Recommended Books

There are many books that can help you grow your spirituality. Here are a few we recommend.

• Bhagavan Buddha and Our Heritage, by Swami Ranganathananda

  What’s the relationship between Buddhism and Vedanta? This small booklet gives a surprisingly good answer.

• Bhagavad Gita, translated by Swami Nikhilananda
  The Bhagavad Gita is unique among religious texts in its emphasis on the discharge of everyday duties, irrespective of their nature, as an effective discipline for the realization of God. The Gita teaches that if a man performs his duties, surrendering the fruit to God and discarding all selfish motives, he gains purity of heart and achieves ultimate liberation.
• Me and Mine, by Bhikkhu Buddhadasa
  Bhuddadhasa was an important Theravadin Buddhist monk who founded Wat Suan Mokkh in Thailand in 1932. Known as an innovative reinterpreter of Buddhist doctrine and Thai folk beliefs, Buddhadasa fostered a reformation in conventional religious perceptions in his home country, Thailand, as well as abroad. Although he was a formally ordained ascetic, or “monk,” having at the age of twenty years submitted to mandatory government religious controls, Buddhadasa developed a personal view that rejected specific religious identification and considered all faiths as principally one.
• Peace Is Every Step, by Thich Nhat Hanh
  Through cute stories and compassionate admonitions, the author gradually builds up to his philosophy of interbeing, the notion that none of us is separate, but rather that we inter-are. After reading Peace Is Every Step, you’ll never look at a plastic bag the same way again.
• Sons of the Buddha, by Kamala Tiyavanich
  Sons of the Buddha chronicles the lives of three of Thailand’s most prominent Twentieth-centry Buddhist monks, Ajahn Buddhadasa (1906-93), Ajahn Panya (b. 1911), and Ajahn Jumnien (b. 1936). Each would effect changes in moral attitudes and Dharma practices, restore Buddhism’s social dimension, bridge the divide separating laypeople and monastics, and champion an openmindedness toward other religions. Vedanta stresses that all paths lead to the same ultimate goal, and these monks demonstrate it through experiences and spiritual practices that are Buddhist in character but also very much Vedantic.