reading lists

Buddhism: Introductory Readings

Introductory texts on the basics of Buddhism, including the Buddha's life and teachings, the history of Buddhism, and the development of its philosophy and practice.

 
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The Buddha: a very short introduction
by Michael Carrithers

A great overview of the Buddha's teachings, his life, and his legacy. Carrithers is particularly good at explaining why what the Buddha taught was so radical given the culture of India at the time.

 
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basic teachings of the Buddha
edited and translated by Glenn Wallis

A selection of translations from the Pali Canon, early Buddhist texts that claim to be the words of the Buddha himself. Wallis includes discourses on classic Buddhist topics such as selflessness, mindfulness of breathing, and the illusory nature of phenomena, but also includes the Buddha's teachings on matters particularly relevant to contemporary readers in the West, such as ethics, reality, experiential knowledge, and the question of whether God's existence or non-existence is a relevant concern for a spiritual practitioner.

 
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A Concise History of Buddhism
by Andrew Skilton

A readable guide to Buddhism's 2,500 year history, covering the permutations in doctrine and practice as it travelled east from its north Indian beginnings across Asia.

 
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Unentangling Self by Andrew Olendkzi

A collection of short pieces on a wide variety of key Buddhist teachings that are both readable and comprehensive in their coverage. An excellent place to start getting a handle on what the Buddha taught.

 
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Buddhism as philosophy: an introduction
by mark Siderits

This book offers a clear overview of Buddhism from a philosophical perspective. Siderits covers the basic teachings of the Buddha, arguments for the illusory nature of the self, ethics, Buddhist psychology, the arguments that all phenomena are empty of substance, and developments in epistemology.