What Buddhist Books to Own?
What Buddhist Books to Own?
From Michael Erlewine
Where to begin reading about Buddhism? That
is a question all of us interested in learning
more about the dharma eventually face. Books
on Buddhism of all kinds have skyrocketed since
the 1950s, particularly Tibetan Buddhism,
where it seems that more books are published
each month than anyone could (or would)
possibly read. So what are the good books?
Before I tiptoe into that question, let‟s note
that authorities tell us that the extant number
of Buddhist texts is an order of magnitude
greater than any other of the world‟s religions,
and that means: a lot!. And I am not talking
about what is being published just now, but
only about the great amount of original source
texts dating back to I don‟t know when. For
some reason, Buddhists like to write and they
love to make lists. I jokingly suggest that it is
all that tea the Buddhists endlessly drink that is
at the cause of it, lots of caffeinated staying
power.
With the recent explosion of books on Tibetan
Buddhism, it is not only a good, but a necessary
question how we filter out what we might need
to read from all of the rest of the literature out
there. And the key point is that it all depends
upon where you are in your interest and what
you are trying to accomplish.
Since I am an archivist by nature, I must have
at least 1,000 or more books and teachings on
Tibetan Buddhism, which is way more than I
need or could possibly read myself, but I have
read in at least most of them. Then there is the
fact that the essential dharma texts are not
books that you simply read and put to one side,
like a mystery novel. The original root texts
and source books are ones that you need to
read or „read in‟ every time you move up a
notch in your understanding of the dhrama.
When you go back and re-read the same root
text, you can have an almost completely
different take on it. The book has not changed;
you have changed, and what was dry as a bone
when you read it last has come alive with your
increasing understanding.
Before we do a canvas of what is out there, let
me state what to me is the sine qua non, the
single most important concept to keep in mind
here and that is: the key to any and all of these
written texts and materials is practice. The
Dharma as Buddha left it to us is not a piece of
philosophy to consider, but above all is
intended as a path to follow, a method for
clearing away mental obstacles and
engendering awareness. The Buddha himself
made this clear.
Understanding Buddhist concepts is not the
same as experiencing them, putting them to
the test. And experiencing them is not the
same as realization, obtaining a permanent
realization of an enlightened concept. There
are countless scholars out there who
understand (but many have not practiced) and
are able to speak on the various details of
Buddhism. This outer academic shell of
Buddhism is not what the Buddha intended -
just dry understanding. The Buddha pointed out
a path for us to experience and then finally
realize what he taught. That is the sole purpose
of the dharma.
The only value in the dharma books is as a very
general guide to practice, and as a way to
check on where we are at in the path. As
mentioned, the Buddhists love to write and
make lists and there are detailed lists in the
dharma teachings for just about everything.
There are the four stages of this and the ten
types of this and so on, forever. And each list is
usually very formal and dry, and several such
lists in a row can make me sleepy in almost no
time. The poet William Butler Yeats has a
wonderful line:
“The grass cannot but keep the form, where
the mountain hair has lain.”
This line speaks to the essence of lists, that
they are but the outer form of an experience
that we each must have for ourselves. By itself,
each item in a list is just a formal reference to
an experience that can be life shaking in its
ability to change us. And these same dry lists,
once we have had those experiences, serve to
remind us of these experiences. Otherwise,
they can seem way too abstract.
So my point here is a simple one and one I
know from sad experience: any attempt to
practice looking at the mind itself, however
feeble a try, is usually worth more than reading
a dozen books. If I had to boil down everything
I have learned in the last 35 years or so about
meditation into a single directive, that
directive would be: try it; do some practice
 What Buddhist Books to Own?

first and then read, and not vice versa. Even significance has rubbed off on us. So we may
gaining one hair‟s width of experience may be have some of the root texts, but have to learn
all the difference in the world between to get something out of them.
ignorance and a path to realization. Try it.
Commentaries
It can seem almost impossible to get
And then there are the commentaries, and I
westerners to stop reading long enough to
don‟t mean the earlier commentaries on the
actually have some meditation experience,
root texts that are now considered part of the
whether it is good, bad, or indifferent. It seems
root texts themselves. I am talking about
we would rather do almost anything rather than
recent commentaries such as this one, and they
actually try to look at the mind itself. It is our
are everywhere today. Everyone who has
upbringing.
learned even a little about Buddhism wants to
Unlike Asia, where every child has at least write about it, myself included. Why? Because
some introduction to mind training, here we Buddhism is a real path that works in the
have basically none at all. Our idea of training modern world. I am sure there are other paths
the mind is learning philosophy or symbolic out there, but at least in the Tibetan Buddhist
logic, mathematics, and so on. We have never lineages they have managed to keep the
been encouraged or shown how to actually dharma teachings intact and pure. That is
experience the mind for ourselves. And without something!
that experience, we are left with pretty boring
What Books Are Valuable
stuff, like the lists I mentioned earlier.
The books that are worthwhile in my
So there you‟ve had the sales pitch. Don‟t be
experience are those that can successfully
afraid to start looking at your own internal
point out to me how to actually practice
mental processes, at the mind itself. It is what
without them becoming too boring or painful. It
all the thousands of lists and books are all
is all about practice, everything. Without
about and you can do it anytime and in any
practice or trying, nothing changes for me. I
place you desire, for the mind is ultimate
remain the same. Simply reading about
portability. That being said, let‟s talk about
practice has only a limited benefit. Therefore
books.
the books that inspire me to keep going in my
Root Texts practice are the useful ones. And, as you might
imagine it, these books can change over the
The root texts are where the dharma all came
years.
from and ultimately where we have to return
to. Everything else is derived from those root The Teacher
texts. In fact, most of what passes for root
As wonderful as books are, at least in
texts today (even in Tibetan Buddhism) are not
Vajrayana Buddhism, they are no substitute for
the original words of the Buddha, but words of
a work with a teacher. After all, the entire
Mahasiddas and yogis who came much later,
framework of Vajrayana Buddhism is built
who are successfully paraphrasing the Buddha‟s
around working closely with your guru, trusting
teachings. And after that come the endless
the guru to spot where you are off track, and
commentaries on either the words of Buddha or
having someone you trust recommend to you
on the sayings of the adepts and Mahasiddas.
how to stabilize and get back on track. So,
All of the above we can generally call the
more important than any books is to find a
original pith instructions or root texts. We each
teacher you can work with and who is willing to
should have some root texts available to us.
work with you, just as you are. All the Buddhist
The problem with the pith instructions or root texts in the world are not worth (to you) one
texts is that everything has been boiled down root teacher, at least as far as your individual
into such a diamond-like nugget that you have development is concerned. And all your excuses
to be enlightened to understand much of it. and rationalizations for not having a teaching
You can read the root texts, and you can tell right now are just that: rationalizations.
what you are reading is profound, but when all
is said and done, and the next dawn comes,
most often we find that nothing of great
 What Buddhist Books to Own?

The Lineages
Although the various main Tibetan Buddhist
lineages agree on all the basics, they each have
their own way of presenting the dharma
materials and practices. Since I don‟t know all
of the lineages personally, what I can with
confidence present here is what the Karma
Kagyu Lineages use to introduce students to
practice.
The Single Phrase
In the 35 or so years that I have been listening
to teachings, and this seems to be true for all
of the lineages, there is one single sentence
that is most often used to start out an
introductory dharma talk and that is:
“All beings seek happiness and try to avoid
suffering.”
It seems that is the opener that anyone
remotely considering the Buddhist path has to
either accept or reject. Either we believe that
all beings do want to be happy and don‟t want
to suffer or we feel some other way. It has
always made sense to me.
The Four Thoughts
Perhaps the next most-common introduction to
the Buddhist path are “The Four Thoughts That
Turn the Mind to the Dharma.” Instead of lofty
religious concepts, the Four Thoughts are
down-to-earth truths that just about anyone
can recognize as real at first glance. I know
that when I first heard them, I identified with
them completely. I felt that the Four Thoughts
were just what the world is. Nothing preachy
about them, simply a description of how it is. If
this is what Buddhism is all about, I thought,
let‟s have some more of it. The Four Thoughts
were nothing like the intellectualized idea of
Buddhism I had understood back in the 1950s,
when, like existentialism, it was something for
„serious‟ late-night discussions with coffee and
cigarettes. Hre are the Four Thoughts:
The Four Thoughts That Turn the Mind to the
Dharma
(1) This life is precious.
(2) Impermanence is with us.
(3) Karma: Cause and Effect are endless
(4) This world (Samsara) is inherently
undependable.
You don‟t really need a book about the Four
Thoughts, although they are covered in many
beginning texts. Two classic works are “The
Torch of Certainty” by Jamgon Kongtul (Prajna
Publications) and “The Jewel Ornament of
Liberation” by Je Gampopa. “The Jewel
Ornament” is available in several translations,
some more formal than others. One that is
more strictly the Kagyu take on the work is
called “Gems of Dharma, Jewels of Freedom,”
published by Altea Publications. Both of these
books include good discussions of the “Four
Thoughts That Turn the Mind.”
The Seven Points of Mind Training
The next text I would recommend to you is
“The Seven Points of Mind Training” by the
master Atisha. Aside from the two very small
texts mentioned above, this was the first real
work that stuck with me way back when. And it
is as fresh today as it was then.
Consisting of 59 slogans or „slokas‟ arranged
under seven main points, there are literally
dozens of translations of this material, most of
them reasonable. I like the one by Chogyam
Trungpa Rinpoche a lot.
What is nice about this text is that each slogan
is a simple one or two line statement of an idea
to consider when approaching mind training.
These slogans or „slokas‟ (as they are called)
were intended to be easy to memorize and
„pithy‟, meaning they are kind of pith or kernel
instructions. And example would be:
“Self-liberate the antidote”
Think on that for awhile. I won‟t try to
comment on what it means here. There are
also many commentaries on the slogans and
they can be helpful to read as well. So, the
point is that these slogans tend to stick in your
mind and pop to mind at appropriate times.
This is a wonderful text to have on hand. There
is nothing else quite like it. There is a good
translation of the Seven Points along with great
commentary by Ven. Khenchen Thrangu
Rinpoche here:
http://www.kagyu.org/slogans/index.php
The Torch of Certainty
This is a work by the great rime (non-sectarian)
19th scholar Jamgon Kongtrul the Great,
sometimes referred to as the “Tibetan
Leondardo.” It is used by all of the various
 What Buddhist Books to Own?

Tibetan lineages and is the fundamental text During what was a very short interview,
for those undertaking the „ngondo‟, the Four Rinpoche gave us permission to do ngondro and
Foundation Practices, also called the Four mentioned “The Torch of Certainty,” in
Extraordinary Preliminaries. particular the part about the Tong-Len
practice. We were able to purchase a copy
For some reason, I know of only one translation
right there at the center. After the interview,
of the book, which was published by Prajna
as we filed out in to the darkness and the bitter
Press, a part of what now is called Shambhala
cold, there were no outside lights to guide us.
Publications. This version is translated by
We could hear and dimly see the huge pieces of
Judith Hanson and includes an introduction by
plastic flapping in the wind that were hung on
the Ven. Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
the raw cement of the monastery then being
“The Torch of Certainty” differs from the texts built high up on that mountain. It was eerie,
mentioned thus far in that it is really a and we were very far from home.
handbook for those entering the Vajryana path.
We slowly made our way down the mountain to
In that regard, it is not so much an introductory
a small motel room with only one small gas-lit
texts as a manual or guide through the five
heater stuck in the wall. My little family and I
ngondro practices, starting with the four
huddled together. My daughter May was only
common preliminaries (The Four Thoughts) and
about 1 year old at the time. And we opened
Tong-Len (sending and receiving), and going
“The Torch of Certainty” and eagerly read the
step-by-step through the five special or
section on Tong-Len, which is more commonly
extraordinary preliminaries, Taking Refuge and
(in English) called the Sending and Receiving
Bodhicitta, Prostrations, Vajrasattva, Mandala
practice. However, we were shocked by what
Practice, and Guru Yoga.
we found.
Since I have no other translation of this work
Having been more or less raised up (all the
for comparison, I can‟t offer you my favorite
astrology conferences) around psychic-oriented
version. This one seems a little on the fire &
counselors, we had been taught to stay as far
brimstone side, which is a little unusual for
away from negative emotions and people as
Tibetan Buddhism, at least among the more
possible. For example, psychics tended to place
modern or popular teachings, in that ideas of
their hands under running water after a reading
“Good” and “Evil” are not buffered in any way.
and let the problems and negativity flow out of
Actually I was a little intimidated when I first them and down the drain - that sort of thing.
encountered this text, but that was around the Yet here we were reading just the opposite.
time that I first met my teacher Khenpo
The Ton-Len practices were telling us to
Karthar Rinpoche. In fact, it was the first and
breathe in all the sufferings and negativity
only book he has ever personally recommended
from others, especially our enemies, and
to me. Of course, at the time I was asking him
breathe out or send out to them whatever joy,
for permission to start the ngondo practices, so
health, and goodness we had managed to
what do you expect? In fact, here is a funny
accumulate within us – the exact opposite of
personal story about my encounter with “The
how we had been taught to date. And the fire
Torch of Certainty.”
& brimstone quality of The Torch of Certainty
My family and I had just driven 800 miles scared the „bejesus‟ out of us, especially in
through what the weather forecasters said was that tiny motel with the fierce cold and winds
the coldest day of the year. It was so bitter howling around us. What had we gotten
that as we drove up the mountain, the last few ourselves into, we wondered?
miles, to the monastery where Rinpoche lived,
And so we managed to creep ourselves out
I had to scrape a little hole through the frost on
pretty „good‟ for a few moments. But our
the inside of my windshield with a business
respect and growing devotion to Rinpoche, this
card just to see out. We were driving to see
wonderful being we had recently met.
Rinpoche, because we so much wanted to see
gradually overcame our fright and resistance to
him again after meeting him for the first time a
this completely new approach, and we decided
couple of months earlier.
right there and then to take his advice and to
open up our minds to something quite different
 What Buddhist Books to Own?
from what we were used to. And of course
today, looking back, it is clear that Tong-len is
an essential practice for those on the fast track
to working with their negativity.
At any rate, “The Torch of Certainty” is an
essential text for those entering the Four
Extraordinary Preliminaries, the ngondro and is
highly recommended. The commentary on
ngondro by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche is also
very much worth having. It can be obtained
through the Namse Bangdzo Bookstore at KTD.
The Jewel Ornament of Liberation
The great Tibetan yogi, Milarepa, is perhaps
the best-known figure in Tibetan literature,
read by virtually all the lineages even though
he was Kagyu. His main student was Gampopa,
said to be the emanation of a 10th-level
Bodhisattva. It was Gampopa who started
reincarnate lamas, when he poured all his
knowledge into the first Karmapa, Dusem
Khenpa, who subsequently was reincarnated as
Karma Pakshi, the 2nd Karmapa, and so on
down to the present 17th Karmapa. The Kagyu
lineage gave us the first reincarnates. For
example, the current Dalai Lama is the 14th.
This book is (simply put) an essential manual on
Buddhism, and is pretty much the equivalent of
the Buddhist” Bible” for all twelve of the Kagyu
sects. And there are a number of translations
of this book, some more scholarly than others.
The one I feel is the easiest to approach is
called “Gems of Dharma, Jewels of Freedom,”
which is a translation of this book by Ken and
Katie Holmes. It is published by Altea
Publications and should be available from
Amazon, Snow Lion Publications, and certainly
Namse Bangdzo Bookstore at KTD.
This is a large book and it covers a very wide
range of topics, including a detailed
introduction to the many terms that Tibetan
Buddhists should be familiar with. This is not so
much a book that you will read from cover to
cover as it is a book you will want to read „in‟,
as I mentioned: something of a reference
manual. It is also large, detailed, and thorough,
so I can‟t imagine just wading through it from
front to back.
I am just now getting more into using it, after a
great many years of dabbling with it. There is
no doubt that the rinpoches all feel this is one
of „the‟ essential texts to have on hand.
Spiritual “Biographies”
Another staple in the diet of budding
bodhisattvas are the various spiritual
biographies of the great Tibetan masters. Now,
which biographies you will read will depend on
the particular lineage you belong to. In the
Kagyu lineage, which I study, the principle
biographies are those of Milarepa, Marpa,
Tilopa, Naropa, and Gampopa, in that order as
far as popularity goes – in my experience.
Now these biographies are not what we here in
the west are used to reading. You won‟t find
much personal information on these masters
recounted, like what they liked to eat for
breakfast or any of the particular details of
how their outer lives progressed.
Instead, Tibetan Buddhist biographies consider
the inner-spiritual biography more important
than a listing of the outer events in a life, that
is: the story of how the dharma unfolded in the
lives of each master. This may take you a little
while to get accustomed to, but I found it much
more interesting than our event-oriented
approach. In Tibetan biography, it does not
matter so much „when and where‟ something
took place as spiritually „what‟ took place.
A Tibetan biography is a teleological account of
the order of spiritual development for the
particular master. I find this fascinating and it
tends to be just what I would want to know
from anyone I meet, not so much where they
went to school, etc., but what visions and
insights did they have and where did those
insights lead them – how did they progress in
the dharma?
As great as these biographies are to read, I
should warn you that much of what you read
will be beyond your understanding. Most of us
here are kind of beginners in all of this. We are
not cruising at the higher bodhisattva levels
and all of the finer points of mental
discrimination can be lost on us, so be prepared
not to have experienced a lot of what you will
read. There is also the cultural side, and the
fact that this is a tradition and a way of
representing spiritual experience that takes
some getting used to. These books do not read
like novels.
The Rain of Wisdom (the Kagyu Gurtso)
Another book that I consider absolutely
essential is “The Rain of Wisdom” by
 What Buddhist Books to Own?
Shambhala Publications. It contains the
spiritual songs and poems of the Kagyu lineage,
what are called „Dohas‟. Now dohas are a
wonderful concept, something those of us here
in the west very much need to add to our
concept of poetry.
More succinct and easy to read than the
Tibetan spiritual biographies, dohas are
spontaneous poems that describe realization
and the path to realization, songs of spiritual
experience. This is not ordinary poetry. These
poems are kind of the spiritual residue from
enlightened experience. Wow! What a great
idea.
In this volume, you will find the dohas of
masters like Milarepa, Tilopa, Gampopa, and
many of the Karmapas, almost 400 pages of
them. And there is such a variety of expression
in this book. Imagine, some of the most
enlightened teachers in the Kagyu lineage
detailing their personal spiritual awakening in
poetry. In fact, there is so much deep
knowledge here, that there is no getting to the
end of what these poems mean.
“The Rain of Wisdom” was closely supervised
by the Ven. Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who
personally went over every aspect of the
translation, which only serves to make this
volume more authentic. There is no other book
like it that I know of.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead
I would guess everyone has heard of “The
Tibetan Book of the Dead,” and there are all
kinds of translations. I can remember trying to
dig through the Evans-Wentz version almost 50
years ago. This is not a Kagyu text, but
everyone seems to have a copy. It is, of course,
as much about life as it is about death, and it is
especially about our inner projections that we
make on the outer screen of our consciousness.
For sure, anyone who has ever tried LSD way
back then has at least read in this classic book.
I have not studied it as part of my practice,
although I have studied and learned the
practice of Powa (ejection of consciousness at
death), but like so many others, I have read in
it and in many translations. It is mainly a guide
to inner psychological change, in particular the
bardos of death and dying. I am most familiar
with the Francesca Fremantle translation,
under the guidance of Chogyam Trungpa,
published by Shambhala.
Many Books on Tibetan Buddhism
I have many, many hundreds of books on
Tibetan Buddhism, so we could go on and on,
but these are the essential ones. I periodically
assemble a small bookshelf of the essential
dharma books I would not like to be without
and the above mentioned books are always on
that shelf. You might ask: what about all the
books by modern western authors on Tibetan
Buddhism?
For the most part, these are folks like us who
have done some years of practice and gained
enough experience and some vantage point to
have opinions and possibly some words of
advice on all of this, like I am telling you here
something about dharma books. While I write a
little of this stuff (like this piece), I tend not to
read much of it myself. It was the same when I
was studying Black music, the blues, for so
many years. I was constantly asked why I did
not listen to all of the derivative White players,
who had picked up on the blues.
I had nothing against them, but why would I
waste my precious time listening to covers of
Muddy Waters or Sonny Boy Williamson II by
someone my age, when in that same precious
time, I could listen to Muddy Waters himself
and the rest of the classic blues players. I just
did not have time for that. Also, some of it was
pretty bad, I must say.
I feel the same about the dharma. What can I
possible get out of the hundreds of derivative
books on Tibetan Buddhism, books that can but
paraphrase the masters, when I can learn to
read the master‟s texts themselves. I can see
the value of these derivative books for
beginners, where hearing the dharma concepts
expressed in modern vernacular can provide
the reader with some good angle on all of this,
and so on. The whole point of lineage is not to
vary the message, but to make sure that the
dharma is transmitted clearly and perfectly
from generation to generation. I believe that
the root texts do this best, but ONLY if we
actually practice, so that some experience
arises to compare to the root tests.
This does not mean I never read in any of these
modern „overview‟ kind of books. I do, but like
panning for gold, why should I be satisfied with
 What Buddhist Books to Own?

some few flakes, when I can pick entire gold some realization of the true nature of the
nuggets out of the root texts like the ones mind, you cannot enter Mahamudra practice.
described above. I can be reminded in a few That is the reason for all the preliminary
seconds of enough to keep me busy for days practices: to get you ready to see the true
thinking about it. nature of the mind. After THAT, Mahamudra
practice actually begins.
Mahamudra Texts
The root texts contain dozens of quotes that
Mahamudra meditation is an advanced
repeatedly point out that it is impossible to see
technique, often said to be the pinnacle of
the true nature of your mind without having
Kagyu meditation practice, and appropriately
someone who has already had that experience
hard to write about and even harder to read
point it out to you personally. So don‟t even
properly. Today there are more and more books
try. Neither you nor I are going to be the ones
about Mahamudra meditation becoming
that can figure it out, get it from a book, or
available, and there are even more that are
otherwise come up with it on our own. Our
unavailable to you without special permission
smarts may have gotten us this far, but I can
to even look at them. And these „secret‟ books
promise you that in Mahamudra you have
are not secret because they contain something
reached an impasse you will not cross without a
that if you read it would open the door to
teacher. The mahasiddhas make this perfectly
awareness or enlightenment. They are not
clear in their writings and I trust them before I
openly available because if you read them
would put any faith in your or my ability to
without a teacher watching over you and
figure it out.
working with you, it could be very easy to
misunderstand them and go off in a direction You are going to have to leave your bag of
actually that will set you back, rather than mental tricks behind if you really want to learn
propel you forward. Which reminds me: this stuff, and instead simply get in line and do
what you are asked to do by your teacher. If
I don‟t know how many beginners to dharma
you can‟t do that or don‟t feel comfortable
that I have come across that are certain they
with having a teacher, or have not really
can game the system and think they don‟t have
bothered to find AND work with a teacher, then
to have a teacher and, because of their innate
Mahamudra meditation and, for that matter,
talent can figure it all out by themselves. And
vajrayana Buddhism is not the path for you.
the smarter or brighter they are, the worse it
There are other paths.
is, for the vajrayana path, and particularly
Mahamudra meditation is not about „smart.” A So I am not going to recommend many
wound smarts. Mahamudra publications here. Ask your
particular vajrayana teacher what they suggest
In fact, the more academically “smart” or
you read.
erudite you think you are, the harder it can be
to approach Mahamudra training. The pundits http://www.Shenpen-osel.org
are “everywhere but enlightened” is what the
At the above web site, you will find an
root texts have to say about intellectual
INVALUABLE set of free downloads of a
understanding without serious practice. The
wonderful journal that had a short but
whole concept that you can grasp the gist of a
significant run. Here you can find the
topic intellectually breaks down when it comes
incredible Mahamudra teachings called the
to Mahamudra. Yes, those of us who have a
“Ganges Mahamudra, with commentary by the
quick or analytical mind can usually evaluate
Ven. Thrangu Rinpoche. They are:
something about most of the preliminary
practices by just reading a few books. Mahamudra Upadesha Teachings by Khenchen
Thrangu Rinpoche, “The Ganges Mahahudra”
But this all ends when you try to approach
Mahamudra meditation. Mahamudra practice Volume 3, Number 3, January 2000
depends on learning to see the true nature of
There are other Mahamudra teachings at this
the mind. Seeing a glimpse of the true nature
site. I would download all of the volumes
of the mind is not the fruition or final goal of
against the chance that they disappear and
Mahamudra practice, but only the „ante in‟ and
that you may become more interested in these
pre-requisite for the practice. That is: without
 What Buddhist Books to Own?

advanced teachings in the future. They are ALL
worth having and they are free!
Dharma Teachings
And then there are the great many individual
teachings, usually in transcript form, either
photocopied or printed and stapled, in all kinds
of bindings. This kind of text is legion and
depends on what lineage you are in and what
teachers you follow and can learn from. Just
because a lama is a tulku (reincarnate lama) or
a rinpoche does not automatically mean that
their style is something you can learn from, not
by any means.
These individual teachings sometimes get
compiled with similar teachings into a book,
but more often they do not and thus only have
narrow distribution, perhaps to the main
students of the authoring lama. Nevertheless,
at least in the Kagyu lineage, I have sampled
(and published) a lot of them, so I do have
favorites. My very most favorite teachings are
by my teacher Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche or by
Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. These two
rinpoches were learning partners at Thrangu
monastery in Kham, Tibet, so it is no surprise
that their styles are almost identical. For me,
they are the best, but that is just me. Of
course there are many, many fine teachers and
it is up to each of us to find the ones that
really speak to us. If one style puts us to sleep,
we need to keep looking.
Publishing Teachings and Sadhanas
As it turns out, I spent many years transcribing,
editing, and publishing various transcripts.
Here is a brief history of a company I started
that will explain my involvement and might be
interested to read about.
KTD Dharma Goods: 1986 through 1994
In 1986, my wife and I established KTD Dharma
Goods in an attempt to assist KTD (our main
monastery) to provide authentic quality dharma
texts and ritual items to practitioners. At the
time, although KTD had a small on-site dharma
store, they were not equipped to do a
successful mail-order business. Since mail order
is something we understood, we offered to
establish an off-site business here in Big
Rapids, Michigan at our expense, and to take
no profit from it, which is what happened.
This was not a simple undertaking, because it
required not only a staff and the physical space
to operate in, but it also meant that someone
had to travel to Nepal and India in search of
authentic ritual practice items. Let me back up
just a bit here.
A key element in this whole endeavor was a
Bhutanese man named Sange Wangchuk and the
fact we invited Sange and his wife Setan to
come and live with us on-staff in Big Rapids as
part of Matrix Software. What first attracted
me to Sange Wangchuck was the fact that he
was an astrologer and had studied Tibetan
astrology, something I very much was
interested in learning more about. At the time,
Wangchuk was living at the KTD monastery and
had helped in designing a 3-D prototype model
for the completed monastery and many other
useful things. He also taught Tibetan and had
previously served as Omze (chant master) for
one of the four eminences that accompany His
Holiness, the Gyalwa Karmapa.
Sange Wangchuk
Sange Wanchuk is very gifted. Among other
things, he speaks seven languages, including
Pali and Sanskrit. And he is also a very skilled
graphic artist, able to paint not only thankas
(Tibetan religious paintings), but he literally
can draw or design just about everything, from
the intricate woodwork that made up the huge
shrine at KTD to drawing exquisite images of
the various Tibetan deities. But best of all, he
is a wonderful being to be around, a true
example of kindness and compassion. He also
was somewhat famous for his ability as a
singer, and he loved to sing the dohas or songs
of spiritual experience of the great yogi
Milarepa.
 What Buddhist Books to Own?
Some Dharma Ritual Items
It was not long after Sange and Setan moved to
Big Rapids and became part of our extended
family that we began working on the idea of
creating KTD Dharma Goods. Sange was soon
learning to create his art as vector graphics in
Adobe Illustrator and turning out beautiful
drawings. And we were busy designing the
space for the dharma goods area and building
shelves and so on.
Green Tara
In order to have something to sell, Sange had to
travel to Nepal and India in search of precious
brocades, authentic malas (rosaries), rupas
(statues), bell and dorje, damarus and Chod
drums, and all of the ritual instruments needed
by practitioners. Much of the success of KTD
Dharma Goods was due to the travel of Sange
Wangchuk and another close friend of mine
Ngodup Tsering Burkhar. Ngodup, who served
as translator for Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche for
12 years. Ngodup also travelled and went out of
his way to see that we secured only the best
and most authentic practice items.
When all of these materials eventually arrived
here in Big Rapids, KTD Dharma Goods was born
and diligently served its purpose for some
seven years, providing the best statues, bell
and dorjes, and hundreds of items to dharma
practitioners eager to find authentic materials.
In addition, we carried a wide range of books,
mostly everything that the Kagyu lineages
would want to see available to its sangha.
Ngondro Sadhana Text
Sadhanas
Thanks to the brilliant calligraphy of Sange
Wangchuk, we also began to produce many of
the major sadhanas or practice texts (in the
original pecha style) used by the Tibetans, and
with Tibetan, transliteration, and English. We
even employed foil-stamped covers, creating
texts for practices like Chenresik, Amitabha,
Ngondro, Karma Pakshi, Ngunge, Green Tara,
Vajrapani, and others.
Transcripts of Teachings
We set about preserving the teachings of
Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, which at that point
consisted of a single copy of each teaching (the
master) on audio tape. We sent special
duplicating machines to KTD and made copies
of all the master tapes there, and then set up
an archive here in Big Rapids to hold a second
set of masters, which now numbers in the
thousands of tapes, all carefully labeled and
protected.
 What Buddhist Books to Own?

Wangchuk is now the Minister of Culture for

country of Bhutan.
Other Work
KTD Dharma Goods also helped to produce
dozens of special projects, things like properly
designed refuge cards, Bodhisattva cards,
brochures, hand-outs, advertising, etc. Sange
Wangchuk even designed the large Sanskrit
characters that line the high ceilings of the
main shrine room at KTD. Also produced were a
great many printed images and cards of deities,
bija (seed syllables), the Kalachakra symbol,
and others.
For a period of years, we wrote the thank-you
letters for every donation to KTD from here in
Big Rapids, and sent them out along with some
small gift to all donors. KTD did not have the
staff at the time to handle it. I even served for
a brief period as fund raiser for KTD. Sangha
members from all over have done whatever was
needed to make the monastery a success. After
all it contains the precious teachers that hold
the precious teachings without which we would
have a much rougher time finding our way
through life.

A Few of the Thousands of Dharma

Tapes
In addition, we began to transcribe the
individual audio tapes themselves (teachings),
edit them, and publish the transcripts which
included scores of teachings, such as complete
commentaries on the ngondro, the Karma
Pakshi practice, and many others, not to
mention short teachings on dozens of topics.
Many of these teachings are available from
Namse Bangdzo Bookstore at KTD.
We also supervised the transcription, editing,
and publication of the yearly 10-day intensive
teachings on Mahamudra with Khenpo Karthar
Rinpoche at KTD, and we are now looking at
our 22nd year. That is a lot of material, most of
which is now available in printed form.
Aside from Sange Wangchuk, much of the
editing and publication work was done by David
McCarthy, who spent five years at our center
diligently editing and preparing texts for
publication. Today McCarthy heads up Rinchen
Publications and is the director of Karma
Rinchen Tongrol, the video production division
of Karma Kagyu Institute in New York. Sange
 What Buddhist Books to Own?

Kalachakra Seed Sylable

So there you have a quick overview of some of
what I consider the most authentic and useful
dharma books to have on hand. I hope this is
helpful. If you have questions, I am
at Michael@erlewine.net.