Here is a list of Zen related English translations organized in the categories of: Translations of the classic Zen masters – Dogen translations – Hakuin translations – Zen anthologies – Koan collections – Buddhist Sutras – Buddhist Shastras – Important non Buddhist influences.
I have included some duplicate texts where more than one of the available translations seemed to me of good comparison value or includes supplemental material.
All of these texts are, in my view, essential reading for all Zen students/practitioners. If I failed to include a favorite of yours, please let me know what it is.
Translations of the classic Zen masters
The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma. San Francisco, CA: North Point Press, 1989.
The Record of Linji. Ruth Fuller Sasaki & Thomas Yuho Kirchner, 2009
The Zen Teachings of Master Lin-Chi, Burton Watson, 1993
The Transmission of the Lamp: Early Masters. Sohaku Ogata, 1988
Sayings and Doings of Pai-Chang. Thomas Cleary, 1979
The Record of Tung-shan. William Powell, 1986.
The Platform Sutra: The Zen Teaching of Hui-neng, Red Pine, 2008
The Sutra of Hui-Neng: Grand Master of Zen: With Huineng’s Commentary on the Diamond Sutra, Thomas Cleary
The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch. Philip Yampolsky, 1967
Sun-Face Buddha: The Teachings of Ma-Tsu and the Hung-Chou School of Ch’an, Cheng Chien Bhikshu, 2001
Zongmi on Chan, by Jeffrey Lyle Broughton, 2009
Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi. Daniel Leighton, 2001
Zen Letters: Teachings of Yuanwu, Thomas and J.C. Cleary, 2001
The Diamond Sutra & The Sutra of Hui-Neng, A F Price & Wong Mou-lam, 1990.
The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain by Cold Mountain (Han Shan), Red Pine, 2000
P’u Ming’s Oxherding Pictures & Verses by P’u Ming, Red Pine, 1984
The Zen Teaching of Huang Po, John Blofeld, 1958
The Zen Teaching of Instantaneous Awakening, John Blofeld, 1974
The Sayings of Layman P’ang: A Zen Classic of China, James Green, 2009
The Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Joshu, James Green, 1998
Master Yunmen: From the Record of the Chan Master “Gate of the Clouds”, Urs App, 1994
Mud and Water: A Collection of Talks by the Zen Master Bassui, Arthur Braverman, 1989
The Korean Approach to Zen: The Collected Works of Chinul, Robert Buswell, 1983
Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui, JC Cleary, 1977
Ryokan: Zen Monk – Poet of Japan by Ryokan, Burton Watson, 1992
Eloquent Zen: Daito and Early Japanese Zen. Kenneth Kraft, 1992.
Instant Zen: Waking Up in the Present, Thomas Cleary, 1994
Dream Conversations: On Buddhism and Zen by Muso Kokushi, Thomas Cleary, 1994
Dogen translations
Shobogenzo: Zen Essays by Dogen. Thomas Cleary, 1986.
Rational Zen: The Mind of Dogen Zenji, Thomas Cleary, 2001
Dogen’s Extensive Record (Eihei Koroku), Daniel Leighton, 2004
Flowers of Emptiness: Selections from Dogen’s Shobogenzo, Hee-Jim Kim
Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo, Books 1 – 4 Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross, 2005
Shobogenzo.:Zen Essays by Dogen, Thomas Cleary, 1992
Enlightenment Unfolds: The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Dogen, Tanahashi Kazuaki, 1999
Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen. Tanahashi Kazuaki, 1985.
The Heart of Dogen’s Shobogenzo. Norman Waddell & Masao Abe, 2002
Record of Things Heard by Dogen & Ejo, Thomas Cleary, 2001
Hakuin Translations
Embossed Tea Kettle by Hakuin Zenji, R.D.M. Shaw, 1963
The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin. Norman Waddell, 1994
The Zen Mater Hakuin: Selected Writings. Philip Yampolsky, 1971
The Unborn: Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693. Norman Waddell, 1984
Discourse on the Inexhaustible Lamp of Zen, Daibi of Unkan, 1996
Zen Words for the Heart: Hakuin’s Commentary on the Heart Sutra. Norman Waddell, 1996
Wild Ivy: The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin. Norman Waddell, 2001
Zen Translation Anthologies
The Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader, Nelson Foster, 1996
The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen, Jeffrey L Broughton, 1999
Minding Mind: A Course in Basic Meditation, Thomas Cleary, 2009
Zen Dawn: Early Zen Texts from Tun Huang, JC Cleary, 1986
Timeless Spring: A Soto Zen Anthology. Thomas Cleary, 1980
The Original Face: An Anthology of Rinzai Zen. Thomas Cleary, 1978
Zen’s Chinese Heritage — The Masters & Their Teachings, Andrew Ferguson, 2000
Teachings of Zen, Thomas Cleary, 1997
Koan Collections and Related Literature
The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-men kuan (Mumonkan) by Robert Aitken, 1991
Gateless Barrier: Zen Comments on the Mumonkan by Zenkai Shibayama, 2000
Gateless Gate: The Classic Book of Zen Koans by Koun Yamada, 2004
The Blue Cliff Record by Thomas Cleary and JC Cleary, 1977
Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record: Zen Comments by Hakuin and Tenkei, by Thomas Cleary 2002
The Book of Serenity: One Hundred Zen Dialogues by Thomas Cleary, 1990
Zen Sand: The Book of Capping Phrases for Koan Practice, Victor Sogen Hori, 2003
Shinji Shobogenzo, Gudo Nishijima, 2003
The True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen’s Three Hundred Koans, trans. Kazuaki Tanahashi, 2005
The Record of Transmitting the Light: Zen Master Keizan’s Denkoroku. Francis Dojun Cook, 2004
Transmission of Light: Zen in the Art of Enlightenment by Zen Master Keizan,Thomas Cleary, 2002
Two Zen Classics: The Gateless Gate and The Blue Cliff Records by Katsuki Sekida, 2005
The Book of Equanimity: Illuminating Classic Zen Koans, by Gerry Shishin Wick, 2005
Buddhist Sutras
The Flower Ornament Scripture: A Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra, Thomas Cleary, 1993
The Lankavatara Sutra. DT Suzuki, 1978
The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic, Gene Reeves, 2008
The Lotus Sutra, Burton Watson, 1993
The Diamond Sutra: Text and Commentaries Translated from Sanskrit and Chinese. Red Pine, 2001
The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Diamond Sutra by Thich Nhat Hanh, 1992
The Heart Sutra, Red Pine, 2005
Complete Enlightenment: Translation and Commentary on the Sutra of Complete Enlightenment by Sheng-Yen, Christopher Marano, and Guo-Gu, 1997
The Vimalakirti Sutra by Burton Watson, 2000
The Holy Teachings of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture. Robert Thurman, 1976
The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom: With the Divisions of the Abhisamayalankara, Edward Conze, 1985
The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra – Last and most impressive teachings of the Buddha about Reality and the True Self, Tony Page, 2008
Mahayana Buddhist Shastras (treatises)
Stopping and Seeing: A Comprehensive Course in Buddhist Meditation by Chih-i, Thomas Cleary, 1997
The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamakakarika by Nagarjuna, Jay L. Garfield, 1995
Hakeda, Yoshito, S., The Awakening of Faith, New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1974.
Foundations of T’Ien-T’Ai Philosophy: The Flowering of the Two Truths Theory in Chinese Buddhism, Paul L. Swanson
Entry Into the Inconceivable: An Introduction to Hua-Yen Buddhism, Thomas Cleary, 1995
Important Non-Buddhist Chinese Influences
The Secret of the Golden Flower, Thomas Cleary,1993
The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu, Brian Walker, 1995
The Essential Tao : An Initiation into the Heart of Taoism Through the Authentic Tao Te Ching and the Inner Teachings of Chuang-Tzu, Thomas Cleary, 1993
The Essential Confucius, Thomas Cleary, 1993
Not exhaustive, but certainly a good start.
Peace,
Ted

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