Eastern Classics Reading Lists
The selected texts below may not include every text on the current reading list. Prospective students can request a detailed reading list using this form.
Selected Texts
Confucius Analects
Mo Tzu Basic Writings of Mo Tzu, Hsun Tzu, and Han Fei Tzu
Mencius Books
Hsun Tzu Basic Writings of Mo Tzu, Hsun Tzu, and Han Fei Tzu
Chuang Tzu The Book of Chuang Tzu
Lao Tzu The Way of Lao Tzu
Han Fei Tzu Basic Writings of Mo Tzu, Hsun Tzu, and Han Fei Tzu
The Rig Veda
“Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad”
“Kaṭha Upaniṣad”
“Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad”
“The Nyāya Sūtra”
“The Vaiśeṣika Sūtra”
“The Padārthadharmasaṁgraha”
Tattva-Kaumudî
“The Yoga Philosophy of Patañjali”
The Bhagavadgītā in the Mahābhārata
Kālidāsa Kumārasaṃbhava, Śhakuntalā
“The Dhvanyāloka of Ānandavardhana with the Locana of Abhinavagupta”
“Pūrva Mīmāṁsā”
“Cārvāka”
“Discourses on the Noble Quest,” “Discourse to Kālāmas,” “The Greater Discourse on Cause”
“The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness,” “The Greater Discourse on the Destruction of Craving,” “Discourse of the Honeyball”
“Short Discourses from the Saṃyutta Nikāya,” “The Shorter Discourse to Māluṅkyaputta,” “Discourse on the Parable of the Water Snake,” “Discourse to Vacchagotta on Fire”
“Discourse to Prince Abhaya,” “Discourse to Poṭṭhapāda,” “Discourse on the Threefold Knowledge”
“Discourse to Assalāyana,” “The Lion’s Roaron the Wheel-Turning Monarch,” “Discourse to the Layman Sigāla”
The Lotus Sutra
Nāgārjuna Mūlamadhyamakakārikā of Nāgārjuna: The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way
The Tale of the Heike
Kūkai “The Difference Between Exoteric and Esoteric Buddhism”, “Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence”, “The Meanings of Sound, Word, and Reality”, Major Works
Sei Shōnagon The Pillow Book
Kamo no Chōmei “Hōjōki or the Record of the Ten-Foot Square Hut”
Dōgen “Bendōwa”, “Genjōkōan”, “Uji”
Kenkō
Bashō “Journey of Bleached Bones in a Field,” “Kashima Journal,” “Knapsack Notebook, “Sarashina Journal,” “The Narrow Road to the Deep North”