Books on Engaged Buddhism

Resources on Socially Engaged Buddhism
compiled by Donald Rothberg (updated January 2005)

This listing of resources has been limited to English-language books, journals, organizations, and web sites. The listing rests on an understanding of socially engaged Buddhists as typically connecting “inner” spiritual practices with “outer” activities, ranging from the direct helping of others to efforts to transform institutions.

This is an updated version of the original resource list first published in Turning Wheel [(Spring 2004): 30-37]. I thank Sara Schedler for her help in developing this updated listing.

You can download the Bibliiography here (approx. 25 pages) or click on Resources on Socially Engaged Buddhism below.

OTHER GREAT READS!!

Natural Wakefulness: Discovering the Wisdom We Were Born With
Gaylon Ferguson and Sakyong Mipham
Shambhala Publications, 2009

That Bird Has My Wings (with a foreword by Pema Chödrön)
Jarvis Jay Masters
HarperOne, 2009

The Wisdom of Sustainability
Buddhist Economics for the 21st Century
Sulak Sivaraska
Koa Books, 2009

Money, Sex, War, Karma: Notes for a Buddhist Revolution
David Loy
Wisdom Publications, 2008

The Voice of Hope
Aung San Suu Kyi and Alan Clements
Seven Stories Press, 2008 (revised edition)

Engaged Buddhism in the West
Christopher Queen
Wisdom Publications, 2000

A Buddhist Response to the Climate Emergency
John Stanley, David R. Loy, and Gyurme Dorje
Wisdom Publications, 2009

Being Black
Zen and the Art of Living with Fearlessness and Grace
Angel Kyodo Williams
Penguin, 2002 (paperback)

Not Turning Away: The Practice of Engaged Buddhism (25 years of Turning Wheel)
Edited by Susan Moon
Shambhala Publications, 2004

Wide Awake: A Buddhist Guide for Teens
Diana Winston
Perigree, 2003

Dreaming Me:
Black, Baptist, and Buddhist – One Woman’s Spiritual Journey
Jan Willis
Wisdom Publications, 2008 (paperback)

Mindfulness in the Marketplace: Compassionate Responses to Consumerism
Edited by Allan Hunt Badiner
Parallax Press, 2007

Dharma Rain: Sources of Buddhist Environmentalism
Edited by Stephanie Kaza and Kenneth Kraft
Shambhala Publications, 1999

Step by Step: Meditations on Wisdom and Compassion
Maha Ghosananda
Parallax Press, 1992

Buddhist Acts of Compassion
Edited by Pamela Bloom
Conari Press, 2000

Against the Stream: A Buddhist Guide for Spiritual Revolutionaries
Noah Levine
HarperOne, 2007

Mindful Politics
A Buddhist Guide to Making the World a Better Place
Melvin McLeod
Wisdom Publications, 2006

Discovering Kwan Yin: Buddhist Goddess of Compassion
Sandy Boucher
Beacon Press, 2000

Awake in the Wild:
Mindfulness in Nature as a Path to Self-Discovery
Mark Coleman
Inner Ocean Publishing, 2006

Altars in the Street: A Neighborhood Fights to Survive
Melody Ermachild Chavis
Three Rivers Press, 1998

Practicing Peace in Times of War
Pema Chödrön
Shambhala Publications, 2006

Ethics for the New Millennium
His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Riverhead Books, 2001

Engaged Buddhist Reader
Edited by Arnold Kotler
Parallax Press, 1999

Bearing Witness: A Zen Master’s Lessons in Making Peace
Bernie Glassman
Bell Tower, 1998

An Engaged Spiritual Life: 
A Buddhist Approach to Transforming Ourselves and the World
Donald Rothberg
Beacon Press, 2006

Buddhism After Patriarchy
A Feminist History, Analysis, and Reconstruction of Buddhism
Rita Gross
SUNY Press, 1993

Dharma, Color, and Culture
New Voices in Western Buddhism
(especially teachers of color)
Edited by Hilda Gutierrez Baldoquin
Parallax Press, 2004

Inner Revolution
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Real Happiness
Robert Thurman
Riverhead Books, 1999

Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace
Maxine Hong Kingston
Koa Books, 2006

Queer Dharma
Voices of Gay Buddhists (2 volumes)
Edited by Winston Leyland
Gay Sunshine Press, 1998/2000

Transforming Our Terror
A Spiritual Approach to Making Sense of Senseless Tragedy
Christopher Titmuss
Barron’s Educational Series, 2002

Being Benevolence
The Social Ethics of Engaged Buddhism
Sallie B. King
University of Hawaii Press, 2006

An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics:
Foundations. Values, and Issues
Peter Harvey
Cambridge University Press, 2000

Knowing How to Live:  The Ethics of Mahayana
Sangharakshita
Windhorse Publications, 2008

World as Lover, World as Self:
Courage for Global Justice and Ecological Renewal
Joanna Macy
Parallax Press, 2007