Suggested Reading

Brightminders often ask for suggested reading, so I compiled some important books. If you have a suggestion for a book that you think I should add to this list, shoot me an email (toby.sola@brightmind.com). Enjoy!

The Science of Enlightenment: How Meditations Works

By Shinzen Young

Toby’s take: Probably the most important and relevant book on this list. If you don’t already know, Shinzen is basically the master mind behind Brightmind’s approach to teaching meditation. This book will give you a sense of Shinzen’s brilliant and clear personality. In my humble opinion, Shinzen is a little fixated on a scientific world view, but that’s a minor critique.

One thing to keep in mind is that Brightmind renamed equanimity, balance. So when you hear Shinzen say equanimity, think of the balance that you learn about in Brightmind.

Maple Seeds

Soryu Forall & Tasshin Fogleman

Toby’s Take: Tasshin and I trained at the monastery where Soryu is the head teacher. Soryu’s message is incredibly inspiring and the specific techniques laid out in this book are practically helpful. Soryu’s message can get a little apocalyptic and therefore culty, but he’s well worth reading.

The Path of Love

Tasshin Fogleman

Toby’s take: As mentioned above, I trained with Tasshin at the monastery. This is his book on metta/loving-kindness practices, which have been central in his path. Tasshin spent most of a three-month retreat practicing metta. This book is full of gems and Tasshin is an incredible writer, making it an enjoyable read.

Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha: An Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book

Daniel Ingram

Toby’s take: A classic. Daniel got a lot of push back for calling himself an arhat, but I respect his intention, which is to talk more openly and clearly about spiritual insight. He talks a lot about noting and labeling, which will remind you of Brightmind’s meditations. Some of the talk about jhanas gets a little esoteric towards the end, but the book is helpful in conveying the importance of dedicated and effortful practice.

Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

Chögyam Trungpa 

Toby’s take: Another classic. Trungpa was born in Tibet and fled when the Chinese invaded. He landed in Colorado and went on to found Shambala, which is one of the largest networks of local meditation centers in the world. Trungpa was mired in controversy towards the end of his life, but his teachings remain as some of the most poignant.

A Brief History of Everything

Ken Wilber

Toby’s take: I think Ken is one of the most important thinkers of modern times. He seamless weaves together psychology, social studies, science, and spirituality into coherent conceptual frameworks with unmatched explanatory power. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve said “transcend and include” (one of Ken’s central concepts), I’d be a rich man. Don’t get swept up though: the community around Ken can feel culty and there’s a lot of big egos, which is insanely hypocritical. The ideas are solid gold though, so just focus on those. Ken has a million books, most of which revolve around the same ideas. So don’t feel pressured to read them all. I chose this book because it’s a solid intro to his ideas and it’s not that long.

The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science for Greater Mindfulness

Culadasa John Yates PhD 

Toby’s take: If you like Brightmind, you’ll probably like this book. The specific meditation techniques differ a bit from what you get in Brightmind, but the tone is incredibly similar: clear, scientific, and helpful. One thing to keep in mind: Culadasa differentiates between “attention” and “awareness”. Here’s how that maps onto Brightmind’s terms: Culadasa’s “attention” is basically Brightmind’s “focus space”. Culadasa’s “awareness” is basically Brightmind’s “distractions/all the stuff you greet with background balance”.

Right Concentration: A Practical Guide to the Jhanas

Leigh Brasington

Toby’s take: In Brightmind, we don’t distinguish much between “concentration” practice (where you simply focus on increasing your concentration) and “insight” practice (where you use whatever concentration you got to develop clarity). As you’ve heard me say a million times, all the practices in Brightmind develop all three mental muscles: concentration, clarity, and balance. However, many teachers make this distinction and it can be very helpful. Here’s a metaphor: developing concentration is like sharpening a knife, which you then use to cut through soft butter (insight practice). If this sounds interesting, check out Leigh’s book!

The jhanas are states of high concentration. One thing to keep in mind when learning about the jhanas: almost every teacher has a different map of the jhanas. It’s super confusing. Try not to get too fundamentalist about any specific map/description of the jhanas. Look for common threads among teachers and most imporantly, pay attention to your own direct experience.

The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya (The Teachings of the Buddha)

Bhikkhu Bodhi 

Toby’s take: Bhikkhu Bodhi is probably the most well-respected translator of traditional Buddhist texts alive today. He has many translations and compilations out there, I kinda just randomly picked this one cause it looks like a good place to start. Expect precision and authenticity. Especially for people in the West, who mostly learn about meditation through non-traditional means, reading original texts can be fascinating and inspiring.

The Sabbath

Abraham Joshua Heschel 

Toby’s take: Heschel is a renowned Jewish theologian. He marched and collaborated closely with Dr. Martin Luther King. While this book is more relevant if you practice the Jewish sabbath, it contains universal truths and inspiration that will surely resonate with most folks. My favorite concept from the book is that the sabbath is a “palace in time”. I wanna go hang in a palace of time! Don’t you?!

The Mindful Geek: Mindfulness Meditation for Secular Skeptics

Michael Taft

Toby’s take: Just like me/Brightmind, Michael is also heavily influenced by Shinzen Young. So you’ll recognize a bunch of the concepts and practices presented here. Michael is a great writer and also offers a variety of other meditation resources, including his podcast entitled Deconstructing Yourself and weekly guided meditations via his YouTube channel.

The Essential Rumi

Jalal Al-Din Rumi, Coleman Barks, & John Moyne

Toby’s take: Rumi comes from the Islamic tradition and is one of the most admired contemplative poets in history. If you haven’t already, check him out!

How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence

Michael Pollan

Toby’s take: Psychadelics got a bad wrap. But since the year 2000 or so, research on their psychological and spiritual benefits has proliferated. Psychadelics are now considered one of the most exciting and promising areas of psychiatry. Mr. Pollan leverages his world-class penmanship to explore this fascenating terrain.

Enlightenment Process: A Guide to Embodied Spiritual Awakening

Judith Blackstone

Toby’s take: In my opinion, one of the most problematic aspects of how meditation is taught is that there’s a lack of appreciation for the psychology of the practitioner. A solid way to get around this? Learn meditation from a psychologist! Judith offers one of the most well-balanced presentations of meditation out there. It’s not about permanently achieving “no self”, it’s about creating a healthy and functional sense of self, that can be transcended in specific contexts.

Seeing That Frees: Meditations on Emptiness and Dependent Arising

Robert Burbea

Toby’s take: Very much related to Judith’s book above, Rob gives us a version of mediation that’s not only about transcendence, but also about cultivating views and perspectives that unlock our potential.

Pointing Out the Great Way: The Stages of Meditation in the Mahamudra Tradition

Daniel Brown Ph.D. & Robert Thurman 

Toby’s take: Dan is one of those rare people who put in his time in Asian training centers, and has a background in clinical and research psychology. He’s mostly widely known for developing the Ideal Parent Figure Protocol, which shows some of the most promising data for adult attachment repair. It’s writen more for clinical psychologists but if you interested in a book specifically on the attachment repair, click here.

Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness: Practices for Safe and Transformative Healing

David A. Treleaven & Willoughby Britton

Toby’s take: A legitimate critique of the modern mindfulness movement is that it’s not trauma sensitive. What that means is that some of the practices being taught, for certain people, may be more harmful than helpful. For example, you almost drowned and a meditation teacher asks you to pay attention to the breath, which triggers a fight or flight response. When you ask the teacher what to do, they say the fight or flight response is just a distraction, keep focusing on the breath. As you continue to focus on the breath, you get more and more disregulated and you end up far more stressed out than when you started.

A more trauma sensitive approach would be for the teacher to learn more about your background, identify what’s going on, and suggest that you focus on emotionally neutral experiences like physical body sensations in the hands and feet or sounds in your environment or on intentionally created positive thoughts or emotions.

Willoughby was one of the pioneers in neuroscience research on meditation. David is a practicing trauma therapist. In this book, they offer a clear explanation of the problem as well as practical solutions—and incredible resource.

While I absolutely agree with their diagnosis and prescription, I do think they over emphasize the problem. The exercise analogy does well here. In general, for most people, most of the time, is going to the gym a healthy thing to do? Certainly. Especially if you have certain preconditions, is there a chance you could hurt yourself at the gym? Yep. Should we put a bunch of red tape around gyms that restricts their access? Probably not.

The same goes with mindfulness, in my opinion. In general, it’s a healthy thing to do; especially if you have certain preconditions, you can get hurt; that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make it widely available. An important data point here is that the negative effects of mindfulness are dose dependant. So if you only meditate a little bit, it’s not gonna cause serious harm. And if it’s uncomfortable, people usually stop, so the risk of substantial harm is extremely low and doesn’t outweigh the huge upside of making mindfulness widely available.

The Whole-Brain Child Workbook: Practical Exercises, Worksheets and Activities to Nurture Developing Mind

Daniel J Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson

Toby’s take: Many Brightminders have kids and want to expose their kids to mindfulness in an age appropriate way. This book will have many practical suggestions. Daniel is a world-renowned scientist and teacher, and a very kind fellow.

Where the Wild Things Are

Maurice Sendak

Toby’s take: While the above children’s book may offer practical suggestions, this book offers a direct expression of play and creativity, which is arguably the most important traits to nurture in children if you’re trying to set them up for a lifetime of mindfulness. No explicit mention of mindfulness, but a profound inspiration for how to approach life, for both kids and parents. A must read!

Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words

Peace Pilgrim

Toby’s take: Peace Pilgrim is one of Soryu Forall’s (one of the authors listed above) main inspirations. She was a Christian mystic and peace activist during the Vietnam war. She felt such a strong pull toward peace and God, that she dropped her life and began walking across the country and never stopped. She offers profound insight into what it actually looks like to walk the spiritual path. One of my favorite quotes from her is, “If you realized the impact of a negative thought, you would never have one again”.

Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body

Daniel Goleman & Richard Davidson

Toby’s take: 20 years ago, only a few research papers were published each year on the benefits of meditation. These days, hundreds of papers get published every year. The degree to which modern science has validated many of the claims meditators have been reporting for thousands of years is no less than astonishing. Daniel and Richard are two of the most important researchers in this field. In this book, you’ll learn about all the cutting edge research from the horse’s mouth.

Core Creativity: The Mindful Way to Unlock Your Creative Self

Ronald Alexander

Toby’s take: Ron is part of the cohort that bravely traveled to Asia long before meditation was cool to train in traditional settings. For over 40 years, he’s taught meditation, offered psychotherapy, and trained other psychologists internationally. This is his latest book, which explore how mindfulness supports creativity.

Make Every Move a Meditation: Mindful Movement For Mental Health, Well-Being, and Insight

Nita Sweeney

I’ll let Shinzen review this one:

“Let me say it simply. Someone should have written this book a long time ago. Thanks, Nita. Systematically exercising consciousness while you systematically exercise the body in which it dwells...that's a major lifehack. It's a way to work smart that's ideal for busy, modern people committed to a sound mind in a sound body.”—Shinzen Young

When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

Pema Chodron

Toby’s take: Most people come to mindfulness as a last resort after things fall apart in their lives. Pema is a world renowned teacher and in this book, she offers timeless advice for this context.

Moon by the Window: The Calligraphy and Zen Insights of Shodo Harada

Shodo Harada Roshi, Tim Jundo Williams, Jane Shotaku Lago, & Priscilla Daichi Storandt

Toby’s take: Harada is a “master’s master”. Legend has it that, to pay respect to his teacher after they died, Harada didn’t sleep for three years. He meditated through the night, every night. Imagine how much you’d have to let go in order to do that.

I’m not gonna beat around the bush. In my opinion, he’s probably one of the most enlightened people alive today. Curious about that level of clarity and depth? This book offers a direct window. Marvel at his brush strokes. Read his poetry. He’s expressing God and you have a front row seat.

This is one of two books that sits at my bedside table.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Shunryu Suzuki

Toby’s take: You’ve probably heard about beginner’s mind in the context of Zen practice. This book is largely responsible for putting that lingo into the common vernacular.

Part of what made this book so impactful was that—for the first time—it offered a window into what’s talked about during student-teacher interviews in Zen. Before this book, the content of these conversations wasn’t widely available. After this book, people all over the world could see what it was like to converse with a Zen master.

Tao Te Ching

Lao Tzu & Dwight Goddard

Toby’s take: Arguably, one of the most brilliant spiritual texts in human history, full stop.

This is the central text of Taoism. Different translations have different feels, so feel free to explore a variety of translations.

Personally, reading the Tao Te Ching as a 15 year old was a major factor in influencing my life trajectory towards spiritual practice. The punch of this poetry—it does not get more relevant!

The Tao of Pooh

Benjamin Hoff

Toby’s take: A wonderful and fun adaptation of the core themes in the Tao Te Ching.

The Analects

Confucius & Lionel Giles 

Toby’s take: The central text in Confucianism. Another one of the most brilliant spiritual texts in human history.

Beyond spirituality, Confucianism lays the foundation for all of East Asian culture to this day. Very helpful and relevant stuff!

Before Confucianism, the predominant Vedic philosophy in East Asia saw any type of work in the world as creating Karma, and therefore should ultimately be avoided, at least if one wanted to pursue a spiritual path. So monks didn’t do any type of labor. Confucianism, on the other hand, treats work as necessary and as a central part of an ethical life. You could say that Zen is the result of the combination of monastic culture with the Confucian work ethic. In Zen temples, work was not only allowed, it was a central component of the spiritual training. This originally occurred in China and then spread to Japan and Southeast Asia, where Zen mostly lives today.

Reading this book will give you direct understanding of the important force of Confucianism, which has shaped so much of Eastern spiritual practice and culture more broadly.

The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness

Jeff Warren

Toby’s take: You may have heard of Jeff. He’s one of the most famous teachers that has been influenced by Shinzen Young (one of the authors mentioned above). Jeff has a ton of guided meditations available on two other meditation apps: Calm and Ten Percent Happier.

Jeff wrote this book when he was first getting into meditation. The book explores several mental states, many of which we all experience daily: different dream states, waking states like flow and meditation, etc. He draws upon research and hilarious stories to illuminate our understanding of the human experience.

In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness

Peter A. Levine

Toby’s take: The relationship between trauma and the body gets a ton of attention in popular and psychotherapy circles. Peter is a world renowned expert on this important topic.

No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model

Richard C. Schwartz PhD

Toby’s take: You may have heard of Internal Family Systems (IFS). The modality was originally developed in the context of psychotherapy and is now being taught as meditation techniques that you can do on your own. Personally, IFS has been incredibly helpful for me and many people I know. It’s now one of my go-to techniques. This book lays out the theory and practice of this revolutionary approach.

We Do: Saying Yes to a Relationship of Depth, True Connection, and Enduring Love

Stan Tatkin PsyD MFT 

Toby’s take: I’ll cut to the chase: Stan saved my relationship. My fiance (girlfriend at the time) and I were breaking up when we learned about Stan’s framework. Over the course of about 6 months, we worked with a couple’s therapist trained in Stan’s psycho-biological approach to couples therapy (PACT) and this framework allowed us to repair and strengthen our relationship to the point of my proposing soon after. The core idea is that the relationship has to be the number one priority for both people. You also learn about what triggers each other and become experts in calming the other person down if they get triggered. You’re experts in each other’s nervous systems. PACT integrates the neurobiology of arousal with the psychological theory of attachment. Attachment is mentioned in a few book summaries on this page.

This book lays out the basic ideas in PACT and offers several practical exercises you can do with your partner. If you’re in a relationship and you want it to last and for you both to be happy, buy this book. If you can afford it, see a couples therapist trained in PACT!

Get Your Loved One Sober: Alternatives to Nagging, Pleading, and Threatening

Robert J Meyers & Brenda L. Wolfe

Toby’s take: Most of us have close friends or family members that struggle with substance abuse. It can be incredibly challenging to know how to act around someone who's struggling. Do you just listen to their woes? If that doesn't work, do you try to set firm boundaries with them or even yell at them?

This book presents the most promising approaches, based on the currently available research. It turns out that classic “interventions” and Alcoholics Anonymous—which are largely based on shame—don't have very high success rates. What works, is setting up boundaries such that you can live your life and thrive regardless of the user's decisions, and to let the user know when they do make skillful decisions and how that impacts you positively. Personally, I've struggled with this and this book was a total game changer. Highly recommended!

Davening: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Prayer 

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Toby’s take: If you're interested in Judaism, you got to check out Zalman. He's the Shinzen of the Jewish world. He worked closely with Ken Wilber (mentioned above). There's a whole library in Boulder, Colorado documenting Zalman’s life’s work. Zalman founded the Jewish renewal movement, which brings together the rigorous textual study of Hasidic Judaism with a modern emphasis on making Judaism joyful and relevant. Many of us suffered from dry and rote religious practice. This book is a perfect anecdote, that will help you bring meaning and intention to Jewish practice.

My mother, Jan Salzman, was ordained as a Rabbi in 2010. She studied with Zalman through the ALEPH rabbinic training program. Jan is now the president of the program actually! If you're interested in my mom's weekly newsletter in which she interprets the week’s Torah portion through this view of joy and purpose, sign up on her congregation’s website.

Thomas Aquinas: Selected Writings

Thomas Aquinas & Ralph McInerny

Toby’s take: Honestly, I don't know that much about Thomas. But I'm pretty sure that if you're interested in Christian spirituality, you'll really appreciate his writings.

Meditations: Adapted for the Contemporary Reader

Marcus Aurelius & James Harris

Stoicism is a branch of ancient Greek philosophy that has an insane amount of overlap with Buddhist philosophy. Stoics recognize that it's simply irrational to rely on conditions for your happiness because they change so much. So they use visualizations and essentially meditation practices to remind themselves of how fleeting conditions are and the fact that what really makes you happy is your ethical conduct and dedication to genuinely fulfilling activities. Marcus was one of the most prominent Stoic writers. Learn the philosophy straight from the horse's mouth!

The Stoic Challenge: A Philosopher's Guide to Becoming Tougher, Calmer, and More Resilient

William B. Irvine

Toby’s take: I've heard that this book is an easier to understand and more practical introduction to Stoic philosophy then some of the original texts. See above for an introduction to Stoicism.

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Bessel van der Kolk

Toby’s take: There's been a recent wave of research and clinical practice around recognizing the important role that the body plays in healing trauma. This Book is a great overview of the space and a favorite among practitioners and clients alike.

The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture

Gabor Maté

Toby’s take: Similar to the above book, this book dives into what we know about trauma and how to heal it. Gabor is one of the most widely respected thought leaders in this space.

Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God

Anita Barrows & Joanna Marie Macy

Toby’s take: Rilke is one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. In this collection, he expresses spiritual experiences that he encountered while visiting Russia in his 20s. As good as it gets in terms of spiritually-inspired poetry.

Siddhartha

Hermann Hesse 

Toby’s take: I read Siddhartha when I was in 8th grade. It was one of the most impactful books that I've ever read and certainly magnetized my already emerging fascination with spiritual practice. The book is interesting and that it blends the historical story of the Buddha with an overview of Buddhist philosophy and practice. It's very well written and is considered a classic of spiritual prose.

Devotions

Mary Oliver

Toby’s take: Mary Oliver is one of the greatest poets of our time. She expresses spiritual insight and the beauty of the human experience with pointed clarity and overwhelming joy. Many of her poems bring in nature themes, which make them relatable and help you to appreciate the natural beauty that surrounds you, no matter where you are.

Why I Am Not a Buddhist

Evan Thompson

I think all modern meditators should read this book. There's this story in modern meditation circles that Buddhism is more of a science than a religion. It goes like this, “the claims that Buddhism makes about the mind, the self, and reality are backed up by direct experience and even modern science”. While this is true to some extent and I often present this type of perspective myself, there's also a limit.

Many of the concepts and claims that you learn—even in a secular context like Brightmind—really are more of a religious or cultural claim then any type of objective fact. Like anything in the world, this conversation is complex and we shouldn't oversimplify.

In this book, Evan teases apart the religious claims from what science tells us. Evan is one of the scientists that began the modern research on meditation. He co-founded the Mind and Life Institute, which is responsible for getting the Dalai Lama in the same room with neuroscientists regularly over the past few decades. So Evan is deeply respectful of Buddhist practice and is uniquely suited to cover this topic.

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

Jonathan Haidt

Toby’s take: I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I see meditators that have been practicing for decades not be able to empathize with friends and relatives that have different political views. From the perspective of the Eightfold Path, Right View is the first step. So having a healthy relationship to views—and knowing what they are and what they aren't—you could say is even more fundamental to Buddhist practice than meditation. Yet most people still cling to their views, identify with them, and become overwhelmed and even angry when presented with different views. Honestly I think that in order to improve the situation, we need more than meditation. I would argue that this book is the perfect addition to a meditative practice. It reviews the cognitive science and psychology of perspective taking in a way that actually allows you to realize the limitations of your worldview and to appreciate the validity of differing worldviews.