| Books on Buddha |
Books make me question each time I choose one. It makes me sense how less is my knowledge, and they’re so much to receive. If you seek to understand life and see things more mindfully, you are in the right place.
Gautama Buddha belonged to an affluent family. He had all luxuries, richness, and wealth to live life happily. He was greatly affected by the suffering of the people around him. However, having everything couldn’t make him happy. Finally, he gave up on his lavish life and left his splendid house to find the right meaning of life.
As he wanted to find a way to a more fulfilling and peaceful life, he decides to become an ascetic. He went to Alara Kalama, who was a teacher, to acquire knowledge and also learned mediation. Later, started spreading his knowledge and wisdom to his disciples. His teachings became popular and accepted, which led to the foundation of Buddhism.
Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama more than 2,500 years ago in India. With about 470 million followers, scholars consider Buddhism one of the major world religions.
If you are inclined to know more about the thoughts and teachings of Gautama Buddha, you can pick any books on Buddha from the list:
1. The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living
Author: 14th Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler
The book is a guide meant to create awareness. It’s for the people who are seeking peace and happiness in life.
Happiness is determined more by the state of one’s mind than by one’s external conditions, circumstances, or events. Howard Cutler shares questions to the 14th Dalai Lama, to know his way of achieving inner peace and calmness.
2. The Book of Joy
Author: 14th Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams
The book outlays the conversation between the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The two old friends met in India for the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday, and they had long discussions over several days.
The book states that fear, anger, and hatred exist internally as much as externally. It’s about finding joy and happiness in the face of suffering and grief.
3. When Things Fall Apart
Author: Book by Pema Chodron
This book will help you to transform your difficult times and learn from them. It will open your heart to perceive things differently.
Pema shows that moving toward painful situations and becoming intimate with them can open up our hearts in ways we never before imagined.
Read: Best Buddha Quotes on Wisdom and Happy Life.
4. Siddhartha: An Indian Tale
Author: Hermann Hesse
It’s a story about a man named Siddhartha who leaves his house to attain spiritual enlightenment. It talks about his self-discovery journey and learning from it.
The event took place during the time of the Gautama Buddha. Siddhartha simply urges people to identify and love the world in its completeness.
5. The Heart of the World: A Journey to Tibet’s Lost Paradise
Author: Ian A Baker
The Heart of the World book presents an extraordinary journey. A journey to one of the wildest and most inaccessible places on earth. Its a pilgrimage to the heart of the Tibetan Buddhist faith.
After years of research and investigation, Buddhist scholar and world-class climber Ian Baker and his team made worldwide news by reaching the bottom of the Tsangpo gorge and finding a magnificent 108-foot-high waterfall the legendary grail of both Western explorers and Tibetan seekers.
6. The Miracle of Mindfulness
Author: Thich Nhat Hanh
In this book, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh presents several methods for becoming liberated.
This book will teach you to focus on one thing that we are doing. One of the key methods that Hanh presents is learning to be aware of breathing.
Apart from being aware of our physical selves, we should learn to watch our minds and thoughts.
Read: 15 Best Books on Spirituality That Will Change Your Life!
7. The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down
Author: Haemin Sunim
The author has written this book for the modern world where the outer buzz is so loud that we tend to forget the hear our voice within.
The book shared stories to help and inspire the readers. It will help you to achieve the methods to find peace in this busy world.
8. The Buddha and His Dhamma
Author: B. R. Ambedkar
The Buddha and His Dhamma was the last work of Indian statesman and scholar B. R. Ambedkar.
The book records many events of Buddha’s life. It shares Buddha’s philosophy and his way of living.
9. Zen Pencils-Creative Struggle: Illustrated Advice from Masters of Creativity
Author: Gavin Aung Than
Gavin Aung Than, the creator of the innovative Zen Pencils, shares his passion for creativity.
Through his book, the author reveals how you, too, can live a creative life. You can find meaning and wake up the creative spirit inside you.
10. No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering
Author: Thich Nhat Hanh
In this book, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh presents the secret to happiness.
The readers will learn to face the challenges of life and not run away from them. The book offers practices through which one can learn how to acknowledge and transform suffering.
11. Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love and Wisdom
Author: Rick Hanson
Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, Gandhi, and the Buddha all had brains built essentially like anyone else’s, yet they were able to harness their thoughts and shape their patterns of thinking in ways that changed history.
The book states the importance of shaping our Brains for gaining Happiness, Love and Wisdom.
12. Each Moment Is the Universe: Zen and the Way of Being Time
Author: Dainin Katagiri
It’s easy to regard time as a commodity—we even speak of “saving” or “spending” it. We often regard it as an enemy, when we feel it slipping away before we’re ready for time to be up.
The Zen view of time is radically different than that: time is not something separate from our life; rather, our life is time. Once we understand this we can live fully and freely right where we are in each moment.
13. Teachings of Buddha
Author: Bukkyo Dendo Kyonkai
Buddha’s teachings have been preserved and handed down for more than twenty-five hundred years extending beyond borders and racial barriers of the world.
Contains the essence of the Buddha’s teachings as recorded in over five thousand volumes. The words of Buddha contained in this book touch on all aspects of human life and bring meaning to it.
14. Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment
Author: Deepak Chopra
It’s a story about a young prince who abandoned his inheritance to discover his true meaning in life. He later becomes a wandering monk and embarks on a spiritual journey and achieves enlightenment.
Read this book to understand the meaning and purpose of life.
15. The Everything Buddhism Book
Author: Arnie Kozak
A complete introduction to the history, traditions, and beliefs of Buddhism, past and present.
This books will give you complete idea of the life of Buddha and his continuing influence throughout the world.
Comment and let me know if you have experienced any of the books on Buddha mentioned in the list.
