Early Buddhism and the Insight Meditation Tradition: A Reading List

Many people I speak with say their first real encounter with Buddhism came through a book picked up out of curiosity. That was certainly true for me. In 1972, I discovered What the Buddha Taught by Walpola Rahula in my high school library and read it again and again, each time uncovering something new in the Buddha’s remarkable teachings.

The books below reflect the traditions that have most deeply influenced this website and my own practice: early Buddhist teachings, Theravāda Buddhism as preserved and practiced in countries such as Burma and Sri Lanka, and the contemporary Insight Meditation movement that grew from those roots in the West.

Some of these authors are Asian monastics and teachers closely connected with classical Theravāda practice — figures such as Ajahn Chah, Ayya Khema, and Bhante Gunaratana. Others are well-known Western teachers associated with the Insight Meditation movement and communities such as Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and the Insight Meditation Center.

While these teachers differ somewhat in style and emphasis, they share a practical orientation toward meditation, mindfulness, compassion, and liberation from suffering.

I have arranged the books simply and arbitrarily by the authors’ first names, not by importance or recommendation level. Every book listed here has something valuable to offer sincere practitioners.

For readers approaching Buddhism from a more secular or psychological perspective, I also highly recommend Why Buddhism Is True by Robert Wright. Despite its provocative title, Wright is not arguing for belief in Buddhist metaphysics so much as suggesting that Buddhism’s understanding of the human mind and the causes of suffering remains profoundly relevant today.

Ajahn Chah
Being Dharma: The Essence of the Buddha’s Teachings

Ayya Khema
Being Nobody, Going Nowhere

Bhante Gunaratana
Mindfulness in Plain English
Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English
Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness

Bhikkhu Bodhi
The Noble Eightfold Path

Guy Armstrong
Emptiness: A Practical Guide for Meditators

Jack Kornfield
A Path with Heart
Living Dharma
After the Ecstasy, the Laundry
A Still Forest Pool (with Paul Breiter, ed.)

Joseph Goldstein
A Heart Full of Peace
Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening
Seeking the Heart of Wisdom (with Jack Kornfield)
The Experience of Insight

Larry Rosenberg
Breath by Breath
Living in the Light of Death
Three Steps to Awakening: A Practice for Bringing Mindfulness to Life

Richard Shankman
The Art and Skill of Buddhist Meditation

Sharon Salzberg
Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection
Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation
Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness
A Heart as Wide as the World

Sylvia Boorstein
That’s Funny, You Don’t Look Buddhist
Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There
Happiness Is an Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life

What the Buddha Taught
Walpola Rahula