza, chanting, sesshin, working with Mu, and the nature of koans.

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Big Mind Big Heart: Finding Your Way

Dennis Genpo Merzel

This book presents a highly original and accessible pathway to self-discovery and personal liberation. Author Zen Master Dennis Genpo Merzel Roshi uses this technique to help people access the ever-present Big Mind/Big Heart awareness - the clear, just being awareness and the unconditional compassion that we all can experience.

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The Path of Being Human: Zen Teachings of the Bodhisattva Way

Dennis Genpo Merzel

Dennis Genpo Merzel Roshi explains how meditation can gradually lead us to becoming more and more familiar with our minds, allowing us to better understand ourselves and the nature of human life.

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The Mind of Clover: Essays in Zen Buddhist Ethics

Robert Aitkin

Robert Aitken illuminates issues of appropriate personal and social action through an exploration of the philosophical complexities of Zen ethics.

Aitken's approach is clear and sure as he shows how our minds can be as nurturing as clover, which enriches the soil and benefits the environment as it grows.

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The Compass of Zen

Zen Master Seung Sahn

The Compass of Zen is a simple, exhaustive—and often hilarious—presentation of the essence of Zen by a modern Zen Master of considerable renown. In his many years of teaching throughout the world, the Korean-born Zen Master Seung Sahn presents the basic teachings of Buddhism and Zen in a way that is wonderfully accessible for beginners—yet so rich with stories, insights, and personal experiences that long-time meditation students will also find it a source of inspiration and a resource for study.

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Just This Is It: Dongshan and the Practice of Suchness

Taigen Dan Leighton

The joy of “suchness”—the ultimate and true nature inherent in all appearance—shines through the teachings attributed to Dongshan Liangjie (807–869), the legendary founder of the Caodong lineage of Chan Buddhism (the predecessor of Soto Zen). Taigen Dan Leighton looks at the teachings attributed to Dongshan—in his Recorded Sayings and in the numerous koans in which he is featured as a character—to reveal the subtlety and depth of the teaching on the nature of reality that Dongshan expresses.

 

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Zen Questions: Zazen, Dogen, and the Spirit of Creative Inquiry

Taigen Dan Leighton

Zen practice does not necessarily focus on the answers, but on finding a space in which we may sustain uncertainty and remain present and upright in the middle of investigations. Taigen Dan Leighton draws deeply on his own experience as a Zen scholar and teacher to invite us into the creativity of Zen awareness and practice.

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Faces of Compassion: Classic Bodhisattva Archetypes and their Modern Expression - An Introduction to Mahayana Buddhism

Taigen Dan Leighton

Faces of Compassion introduces us to enlightened beings, the bodhisattvas of Buddhist lore. They're not otherworldly gods with superhuman qualities but shining examples of our own highest potential. Scholar and Zen teacher Taigen Dan Leighton explores the imagery and lore of the seven most important of these archetypal figures, bringing them alive as psychological and spiritual wellsprings.

 

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Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi

Taigen Dan Leighton

First to articulate the meditation method known to contemporary Zen practitioners as shikantaza ("just sitting") Chinese Zen master Hongzhi is one of the most influential poets in all of Zen literature. This translation of Hongzhi's poetry, the only such volume available in English, treats readers to his profound wisdom and beautiful literary gift.

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Living by Vow: A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts

Shohaku Okumura

This immensely useful book explores Zen's rich tradition of chanted liturgy and the powerful ways that such chants support meditation, expressing and helping us truly uphold our heartfelt vows to live a life of freedom and compassion.

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Realizing Genjokoan: The Key to Dogen's Shobogenzo

Shohaku Okumura

Realizing Genjokoan is a comprehensive introduction to the teachings and approach of Dogen, the thirteenth-century Zen master who founded the Japanese Soto school of Zen. The Genjokoan is regarded as the pinnacle of Dogen's writings, encompassing and encapsulating the essence of all the rest of his work.

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Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice

Kosho Uchiyama

For over thirty years, Opening the Hand of Thought has offered an introduction to Zen Buddhism and meditation unmatched in clarity and power. This is the revised edition of Kosho Uchiyama's singularly incisive classic.

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Making Zen Your Own: Giving Life to Twelve Key Golden Age Ancestors

Janet Jiryu Abels

In this book, Janet Jiryu Abels traces the life stories of twelve Chinese Zen masters who, together, shaped what was to become known as Zen's Golden Age. She presents their biographies, describes their teachings, and shows how their lives and teachings can inspire those who practice Zen today.

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Inside the Grass Hut: Living Shitou's Classic Zen Poem

Ben Connelly

Enter the mind and practice of Zen: apply the insights of one of Zen's classic poems to your life--here and now.

Shitou Xiqian's "Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage" is a remarkably accessible work of profound depth; in thirty-two lines Shitou expresses the breadth of the entire Buddhist tradition with simple, vivid imagery. Ben Connelly's Inside the Grass Hut unpacks the timeless poem and applies it to contemporary life.

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Inside Vasubandhu's Yogacara: A Practitioner's Guide

Ben Connelly

A practical guide to Vasubandhu’s classic work “Thirty Verses of Consciousness Only” that can transform modern life and change how you see the world.

This is a great introduction to a philosophy, a master, and a work whose influence reverberates throughout modern Buddhism.

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How to Raise an Ox: Zen Practice as Taught in Master Dogen's Shobogenzo

Francis Dojun Cook

The writings of Zen master Dogen are among the highest achievements not only of Japanese literature but of world literature. In this volume, Francis Cook presents ten selections from Dogen's masterwork, the Shobogenzo, as well as six of his own essays brilliantly illuminating the mind of this peerless master.

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Buddhist Practice on Western Ground: Reconciling Eastern Ideals and Western Psychology

Harvey Aronson

This is the first book to offer Buddhist meditators a comprehensive and sympathetic examination of the differences between Asian and Western cultural and spiritual values. Harvey B. Aronson presents a constructive and practical assessment of common conflicts experienced by Westerners who look to Eastern spiritual traditions for guidance and support.

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Siddhartha's Brain: Unlocking the Ancient Science of Enlightenment

James Kingsland

A groundbreaking exploration of the “science of enlightenment,” told through the lens of the journey of Siddhartha (better known as Buddha), by Guardian science editor James Kingsland.

Siddhartha’s Brain offers a cutting-edge, big-picture assessment of meditation and mindfulness: how it works, what it does to our brains, and why meditative practice has never been more important.

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Bring Me the Rhinoceros: And Other Zen Koans That Will Save Your Life

John Tarrant

Bring Me the Rhinoceros is an unusual guide to happiness and a can opener for your thinking. This book deftly retells more than a dozen traditional koans, which are partly paradoxical questions dangerous to your beliefs and partly treasure boxes of ancient wisdom. John Tarrant brings the heart of the koan tradition out into the open, reminding us that the old wisdom remains as vital as ever, a deep resource available to anyone in any place or time.

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Buddhism Is Not What You Think: Finding Freedom Beyond Beliefs

Steve Hagen

Buddhism is Not What You Think is a clear, direct, and engaging guide to the most essential elements of spiritual inquiry: attention, intention, honesty with oneself, compassion, and the desire to awaken. Steve Hagen offers a valuable hands-on guidebook in which examples from everyday life are presented alongside stories from Buddhist teachers past and present to banish misconceptions and inspire the newcomer and the knowledgeable practitioner alike.

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Meditation Now or Never

Steve Hagen

Author and teacher Steve Hagen strips away the cultural and religious jargon surrounding meditation and provides an accessible and thorough manual for newcomers and experienced practitioners alike.

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Zen Heart: Simple Advice for Living with Mindfulness and Compassion

Ezra Bayda

There’s a secret to spiritual practice, and it’s surprisingly simple: learn to be present with attention. In Zen Heart, Ezra Bayda provides a wealth of practical advice for making difficult experiences a valued part of the path and for making mindfulness a daily habit.

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Zen Master Who?: A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen

James Ishmael Ford

Zen Master Who? is the first-ever book to provide a history of Zen's arrival in North America, surveying the shifts and challenges to Zen as it finds its Western home. James Ishmael Ford traces Zen's history in Asia, and then outlines the state of Zen in North America today. Clear-eyed and even-handed, Ford shows us the history and development of the institution of Zen.

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The Book of Mu: Essential Writings on Zen's Most Important Koan

James Ishmael Ford

The word "mu" is one ancient Zen teacher's response to the earnest question of whether even a dog has "buddha nature". "Practicing Mu" is synonymous with practicing Zen, "sitting with Mu" is an apt description for all Zen meditation, and it is said that all the thousands and thousands of koans in the Zen tradition are just further elaborations of Mu.

 

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TIBETAN BUDDHISM

The Essential Chogyam Trungpa

Carolyn Rose Gimian, editor

Chögyam Trungpa wrote more than two dozen books on Buddhism and the Shambhala path of warriorship. The Essential Chögyam Trungpa blends excerpts from bestsellers like Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, Meditation in Action, and other titles into a concise overview of Trungpa's teachings.

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The Five Wisdom Energies: A Buddhist Way of Understanding Personalities, Emotions, and Relationships

Irini Rockwell

This book invites us to celebrate our strengths and work with our weaknesses by learning to identify and utilize five basic personal styles or energies.

Irini Rockwell shows us how to identify which energies are active in our lives, and how we can work with them in any situation to improve self-awareness, communication, and creative expression.

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INTEGRAL THEORY

A Brief History of Everything

Ken Wilber

Join one of the greatest contemporary philosophers on a breathtaking tour of time and the Kosmos—from the Big Bang right up to the eve of the twenty-first century.

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Integral Meditation: Mindfulness as a Way to Grow Up, Wake Up, and Show Up in Your Life

Ken Wilber

A radical approach to mindfulness—combining an ancient meditation technique with leading-edge theory, resulting in a powerful new method of self-transformation.

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Kosmic Consciousness

Ken Wilber

Before the birth of the universe, there existed your Original Face, the limitless Self that has been present throughout the unfolding of inert matter into life - and that continues to dwell within us at every level of consciousness. Where is this grand evolution taking us, and how can each of us participate in it more fully? In Kosmic Consciousness, Ken Wilber invites you to find out.

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The One Two Three of God

Ken Wilber

Is it possible to develop an all-inclusive vision of God that can satisfy scientists, philosophers, and priests at the same time, one that can help you deepen your own connection to the divine? It is, teaches best-selling author Ken Wilber, if you are able to understand the "1-2-3" of God.

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Integral Buddhism: And the Future of Spirituality

Ken Wilber

An edifying view of Buddhism from one of today's leading philosophers: a look at its history and foundational teachings, how it fits into modern society, and how it (and other world religions) will evolve.

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The Religion of Tomorrow: A Vision for the Future of the Great Traditions - More Inclusive, More Comprehensive, More Complete

Ken Wilber

A provocative examination of how the great religious traditions can remain relevant in modern times by incorporating scientific truths learned about human nature over the last century. This is Ken Wilber's most sweeping work since Sex, Ecology, Spirituality, a thrilling call for wholeness, inclusiveness, and unity in the religions of tomorrow.

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Grace and Grit: Spirituality and Healing in the Life and Death of Treya Killam Wilber

Ken Wilber

Here is a deeply moving account of a couple's struggle with cancer and their journey to spiritual healing. Grace and Grit is the compelling story of the five-year journey of Ken Wilber and his wife Treya Killam Wilber through Treya's illness, treatment, and, finally, death.

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A New Republic of the Heart: An Ethos for Revolutionaries--A Guide to Inner Work for Holistic Change

Terry Patten

A vision to address our environment, economy, politics, culture, and to catalyze the radical whole-system change we need now.

Recasting current problems as emergent opportunities, Terry Patten offers creative responses, practices, and conscious conversations for tackling the profound inner and outer work we must do to build an integral future.

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ALSO RECOMMENDED

The Elegant Self, A Radical Approach to Personal Evolution for Greater Influence in Life

Robert McNamara

The Elegant Self offers a unique perspective on the future of you. Explore adulthood through a new lens as you tour the many dangers facing our world today. Gain clarity into some of the highest stages of development. Learn how the trap of completeness may be holding your influence in the world back in virtually every facet of life. Accept an invitation for you to become more of an elegant self.

Hardcover

Strength to Awaken, Make Strength Training Your Spiritual Practice and Find New Power and Purpose in Your Life

Robert McNamara

Strength to Awaken is unlike any other book on strength training. This guide reshapes your basic understanding of the purpose of training, provides never before seen instruction on the inner dimensions of training and performance while inviting you into what McNamara calls Whole Hearted Engagement.

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Feed Your Vow, Poem for Falling Into Your Fullness

Brooke McNamara

Brooke McNamara writes poems from the body of a dancer, mind of a zen monk, and heart of a mother. In this groundbreaking first book, she opens a timeless beauty for readers by encountering our everyday world with fiercely loving eyes and a powerful, compassionate voice.

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Bury The Seed: Poems for Releasing More Life Into You

Brooke McNamara

Brooke McNamara’s Bury the Seed, is a four-part collection of poetry that invites us to revel in the wonder, mystery, and elegance of our ordinary, brief, and beautiful lives.

Paperback

She Appears! Encounters with Kwan Yin, Goddess of Compassion

Sandy Boucher
Diane Musho Hamilton, contributor

This full color book features over 30 works of original art accompanied by memoir and stories recounts experiences with Kwan Yin, the Celestial Bodhisattva of Compassion.

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The Dharma of Dogs: Our Best Friends as Spiritual Teachers

Tami Simon, ed.
Diane Musho Hamilton, contributor

The Dharma of Dogs shares the reflections of spiritual teachers and writers who have found a source of deep truth and practical wisdom beneath the furry surface of our four-legged friends.

 

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