My Favorite Daily Reading Book:
Ocean of Dharma by Chogyam Trungpa
"Here is an inspiring collection of short teachings from the writings of the renowned Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa. Pithy and immediate, these teachings can be contemplated and practiced every day—or any day—of the year."
____
My Favorite Buddhist Beginners' Book:
Faith, Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience by Sharon Salzberg 
"In this beautifully written work, one of America's most beloved meditation teachers offers discerning wisdom on understanding faith as a healing quality. Through the teachings of Buddha and insight gained from her lifelong spiritual quest, Salzberg provides us with a road map for cultivating a feeling of peace that can be practiced by anyone of any tradition."____
Most Influential Non-Buddhist Book:
____
Touching Enlightenment: Finding Realization in the Body by Reggie Ray
"How is it that a person can meditate for five, ten, twenty years or more and hardly change? Because they've reduced it to a mental gymnastic, explains Reggie Ray. In Touching Enlightenment, the esteemed author of five books on Buddhist history and practice guides readers back to the original approach of the Buddha: a systematic process that results in a profound awareness in our bodies rather than in our heads.Combining the scholarship he's renowned for with original insights from nearly four decades practicing and teaching meditation, Reggie Ray invites readers to explore: The body as the ideal place for spiritual pilgrimage. How to cultivate imagination, deal with pain, breathe more naturally, and other essential skills. Why ? Rejected experience becomes imprinted in the body and the steps to release it."
____
Training the Mind: And Cultivating Loving-Kindness by Chogyam Trungpa
"Warning: Using this book could be hazardous to your ego! The slogans it contains are designed to awaken the heart and cultivate love and kindness toward others. They are revolutionary in that practicing them fosters abandonment of personal territory in relating to others and in understanding the world as it is. The fifty-nine provocative slogans presented here—each with a commentary by the Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa—have been used by Tibetan Buddhists for eight centuries, to help meditation students remember and focus on important principles and practices of mind training. They emphasize meeting the ordinary situations of life with intelligence and compassion under all circumstances."
"This volume contains a translation of Seventy Stanzas, a fundamental work of Nagarjuna on the Madhyamika system of Buddhist philosophy, along with a commentary on it from the Prasangika viewpoint by Geshe Sonam Rinchen. David Komito summarizes basic Buddhist doctrines on perception and the creation of concepts, which have traditionally served as the backdrop for Nagarjuna's teachings about how people consistently misperceive and misunderstand the nature of the reality in which they live and the means through which they experience it. This book will interest Buddhist practitioners, scholars, and psychologists who seek a deeper understanding of Buddhist psychology and epistemology." ____
My Favorite Classic:
Mahamudra: The Moonlight—Quintessence of Mind and Meditation by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal
"When Mahamudra first appeared in 1986, it was a landmark in the history of Buddhist publishing in English. It was translated at the behest of the 16th Karmapa, who was asked what text would be most beneficial to Western practitioners. Collecting all of Mahamudra's key texts in one volume, the book is a staple for practitioners of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, who appreciate its detailed theoretical and practical explanations. This stunning new edition, printed on fine paper, is as inspiring to behold as it is to read." ____
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche
“A magnificent achievement. In its power to touch the heart, to awaken consciousness, [The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying] is an inestimable gift.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
A newly revised and updated edition of the internationally bestselling spiritual classic, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, written by Sogyal Rinpoche, is the ultimate introduction to Tibetan Buddhist wisdom. An enlightening, inspiring, and comforting manual for life and death that the New York Times calls, “The Tibetan equivalent of [Dante’s] The Divine Comedy,” this is the essential work that moved Huston Smith, author of The World’s Religions, to proclaim, “I have encountered no book on the interplay of life and death that is more comprehensive, practical, and wise.” ____
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chogyam Trungpa
"In this modern spiritual classic, the Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa highlights a common pitfall to which every aspirant on the spiritual path falls prey: what he calls spiritual materialism. The universal human tendency, he shows, is to see spirituality as a process of self-improvement—the impulse to develop and refine the ego when the ego is, by nature, essentially empty. “The problem,” Trungpa says, “is that ego can convert anything to its own use, even spirituality.” His incisive, compassionate teachings serve to wake us up from this trick we all play on ourselves, and to offer us a far brighter reality: the true and joyous liberation that inevitably involves letting go of the self rather than working to improve it. It is a message that has resonated with students for over thirty years and remains fresh as ever today."
Favorite Audio Book:
Buddhist Tantra: Teachings and Practices for Touching Enlightenment by Reggie Ray
____
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
"This book is about how to practice Zen as a workable discipline and religion, about posture and breathing, about the basic attitudes and understanding that make Zen practice possible, about non-duality, emptiness, and enlightenment. Here one begins to understand what Zen is really about. And, most important of all, every page breathes with the joy and simplicity that make a liberated life possible. The book originated from a series of talks given by Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki to a small group in Los Altos, California. Says the author, "The world is its own magic" -- a feeling that pervades the entire book."
The Essential Chogyam Trungpa
"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. Forty selections from fourteen different books articulate the secular path of the Shambhala warrior as well as the Buddhist path of meditation and awakening. This "new classic" vividly demonstrates Trungpa's great appreciation of Western culture which, combined with his deep understanding of the Tibetan tradition, makes these teachings uniquely accessible to contemporary readers. It will appeal to beginning students of meditation as well as seasoned readers of Eastern religion."
_____
Mind At Ease: Self-Liberation through Mahamudra Meditation
"In this uniquely insightful overview and practice guide, Traleg Kyabgon presents a thorough introduction to the Kagyu lineage's Mahamudra tradition. The author's approach is straightforward—he presents the Mahamudra teachings as a means of seeing things in, as he says, "a positive and open light. Even things we might normally regard as bad and undesirable can be interpreted in a more uplifting way due to the expansiveness of the Mahamudra vision." Mahamudra—which means "great seal" or "great symbol," referring to the symbol or mark of ultimate reality, or emptiness—points to the true nature of mind as well as the ultimate insubstantiality of all things.
The book includes an exploration of Mahamudra fundamentals and thorough explanations of Ground, Path, and Fruition Mahamudra, including meditation techniques for investigating, experiencing, and contemplating these teachings."
_____
"Mahamudra and Dzogchen are perhaps the most profound teachings within all of Tibetan Buddhism. The experience of Mahamudra, or "great symbol," is an overwhelming sense of extraordinary clarity, totally open and nondualistic. Dzogchen, or "great perfection," is the ultimate teaching according to the Nyingma tradition and also represents the pinnacle of spiritual development. These are the two paths that provide practitioners with the most skillful means to experience the fully awakened state and directly taste the reality of our mind and environment. And yet these concepts are notoriously difficult to grasp and challenging to explain. In Wild Awakening,Tibetan Buddhist master Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche presents these esoteric teachings in a style that reveals their surprising simplicity and great practical value, emphasizing that we can all experience our world more directly, with responsibility, freedom, and confidence. With a straightforward approach and informal style, he presents these essential teachings in a way that even those very new to Tibetan Buddhism can understand."
Most Influential Non-Buddhist Book:
No Man Is An Island, by Thomas Merton
"Here, in one of his most popular of his more than thirty books, Thomas Merton provides further meditations on the spiritual life in sixteen thoughtful essays, beginning with his classic treatise "Love Can Be Kept Only by Being Given Away." This sequel to Seeds of Contemplation provides fresh insight into Merton's favorite topics of silence and solitude, while also underscoring the importance of community and the deep connectedness to others that is the inevitable basis of the spiritual life—whether one lives in solitude or in the midst of a crowd."____
My Favorite Practice Book:
Touching Enlightenment: Finding Realization in the Body by Reggie Ray
"How is it that a person can meditate for five, ten, twenty years or more and hardly change? Because they've reduced it to a mental gymnastic, explains Reggie Ray. In Touching Enlightenment, the esteemed author of five books on Buddhist history and practice guides readers back to the original approach of the Buddha: a systematic process that results in a profound awareness in our bodies rather than in our heads.Combining the scholarship he's renowned for with original insights from nearly four decades practicing and teaching meditation, Reggie Ray invites readers to explore: The body as the ideal place for spiritual pilgrimage. How to cultivate imagination, deal with pain, breathe more naturally, and other essential skills. Why ? Rejected experience becomes imprinted in the body and the steps to release it."____
My Favorite User-Friendly Guide:
Training the Mind: And Cultivating Loving-Kindness by Chogyam Trungpa
"Warning: Using this book could be hazardous to your ego! The slogans it contains are designed to awaken the heart and cultivate love and kindness toward others. They are revolutionary in that practicing them fosters abandonment of personal territory in relating to others and in understanding the world as it is. The fifty-nine provocative slogans presented here—each with a commentary by the Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa—have been used by Tibetan Buddhists for eight centuries, to help meditation students remember and focus on important principles and practices of mind training. They emphasize meeting the ordinary situations of life with intelligence and compassion under all circumstances."
____
My Favorite Buddhist Philosophy Book:
"This volume contains a translation of Seventy Stanzas, a fundamental work of Nagarjuna on the Madhyamika system of Buddhist philosophy, along with a commentary on it from the Prasangika viewpoint by Geshe Sonam Rinchen. David Komito summarizes basic Buddhist doctrines on perception and the creation of concepts, which have traditionally served as the backdrop for Nagarjuna's teachings about how people consistently misperceive and misunderstand the nature of the reality in which they live and the means through which they experience it. This book will interest Buddhist practitioners, scholars, and psychologists who seek a deeper understanding of Buddhist psychology and epistemology." ____
My Favorite Classic:
Mahamudra: The Moonlight—Quintessence of Mind and Meditation by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal 
"When Mahamudra first appeared in 1986, it was a landmark in the history of Buddhist publishing in English. It was translated at the behest of the 16th Karmapa, who was asked what text would be most beneficial to Western practitioners. Collecting all of Mahamudra's key texts in one volume, the book is a staple for practitioners of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, who appreciate its detailed theoretical and practical explanations. This stunning new edition, printed on fine paper, is as inspiring to behold as it is to read." ____My Favorite Modern Classic:
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche
“A magnificent achievement. In its power to touch the heart, to awaken consciousness, [The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying] is an inestimable gift.”—San Francisco Chronicle
A newly revised and updated edition of the internationally bestselling spiritual classic, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, written by Sogyal Rinpoche, is the ultimate introduction to Tibetan Buddhist wisdom. An enlightening, inspiring, and comforting manual for life and death that the New York Times calls, “The Tibetan equivalent of [Dante’s] The Divine Comedy,” this is the essential work that moved Huston Smith, author of The World’s Religions, to proclaim, “I have encountered no book on the interplay of life and death that is more comprehensive, practical, and wise.” ____
The one book I always come back to:
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chogyam Trungpa
"In this modern spiritual classic, the Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa highlights a common pitfall to which every aspirant on the spiritual path falls prey: what he calls spiritual materialism. The universal human tendency, he shows, is to see spirituality as a process of self-improvement—the impulse to develop and refine the ego when the ego is, by nature, essentially empty. “The problem,” Trungpa says, “is that ego can convert anything to its own use, even spirituality.” His incisive, compassionate teachings serve to wake us up from this trick we all play on ourselves, and to offer us a far brighter reality: the true and joyous liberation that inevitably involves letting go of the self rather than working to improve it. It is a message that has resonated with students for over thirty years and remains fresh as ever today."Favorite Audio Book:
Buddhist Tantra: Teachings and Practices for Touching Enlightenment by Reggie Ray
Within my body are all the sacred places of the world," the Buddhist saint Saraha once said, "and the most profound pilgrimage that I can ever make is within my own body." For fifteen centuries, the realized masters of the Tantric path used the crucible of their own lives to develop an accelerated means to enlightenment that remains alive today within the vajrayana (or "indestructible vehicle") of Tibetan Buddhism. With Buddhist Tantra, Reginald A. Ray introduces you to this powerful path to "naked and unprecedented experience." The word tantra means "to weave through," a metaphor that points to the vibrant fabric of intelligent and living energies that are the final and most basic reality of our bodies, our inner life of thoughts, feelings, and intuitions, and the external world. Through nine CDs of specifi c teachings and guided meditations designed to open your body and mind, you are invited to glimpse a wondrous realm of reality known as the "vajra world"-a vibrant fabric of intelligent and living energies that make up the essence of every cell in your body, every fleeting thought you have, and every particle of the universe. If you have been seeking a gateway to this potent tradition, Buddhist Tantra is an ideal opportunity to approach the temple of its deepest truths."
____Honorable Mentions"In The Crystal and the Way of Light, Chogyal Namkhai Norbu examines the spiritual path from the viewpoint of Dzogchen. He discusses the base path and fruit of Dzogchen practice, and describes his education and how he met his principal master who showed him the real meaning of direct introduction to Dzogchen. By interweaving his life story with the teachings, he both sets Dzogchen in its traditional context and reveals its powerful contemporary relevance. The book is richly illustrated with photos of Buddhist masters, meditational deities, and Dzogchen symbols."
The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
____
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
"This book is about how to practice Zen as a workable discipline and religion, about posture and breathing, about the basic attitudes and understanding that make Zen practice possible, about non-duality, emptiness, and enlightenment. Here one begins to understand what Zen is really about. And, most important of all, every page breathes with the joy and simplicity that make a liberated life possible. The book originated from a series of talks given by Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki to a small group in Los Altos, California. Says the author, "The world is its own magic" -- a feeling that pervades the entire book."
____
The Essential Chogyam Trungpa 
"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. Forty selections from fourteen different books articulate the secular path of the Shambhala warrior as well as the Buddhist path of meditation and awakening. This "new classic" vividly demonstrates Trungpa's great appreciation of Western culture which, combined with his deep understanding of the Tibetan tradition, makes these teachings uniquely accessible to contemporary readers. It will appeal to beginning students of meditation as well as seasoned readers of Eastern religion."_____
Mind At Ease: Self-Liberation through Mahamudra Meditation
"In this uniquely insightful overview and practice guide, Traleg Kyabgon presents a thorough introduction to the Kagyu lineage's Mahamudra tradition. The author's approach is straightforward—he presents the Mahamudra teachings as a means of seeing things in, as he says, "a positive and open light. Even things we might normally regard as bad and undesirable can be interpreted in a more uplifting way due to the expansiveness of the Mahamudra vision." Mahamudra—which means "great seal" or "great symbol," referring to the symbol or mark of ultimate reality, or emptiness—points to the true nature of mind as well as the ultimate insubstantiality of all things. The book includes an exploration of Mahamudra fundamentals and thorough explanations of Ground, Path, and Fruition Mahamudra, including meditation techniques for investigating, experiencing, and contemplating these teachings."
_____
Wild Awakening by Dzogchen Ponlop
"Mahamudra and Dzogchen are perhaps the most profound teachings within all of Tibetan Buddhism. The experience of Mahamudra, or "great symbol," is an overwhelming sense of extraordinary clarity, totally open and nondualistic. Dzogchen, or "great perfection," is the ultimate teaching according to the Nyingma tradition and also represents the pinnacle of spiritual development. These are the two paths that provide practitioners with the most skillful means to experience the fully awakened state and directly taste the reality of our mind and environment. And yet these concepts are notoriously difficult to grasp and challenging to explain. In Wild Awakening,Tibetan Buddhist master Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche presents these esoteric teachings in a style that reveals their surprising simplicity and great practical value, emphasizing that we can all experience our world more directly, with responsibility, freedom, and confidence. With a straightforward approach and informal style, he presents these essential teachings in a way that even those very new to Tibetan Buddhism can understand."
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