The Upanishads. Translated by Eknath Easwaran. Nilgiri Press, 1987.
A spiritual classic, the Upanishads record the struggle to find oneness with
Brahman, the Ultimate ground of existence.
The Rig Veda: An Anthology. Edited by Doniger O'Flaherty. London: Penguin Books, 1981.
The Bhagavad Gita. Translated by Eknath Easwaran. New York: Vintage
Books, 2000.
Sometimes called the New Testament of Hinduism, the Bhagavad Gita contains the
revelation to Prince Arjuna of the saving message of Lord Krishna, an incarnation
of the god Vishnu.
The I Ching: Or, Book of Changes. 3rd. ed. Translated by Cary Baynes,
R. Wilhelm, Richard Wilhelm. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1970.
The book is one of the first efforts of the human mind to place itself within
the universe. It has had great influence in China for three thousand years.
The Book of Changes deepened in meaning when ethical values were attached to
the oracular pronouncements; it became a book of wisdom, eventually one of the
Five Classics of Confucianism. It provided the the common source for both Confucianist
and Taoist philosophy.
Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching: Penguin Classics. London: Penguin, 1985.
Classic text in Chineese philosophy/religion. UR is the Tao, the Way, which
is beyond human catagories like physical/spiritual, or personal/impersonal.
Chuang Tsu. The Book of Chuang Tsu. Translated by M. Palmer. Harmondsworth:
Penguin, 1996.
Along with Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, Chuang Tsu's work has been regarded
as one of the most profound philosophical works in Chinese Classics.
Confucius. The Analects. Edited and translated by Arthur Waley. New
York: Knopf, 2001.
This is a translation of the Chinese classic Lun Yu by Confucius (551-479 B.C.E.).
As the spiritual cornerstone of the most populous and oldest living civilization
on Earth, the Analects has inspired the Chinese and all the peoples of East
Asia.
Buddhist Scriptures. Edited by Edward Conze. London: Penguin Books,
1959.
The editor collected the essence of Buddhist teachings. Recorded between 100
and 400 C.E., the writings here include passages from the Dharmapada,
the Buddhacarita, the Questions of King Milinda and the Tibetan
Book of the Dead.
Buddhist Wisdom Books. Edited by Edward Conze. London:
Allen & Unwin, 1988.
This volume contains the Heart Sutra and the Diamond Sutra, two seminal
works of Mahayana Buddhism. The core idea of both works is that there are no
enduring substances.
The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation. Translated by W. Y. Evans-Wenty.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968.
Also known as the Tibetan Book of the Dead, it contains instructions
for the newly dead soul who wishes to reach nirvana (or at least a good rebirth).
Land of Bliss: The Paradise
of the Buddha of Measureless Light: Sanskrit and Chinese Versions of the Sukhavativyuha
Sutras. Translated by Luis Gómez. Kyoto, Japan: University of Hawaii Press,
1996.
This is the translation and annotation of two Buddhist texts on what is arguably
the most popular of all Buddhist conceptions of a blissful world beyond death.
The two texts depict an ideal world, a "Land of Bliss" that lies to
the west of our own imperfect world. This distant world is the wondrous paradise
of the Buddha Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light. The two texts explain
the conditions that lead to rebirth in that land and the manner in which human
beings are reborn there. The longer of the two texts tells the story of how
the Buddha of Infinite Light came to be a buddha and came to the world.
The Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui-Neng. Translated by A. F. Price, Mou-Lam Wong. Boston: Shambhala, 1990.
Il Nyaya Sutra di Gautama. Translated
by Leonardo Vittorio Arena. Rome, Italy: Editoriale Asram
Vidya, 1994.
This translation of the Buddha's work presents a logic completely independent
of the western one.
Abe, Masao. Divine Emptiness and Historical Fullness: A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Coversation with Masao Abe. Edited by Christopher Ives. Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1995.
Chethimattam, John B. Consciousness and Reality: An Indian approach to metaphysics. London: G. Chapman, 1971.
Ching, Julia. The Religious Thought of Chu Hsi.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
This work focuses on Chu's religious thinking, concentrating on the issues that
Chu himself dealt with, including the Great Ultimate, the spirits, religious
rituals, and his philosophy of human nature and personal cultivation.
Dali Lama, The., The World of Tibetan Buddhism. Somerville, MA: Wisdom
Publications, 1995.
A good introduction to the rich world of Tibetan ideas.
Gunaratana, Henapola. Mindfullness in Plain English. Somerville, MA:
Wisdom Publishing, 1993.
A very clear introduction to insight (vipassana) meditation by a modern Theravadin
master.
Gupta, Bina. The Empirical and the Transcendental: A Fusion of Horizons. Rowman & Littlefield, 2000.
Gupta, Bina. Perceiving in Advaita VedaAnta: Epistemological Analysis and
Interpretation. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1995.
Analyzes the knowing and the known, with the unity of subject and object in
knowing.
Huff, Toby. The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China, and the West. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Hung, Siu-Chi. Essentials of Neo-confucianism: Eight Major Philosophers of the Song and Ming Periods. Westport, CT: Greenwook Press, 1999.
Inada, Kenneth K. Nagarjuna: A Translation of His Mulamadhyamakakarika: With an Introductory Essay. Tokyo: Hokuseido Press, 1970.
Kaplean, Philip. The Three Pillars of Zen Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment.
New York: Anchor, 1989.
A modern classic from an American Zen master.
Koller, John M. Oriental Philosophies. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1970.
Krishnamurti, Jiddu. Truth and Actuality. London: Gollancz, 1977.
Lindtner, C. Master of Wisdom: Writings of the Buddhist Master Nagarjuna: Translations and Studies. Berkeley, CA: Dharma Pub, 1986.
Lott, Eric J. Vedantic Approaches to God. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1980.
Nah, Seoung. Language and Ultimate Reality in Sung Neo-confucianism: The
Nature and Inevitability of Ch'i. Harvard University: Ph.D. Thesis, 1992.
A well-written overview of the Neo-confucian understanding of UR.
Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli, Charles A. Moore. eds. A Sourcebook in Indian
Philosophy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1967.
The book covers all the main systems of Indian thought, including both orthodox
Vedic philosophy and unorthodox systems such as materialism.
Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli. An Idealist View of Life. London:
Allen & Unwin, 1932.
The author reflects upon the similarities in Eastern and Western (Idealist)
conceptions of Ultimate Reality. Critical of naturalism and scientism; final
chapter is entitled "Ultimate Reality".
Sahn, Senng. The Compass of Zen. Boston, MA: Shambhala
Publications, 1997.
A compendium of interesting and often amusing talks by a modern Korean
master. Master Sahn emphasizes the primacy of immediate experience: beyond and
before thought.
Singh, Nirbhai. Philosophy of Sikhism: Reality and its Manifestations. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 1990.
Smith, Richard J. Cosmology, Ontology, and Human Efficacy: Essays in Chinese Thought. University of Hawaii Press, 1993.
Suzuki, Shunryu. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. New York/Tokyo: Weatherhill, 1970.
Tola, Fernando, Carmen Dragonetti. On Voidness: Study on Buddhist Nihilism. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1995.
Tsai, Chih-Chung. The Dao of Zhuangzi: The Harmony of Nature. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1997.
Thurman, Robert A. F., The Central Philosophy of Tibet: A Study and Translation of Jey Tsong Khapa's Essence of True Eloquence. Princeton, NJ. Princeton University Press, 1984.
Von Franz, Marie-Luise. Psyche and Matter. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, 1992.
Wallace, B. Alan. Choosing Reality: A Buddhist View of Physics and the Mind. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1996.