Buddhist Book and Web Resources

People have asked for book recommendations. I have a list here along with some websites and download links. Most PDF’s are local. You can find ebook reader versions for most of these books at other websites.

Suttas

The Middle Length Discourses published by the pts is available in PDF, EPUB, AZW, and MOBI

Pali and English Line by Line epub Zip File Download

Meditation Books

Mindfulness of Breathing is the best book for mindfulness of breathing. It is taken from the Visuddhimagga.

Knowing and Seeing by Venerable Pa-Auk Saydawgyi and explains his method.

The Art of Living is a good read if you are interested in the free 10 Day Goenka Retreat. Kindle book is available at Amazon.

General Buddhism

The Buddha and His Teachings is a book on the story of the Buddha and a few general terms that are fundamental to Theravada Buddhism.

The Dhammapada is a classic book which contains the “Sayings of the Buddha” It is the most translated book in the world. Find out why.

The Great Chronicles of the Buddha is a massive book written by Mingun Sayadaw who is in The Guinness Book of World Records for having the best memory. It talks about The Buddha and his life. It incorporates many teachings

The Workings of Kamma written by Venerable Pa-Auk Sayadaw is a very detailed book on how kamma works. It draws from the Dhammapada commentary stories and also the course he teaches.

Fundamentals of Buddhism by Venerable Nyanatiloka. This is very terse explanation, but it is very correct.

Buddhist Legends (the stories to the Dhammapada). This is a wonderful 3 volume set of the stories relating to the Dhammapada sayings. It was one of the first books ever translated because it is a classic source for monks to give Dhamma Talks. Many of the classic stories are in this collection. The book is public domain and available for free. It is also for sale in printed form at other sources.

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

The Questions of King Melinda Is a book which answers some of the most difficult questions related to Theravada Buddhism. It was also another book that was translated in the early days. The original translation is in the public domain. This shorter abridged version is available for free.

Monks Rules

Buddhist Rules for Lay People is a short manual that is digestible for lay people.

A Life Free From Money is a book for both lay people and monks about the rules relating to money.

The Buddhist Monastic Code Vol. I and The Buddhist Monastic Code Vol. II are very detailed books on the monk’s rules. It is written for monks. It is based on the Thai tradition which is a little looser on some rules. If you see the phrase, “…and some traditions don’t accept this”, rest assured that most of the other traditions that follow the rules do not accept it. Most = Pa-Auk, Na-uyana, wat khao sanamchai monasteries, and Cambodia vinaya monasteries.)

Websites

AccessToInsight.org is a vast website which has many Buddhist translations and related books.

Ancient-Buddhist-Texts.net is a website by Venerable Anandajoti. He has translated many works for free. He has also edited the Dhammapada stories “Buddhist Legends” listed above.

SuttaCentral.net has many translations of the Buddhist texts. If you do not know where to look, you can get lost and read things that are not Theravada. However a complete translation is available for the long, middle, connected and numerical discourses.

Dhammawheel.com is a discussion group devoted to Theravda topics.

Buddhadust.net

1 thought on “Buddhist Book and Web Resources”

  1. u chatchai rustam

    Namo Buddho_/\_
    Bhante hello, i would like to connect with you on email but i cant to find your account in gmail(
    Im alone practitioner from saint petersburg, russia…
    i practice pa auk system, but it has some difficulties that meant without teacher..
    Bhante can you answer for some questions, please?

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