The  DePaul  University  Zen  Society

Reading Suggestions

The following books have been useful for Zen students.  Some of them are available through Daiyuzenji temple in Chicago, which conducts a Buddhism study group every Sunday; DePaul Zen Society members, please inquire.  Many others are available for purchase online or at local bookstores.  Finally, various translations of essential texts (sutras, koan collections) are widely available online:  check the sites listed on our Links page, or do a search.
Recommended Text for Beginners:

  • An Introduction to Zen Training, by Omori Sogen


Texts for Historical Background and Reference

  • Buddha, by Karen Armstrong
  • Basic Buddhist Concepts, by Kogen Mizuno
  • What the Buddha Taught, by Walpola Rahula
  • History of Zen Buddhism, Vol. 1 (India and China) and Vol. 2 (Japan), by Heinrich Dumoulin
  • Buddhism in China, A Historical Survey, by Kenneth Kuan Sheng Ch'en
  • Ch'an and Zen Teaching, by Charles Luk
  • Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings, by Andy Ferguson
  • The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen, by Jeffrey L. Broughton
  • Seeing through Zen: Encounter, Transformation, and Genealogy in Chinese Chan Buddhism, by John R. McRae
  • Eloquent Zen: Daito and Early Japanese Zen, by Kenneth Kraft
  • A Manual of Zen Buddhism, by D.T. Suzuki
  • Art of the Zen Master [a biography of Omori Sogen], by Dogen Hosokawa


Buddhist Sutras and Writings by Zen Masters

  • The Heart Sutra
  • The Diamond Sutra, transl. by Red Pine
  • The Lankavatara Sutra:  An Epitomized Version, transl. by D.T. Suzuki
  • The Vimilakirti Nirdesa Sutra, transl. by Burton Watson
  • The Surangama Sutra
  • The Lotus Sutra
  • The Avatamasaka Sutra
  • The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, transl. by Red Pine
  • The Recorded Sayings of Ma-tzu
  • The Recorded Sayings of Joshu
  • The Zen Teaching of Huang-Po, transl. by John Blofeld
  • The Recorded Sayings of Layman P'ang
  • The Zen Teachings of Master Lin-Chi, by Burton Watson
  • The Record of Lin-Chi, by Ruth Fuller Sasaki
  • The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch
  • Dream Conversations, by Muso Soseki (transl. by Thomas Cleary)
  • Zen Words for the Heart: Hakuin's Commentary on the Heart Sutra, by Norman Waddell
  • Wild Ivy: The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin, by Hakuin Ekaku and Norman Waddell
  • The Zen Master Hakuin, Selected Writings, by Philip Yampolsky
  • Fudochi Shimmyo Roku, by Takuan Soho (transl. by Tenshin Tanouye)


Texts for Students Engaged in Koan Study with a Teacher

  • Two Zen Classics: The Gateless Gate and The Blue Cliff Records, by Katsuki Sekida
  • The Gateless Barrier: Zen Comments on the Mumonkan, by Zenkei Shibayama
  • The Zen Koan as a Means of Attaining Enlightenment, by D.T. Suzuki
  • The Zen Koan: Its History and Use in Rinzai Zen, by Isshu Miura and Ruth Fuller Sasaki
  • Entangling Vines:  Zen Koans of the Shumon Kattoshu, by Thomas Yuho Kirchner
  • Zen Sand: The Book of Capping Phrases for Koan Practice, by Victor Sogen Hori
  • Zen Dust: The History of the Koan and Koan Study in Rinzai (Lin-chi) Zen, by Isshu Miura
  • Discourse on the Inexhaustible Lamp, by Torei Enji


Zen and Related "Ways"

  • Zen and the Art of Calligraphy: The Essense of Sho,
  by Omori Sogen and Terayama Katsujo
  • Zen and Budo, by Omori Sogen
  • Zen and the Ways, by Trevor Legget


Misc. Other

  • Toward a Philosophy of Zen Buddhism, Toshihiko Izutsu