Books

written by Rei Ryu Philippe Coupey

• In the Belly of the Dragon: A Zen Monk’s Commentaries on the Shinjinmei by Master Sosan (Volume 1), (New Orleans: American Zen Association, 2005)

• Zen: Simply Sitting - Commentaries on the Fukanzazengi by Eihei Dogen, (Arizona, Hohm Press, 2007)

• The song of the wind in the Dry tree -12 poems of the Sansho Doei by Master Dogen and the Komyozo Zanmai of his disciple and succesor Koun Ejo. [Coming soon]

Recommended books

by Rei Ryu Philippe Coupey

Taisen Deshimaru (1914 – 1982)

• Questions to a Zen Master, Political and Spiritual Answers from Taisen Deshimaru (Penguin, 1991)

• Sit, edited by Philippe Coupey (Arizona: Hohm Press, 1996)

Teaching on the education in Rinzai and Soto zen, a comparison nerver done before by a zen master.

• The Ring of the Way, with Evelyn de Smedt, translated by Nancy Amphoux Plume (June 29, 1987)

• The Voice of the Valley, edited by Philippe Coupey (New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1979)

Contains teachings of Taisen Deshimaru on karma, along with a brief history of the origins of Zen.

• The Zen Way to the Martial Arts, translated by Nancy Amphoux (Paris: AZI, 2002)

Kodo Sawaki (1880 – 1965)

• "The zen teaching of homeless Kodo", by Kosho Ushiyama (Kyoto Soto-Zen Center, 1990) "Yadonashi Hokkusan", the Japanese original of this collection of sayings by Sawaki Roshi with comments by his disciple Uchiyama Roshi,

Zen Classics

Huang Po (ca. 770 - ca. 850)

• The Zen Teaching of Huang-po, by John Blofeld (New York: Grove Press, 1994 – first published in 1959)

The complete translation of the original collection of sermons, dialogues, and anecdotes of Huang Po, the illustrious Chinese master of the Tang Dynasty

Hui-hai (? - 788)

• The Zen Teaching of Hui-hai on Sudden Illumination,by John Blofeld (London: Rider, 1962) Classic eighth-century Zen record.
  

Rinzai ( ? – 866)

• The zen-teachings of Rinzai, Translated by I. Schloegl, (Shambala, 1976)

Rinzai Gigen, father of the line of Rinzai Zen, has the reputation of being extremely fierce and direct. The Rinzai's "Record" was written by his disciples. It contains his teachings, episodes from his training, and from his teaching career. [quoted from bookcover]

Dogen, Eihei (1200 – 1253)

• The Shobogenzo (four volumes), translated by Kosen Nishiyama and John Stevens (Tokyo: Nakayama Shobo, 1975)

• Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo (four volumes), translated by Gudo Nishijima and Chodo Cross (London and Tokyo: Windbell Publications, 1994–1999)

• Yuibutsu Yobutsu : Only Bouddha recognizes Bouddha / Shoji: Life and death (Extract of the Shôbôgenzô), translated by Eido Shimano Roshi and Charles Vacher (Encre marine 1999)

About Dogen :

• Dogen's formative years in China : an historical study and annotated translation of the Hokyo-Ki, by Takashi James Kodera, Rootledge and Kegan Paul, 1980

Ikkyu (1394 - 1481)

• Zen-Man Ikkyu, by, James H. Sanford (Scholars Press, The President and fellows of harvard college, 1981)

Takuan (1573 - 1645)

• The Unfettered mind (Kodansha International / Shambhala 2012)
  

Bankei (1622-1693)

• The Unborn (translated by Norman Waddell, North Point Press 1984)
  

Hakuin (1686 - 1769)

• The Embossed Tea Kettle, Orate Gama and Other Works of Hakuin Zenji (George Allen & Unwin, 1963)

Selections from the life and teachings of the renowned Rinzai Zen master, Hakuin Zenji.

Contempory books on Zen and Buddhism

Blyth, R.H.

• Zen and Zen Classics Vol. 1 - From the Upanishads to Huineng (Hokuseido Press)

• Zen and Zen Classics Vol. 2 - History of Zen (Hokuseido Press)

Coomaraswamy, Ananda K.

• Buddha and the gospel of Buddhism, (Obscure Press , 2008 - first published in 1916)

An account of the life of the Buddha and an exposition of the religion and philosophy the Buddha propounded. This also analyzes the origins of Buddhist thought and traces its development from Hindu philosophical systems. Developments in Buddhist thought since the death of the Buddha are also dealt with as are Buddhist literature, sculpture and painting, both in India and in other parts of the world to which Buddhism spread. [quoted from internet]

Crane, George (1901 - 1995)

• Bones of the masters, A Journey to Secret Mongolia (Bantam books, 2000)

Diverse

• Timeless spring - A Soto Zen Anthology (compiled by Thomas Cleary) (Weatherhill 1980)

Diverse

• Zen and Hasidism - The Similarities Between Two Spiritual Disciplines (compiled by Harold Heifetz) ( A quest book - Theosophical Publishing house 1978 / Ktav Pub Inc 1996)

Dumolin, Heinrich

• Zen Buddhism: a history - India and China (Vol. 1) (World Wisdom 2005)

• Zen Buddhism: a history - Japan (Vol. 2) (World Wisdom 2005)

Leggett, Trevor

• Zen and the Ways (Shamabala 1978)

Karagiri, Dainin

• You have to say something (Shambala 2000)

Lozowick, Lee

• Zen Trash, The Irreverent and Sacred Teaching Stories of Lee Lozowick (Hohm Press, 2000)

Teaching stories from world religions compiled from twenty-five years of Lozowick's worldwide seminars.

Mishra, Pankaj

• An end to suffering (Farrar, Straus + Giroux, 2004)

Mishra explores the myths and places of the Buddha's life, the West's "discovery" of Buddhism, and the impact of Buddhist ideas on such modern politicians as Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. [quoted from internet]

Morgan, Daishin

• Buddha recognizes Budhha (Throssel Hole Press, UK, 2010)

No Ajahn Chah

• Reflections (compiled by Dhamma Garden) - free distribution

Senzaki, Nyogen / Strout McCandless, Ruth

• Buddhism and Zen (includes 40 pages of commentary on the Shodoka by Yoka Daishi), (New York: North Point Press, 1987)

Shinran (1173 – 1263)

• Tannisho, translated by Taitetsu Unno (Buddhist Study Center Pr; Revised edition June 1996)

A compilation of key sayings by the medieval Japanese Buddhist teacher, Shinran Shonin, who first promulgated the True Pure Land Sect (Shin Buddhism, for short). [quoted from internet]

Sokei-An (1882 – 1944)

• Zen pivots, Lectures on buddhism and zen, (Weatherhill, 1998)

Sokei-An, one of the first masters to bring the living thought and practice of zen to the United States. Consisting of talks that he gave to his students in New York City in the 1930s and 1940s, the work shows the range of his grasp of Buddhist thought and his eye for how this teaching could be transplanted into everyday life, language and culture of his adopted land. [quoted from internet]

Trungpa, Chögyam (1939 – 1987)

• Meditation in action (Shambalah Library, 2004 - first published in 1969)

• Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (Shambalah Library, 2008 - first published in 1973)

Others

• The Vimalakirti Nirdeša Sutra, translated by Charles Luc (Shambhala 1972)

• "Aphorisms of Yoga" by Patanjali (Faber and Faber Limited 1973) [not Buddhism, but Hinduism]

Recommended books

by Kojun Kishigami Osho

Ancestral Bouddhism

Dhammapada - a versified Buddhist scripture traditionally ascribed to the Buddha himself

Suttā-nipāta - collection in the Khuddaka Nikaya, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism.

Udāna-varga - an early Buddhist collection of topically organized chapters (Sanskrit: varga) of aphoristic verses or "utterances" (Sanskrit: udāna) attributed to the Buddha and his disciples.

Theragāthā / Therigāthā- often translated as Verses of the Elder Monks (Theragāthā) / Nuns (Therigāthā) is a Buddhist scripture, a collection of short poems supposedly recited by early members of the Buddhist sangha.

Jātākā - refer to a voluminous body of folklore-like literature native to India concerning the previous births (jāti) of the Buddha.

Mahāparinibbāna-sutta - a Buddhist sutra in the Digha Nikaya of the Tripitaka. It concerns the end of Gautama Buddha's life and is the longest sutta of the Pāli Canon.

Pāli Canon - The standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pali language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down. It was transcribed from the more ancient North Indian oral tradition, during the Fourth Buddhist Council in Sri Lanka in the 1st century BC.

Mahayana Sutras

Diamond Sûtra (Vajracchedikā-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra ) - a short sûtra of the Perfection of Wisdom (prajna-paramita) genre, which teaches the practice of the avoidance of abiding in extremes of mental attachment.

Lotus Sûtra (Saddharma Pundarīka Sūtra) - A third-century Mahayana text. It contains the essential teachings of Mahayana, stressing the doctrine of the transcendental nature of the Buddha, the ideal of the Boddhisattva, and the possibility of universal liberation.

Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sûtra - The sutra claims to focus on the explication of the meaning of nonduality.

Flower Garland Sûtra (Avatasaka Sûtra) - The sûtra, among the largest in the Buddhist canon, contains 40 chapters. The themes:

- The interdependency of all phenomena (dharmas).

- The progression of the Buddhist path to full Enlightenment, or Buddhahood.

Nirvana Sûtra (Mahāparinirvāna Sūtra) - The scripture as providing the correct understanding of earlier Buddhist teachings, such as those on non-Self and Emptiness.

General recommandations:

Soto – Zen classics

• Sosan (chin. Sengcan, –606), The Shinjinmei

• Sekito Kisen (chin. Shitou Xiqian, 700–790), The Sandokai

• Tozan Ryokai (chin. Dongshan Liangjie, 807–869), The Hōkyozanmai

• Fuyodokai (chin. Furong Daokai, 1043–1118), Gion Shogi

• Eihei Dōgen (1200–1253), Fukanzazengi

Shōbōgenzo (Recommanded chapters : Zazenshin, Genjokoan, Gyoji)

Eiheikoroku

• Koun Ejō (1198-1280) : Komyozo Zanmai

• Daichi Sokei (1290 – 1366) : Poémes de Maître Daichi

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