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Recommended books
Contents of this page
Books recommended by insight meditation centres
Follow the links below for recommendations from these centres:
Gaia House
Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Includes a few e-books for free download.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington
Insight Meditation Society
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
Books recommended by insight meditation teachers
Follow the links below for recommendations from these teachers:
Martine Batchelor
Stephen Batchelor
Bhante Bodhidhamma
Leigh Brasington
Jake Dartington
Kevin Griffin - particuarly books on Buddhism and recovery
Rick Hanson
SanghaSeva - particularly books on service work and meditation
Free e-books and online texts
The following sites offer e-books and online texts freely. All gladly accept donations.
Access to Insight texts from the Pali Canon
E-books by Bhante Bodhidhamma
Buddhanet e-books from many schools of Buddhism, including the insight tradition
Forest Sangha e-books by teachers in Ajahn Chah’s tradition
Abhayagiri more books from Ajahn Chah’s tradition
Jatakas. Translations of early Buddhist folk tales by Margo McLoughlin, including this audio recording.
Booksellers and publishers
Two specialist booksellers worth investigating are:
Wisdom Books online retailer of Buddhist books
Watkins Books Charing Cross Road bookshop specialising in spirituality of all kinds
If you have an interest in early Buddhist texts, you may want to know about:
The Pali Text Society
Libraries
Your public library’s inter-library loan service is likely to be the best source of Buddhist books- even obscure titles. Any public library should be able to borrow for you from elsewhere in the UK. This service is cheap and usually quick.
The British Library is one of the three largest libraries in the world. The criteria for receiving a reader’s ticket are not as stringent as their website makes them sound. Anyone with an interest in studying meditation or Buddhism in any depth should be granted a ticket automatically, but please do note the requirements stated on their webpage about registration. Books can only be read in the library: if you want to borrow, use your public library (see above).
The Buddhist Society has a useful library. Anyone can visit to consult the books, but only members can borrow.
The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) library has a good collection of academic works about Buddhism. Members of the public can visit without charge up to three times a year. There is a charge for visiting more often, or borrowing.
Book reviews by the London Insight team
Rick Hanson's Just one thing reviewed by Steve Wasserman
Sharon Salzberg's The power of meditation reviewed by Anthea West