The top 5 books of my Dharma library

I have a real weakness for books. They're probably my biggest material attachment, surpassing even yarn. (I know there are many worse attachments, but I do try to keep my library under control.) My husband and I moved last summer and again a couple of months ago, so most of my book collection has been stashed away in boxes for over a year. Last week I found myself actively missing a few of my favorite Dharma books that had gotten buried in storage; when I found them, it was like I was meeting old friends again! That got me thinking about which books I felt were essential to my practice and my life.

These are my top five, in no particular order:

1. The Dhammapada

My favorite is the Thomas Byrom verse rendering published by Shambhala. It's beautifully poetic and accessible, and also conveniently pocket-sized - my copy lives in my purse!

2. The Heart of Understanding by Thich Nhat Hanh

Though I've never had the honor of meeting him, I consider Thich Nhat Hanh to be my first Dharma teacher. He has a wonderful gift of making difficult concepts easy to understand without any "dumbing down," and you don't have to be a Buddhist practitioner to benefit from his teachings.

3. The Lotus Sutra

I first read (and reread and reread) the Burton Watson translation; I'm now reading the new translation by Gene Reeves. It's one sutra I continually return to; the sense of wonder I find in it never goes away.

4. In Praise of Tara: Songs to the Saviouress by Martin Willson

This is the best collection of writings, prayers and praises devoted to the Buddha Tara, my patron deity. 

5. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche

Sogyal Rinpoche addresses a Western audience in this book about how we in the modern world relate to life, death, and dying. It's helped me through a lot in recent years.

That's my list - I would love to hear what Dharma books are most important to you all!

 

Knitting for Peace

For this post, I was trying to pick one book that's been influential to my Dharma practice - no mean feat, since I love to read. I went through all my favorite Dharma books and authors before it occurred to me to feature a book that's not "about" Buddhist practice but has nevertheless had a wonderful effect on my practice of generosity: Knitting for Peace: Make the World a Better Place One Stitch at a Time by Betty Christiansen. It examines the growing trend in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world of knitting and crocheting for charity and features a number of prominent charities for knitters and crocheters, including my two personal favorites, Afghans for Afghans and Mother Bear Project.

A lot of good people, I think, feel helpless when they see the suffering in the world. What the book really drives home for me is that you don't have to have money or vast intellect or political power or even a lot of free time to do good. I don't have the wealth or intelligence it would take to find a cure for HIV/AIDS - but I can knit a teddy bear that will bring joy and comfort to an AIDS orphan in Namibia. (The photo shows one of my bears with its child.) No one person can do everything, but every person can do something.

My great-grandmother knit for soldiers during the First World War; my grandmother did the same during World War II. They knit out of a spirit of giving and in the hope of a better world. Though what I'm doing is not exactly the same - they knit for the war effort, I knit for the "peace effort" - I feel like I'm continuing in their tradition. We use the skills we have and do what we can to make the world better.