Last Updated on March 19, 2021 by Paul Farrell, MRP, JD, PhD
The “action meditation” library, 169 great books!
The tradition of sitting meditation goes back centuries, origins are Buddhism in India and Taoism in China 2,600 years ago. The tradition, however, is much more than just sitting, or just meditating. In the 1600’s the great Zen haiku poet Basho Matsuo captured the true meaning;
“Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes and the flowers grow.”
Neither sitting, nor meditation was the message. Basho was looking beyond, into the great mysteries of life – human civilization, changing seasons, species evolution, planetary cycles. It was in these patterns, the cycles and modern actions that we saw glimpses of the more profound mysteries of life itself.
Everywhere, in every niche, we saw such patterns, everywhere we looked in building this library… whether in running, swimming, hiking, fishing, tennis or yoga … in cycling, golf, surfing, tai chi, martial arts or journaling … in cooking, dancing, parenting, daily living, everywhere … we found new masters with us the same passion for their chosen action meditation as well as the same reverence The Buddha, Lao Tzu and Basho Matsuo each had for sitting meditation.
Let us know if you have similar master works that belong in the library.
The Sports/Fitness Zone of Meditation
Art of Surfing – Raul Guisado
Be Iron Fit: Training for Triathletes – Don Fink
Bushido: The Soul of Japan – Inazo Nitobe
Chi Running – Danny Dreyer
Code of the Samurai – Thomas Cleary
Complete Book of Running – Amby Burfoot
Dancing The Wave: Mysteries of Surfing—Jean-Etienne Poirier
A Different Angle: Fly Fishing Stories by Women—Holly Morris
Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die—Chris Santella
Fly Fisherman’s Guide to Meaning of Life—Peter Kaminsky
Golf for Enlightenment—Deepak Chopra
Golf and the Kingdom—Michael Murphy
Golf and the Spirit—M. Scott Peck
Golfer’s Book of Yoga—Drew Greenland
In The Zone—Murphy & White
The Inner Athlete—Dan Millman
The Inner Game of Golf—W. T. Gallway
The Inner Game of Tennis—W. T. Gallway
Legend of Bagger Vance—Steven Pressfield
Marathon: Ultimate Training Guide—Hal Higdon
Mastery—George Leonard
Meditation in Motion—Barbara Bartocci
The Mental Athlete—Kay Porter
Mental Game: Winning at Pressure Tennis—James Loehr
Mind Gym—Mack Casstevens
New Toughness Training for Sports—James Loehr
Overachievement—John Eliot
Path of the Warrior—Lucas Estrella Schultz
Performance Rock Climbing—Goddard & Neumann
Pilates, Yoga, Meditation & Stress Relief—Parragon
Real Men Do Yoga—John Capouya
Rock Climbing—Don Mellor
Sacred Hoops—Phil Jackson
The Secret Power Within—Chuck Norris
Secret Tactics—Kazumi Tabata
The Spirit of the Marathon—Gail Kislevitz
Sport Climbing—John Long
Swim Bike Run—Hobson, Campbell, Vickers
Tao of the Jump Shot—John Mahoney
Tao of Surfing—Michael Allen
Thinking Body, Dancing Mind—Chungliang Al Huang
The Ultimate Ride: Cycling—Chris Carmichael
Values of the Game—Bill Bradley
Walking Meditation—Thich Nhat Hahn
Working Out, Working Within—Lynch & Huang
The Warrior Within: Bruce Lee—John Little
The Way of the Surfer—Drew Kampion
The Way of the Peaceful Warrior—Dan Millman
The Way of Aikido—George Leonard
Zen Golf—Dr. Joseph Parent
Zen in the Art of Archery—Eugen Herrigel
Zen in the Martial Arts—Joe Hyams
Zen & the Way of the Sword—Winston L. King
The Creativity Zone of Meditation
The Alchemy of Possibility – Carolyn Mary Kleefield
The Artist’s Way – Julie Cameron
Awakening the Heroes Within – Carol Pearson
Awakening the Spirit in Everyday Life—Sam Keen
Care of the Soul—Thomas Moore
Conditioning for Dance: Peak Performance—Eric Franklin
Creative Visualization—Shakti Gawain
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain—Betty Edwards
Handbook of Higher Consciousness—Ken Keyes
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft—Stephen King
Rosey Grier’s Needlepoint for Men—Rosey Grier
Sister Wendy’s Book of Meditations—Sister Wendy
The Sound of Paper—Julia Cameron
The Writer’s Life—Julia Cameron
The Zen of Gambling—Wayne Allyn Root
Zen & the Art of Knitting—Bernadette Murphy
Zen & the Art of Poker—Larry Phillips
Zen in the Art of Writing—Ray Bradbury
Zen Guitar—Philip Toshio Sudo
The Mental Zone of Meditation
Airplane Yoga – Rachel Lehmann-Haupt & Bess Abrahams
Beyond the Relaxation Response—Herbert Benson
Breakout Principle—Herbert Benson & William Proctor
Coffeebreak Pilates—Alan Herdman
Confucius Lives Next Door—T. R. Reid
Consciousness Living—Gay Hendricks
The Corporate Mystic—Hendricks & Ludeman
A Course in Miracles—Foundation for Inner Peace
Do What You Love, Money Will Follow—Marsha Sinetar
Everyday Enlightenment—Dan Millman
Flow—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Fuzzy Thinking—Bart Kosko
Getting in the Gap: Meditation—Wayne W. Dyer
The Inner Game of Trading—Koppel & Abell
Journey Without Goal—Chogyam Trungpa
Money & the Meaning of Life—Jacob Needleman
Office Yoga—Darrin Zeer
Relaxation Response—Herbert Benson
Stress Management—Charlesworth & Nathan
Stress Management for the Executive—EHE Editors
Stress for Success—David Lewis
Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude—Hill & Stone
Ten Minute Stress Relief—Erica Brealey
10 Ways to Meditate—John Reps
The 20-Minute Break—Ernest Rossi
Think & Grow Rich—Napoleon Hill
The Way of Zen—Alan Watts
Zen & the Art of Making a Living—Laurence Boldt
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind—Shunryu Suzuki
Zen at Work: in Corporate America—Les Kaye
Zenvesting—Paul Sutherland
The Relationship Zone of Meditation
Fire in the Belly – Sam Keen
Healing Words—Larry Dossey
In Buddha‘s Kitchen—Kimberly Snow
Instructions to the Cook—Glassman & Fields
If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him—Sheldon Kopp
Journey of Awakening: Meditators Guidebook—Ram Dass
Meetings with Remarkable Men—Gurdjieff
Passionate Enlightenment—Miranda Shaw
The Road Less Traveled—M. Scott Peck
This Thing Called You—Ernest Holmes
When Bad Things Happen to Good People—Harold Kushner
Wherever You Go There You Are—Jon Kabat-Zinn
Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance—Robert Pirsig
Meditation: Ancient and Contemporary
After the Ecstasy, the Laundry – Jack Kornfield
The Art of Doing Nothing—Veronique Vienne
The Art of Imperfection—Veronique Vienne
Awaken the Buddha Within—Lama Surya Das
The Bhagavad Gita—Ranchor Prime Translation
The Break-out Principle—Benson & Proctor
Buddhism—Steve Hagen
Chop Wood, Carry Water— New Age Journal Editors
Cultivating Sacred Space, Gardening for the Soul—E. Murray
Do You Need a Guru?— Mariana Caplan
Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease
Fire in The Soul—Joan Borysenko
The First & Last Freedom—Krishnamurti
Full Catastrophe Living—Jon Kabat-Zinn
How to Meditate—Lawrence LeShan
How to Practice—The Dalai Lama
I Ching Workbook—P. L. Wing
The Inner Guide Meditation—Edwin Steinbrecher
Insight Meditation—Joseph Goldstein
Learn to Relax—Mike George
Meditation—Brian L. Weiss
Meditation—Osho
Meditation—Monaghan & Viereck
Meditation for Busy People—Dawn Groves
Meditations—Shakti Gawain
Meditations—Marcus Aurelius
The Meditative Mind—Daniel Goleman
Memories, Dreams & Reflections—Carl G. Jung
Modern Man in Search of A Soul—Carl G. Jung
Mystics & Zen Masters—Thomas Merton
One Dharma—Joseph Goldstein
Open Mind, Open Heart—Fr. Thomas Keating
Orange Book, Meditations—Rajneesh
Personality Types—Carl G. Jung
Pocket Guide to Meditation—Alan Pritz
The Power of Myth—Joseph Campbell
The Power of Now—Eckhart Tolle
Powers of Mind—Adam Smith
The Practice of the Presence of God—Brother Lawrence
The Practice of Zen Meditation—Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle
Principles of Meditation—Simpkins & Simpkins
A Quaker Book of Wisdom—Robert L. Smith
Real Magic—Wayne Dyer
The Search: The Ten Zen Bulls—Rajneesh
Seat of the Soul—Gary Zukav
Seven Masters, One Path—John Selby
Seven Spiritual Laws of Success—Deepak Chopra
Sitting: A Guide to Buddhist Meditation—Diana St. Ruth
The Soul’s Code—James Hillman
The Spirituality of Imperfection—Ernst Kurtz
Stages of Meditation—The Dalai Lama
Still The Mind—Alan Watts
Tao Te Ching—Lao Tzu
This Thing Called You—Ernest Holmes
The Way of Individuation—Jolande Jacobi
Your Maximum Mind—Herbert Benson
About the Author
Dr. Farrell is a Behavioral Economist. His books include The Millionaire Code; The Millionaire Meditation: Stress Management for Wall Street, Corporate America & Entrepreneurs; The Zen Millionaire; The Winning Portfolio; Expert Investing on The Net; Mutual Funds on The Net; and The Lazy Person’s Guide to Investing.
He also published 1,643 columns on DowJones-MarketWatch and for years was their #1 traffic-generating columnist. Before the Internet, he edited & published FNX: Future News Index, a financial newsletter for stock market traders. Earlier he was a Wall Street investment banker with Morgan Stanley, Executive Vice President of the Financial News Network; and Associate Editor of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner.
He has a Doctorate in Psychology, Juris Doctor, Masters in Regional Planning and Bachelor of Architecture. He worked on the Esalen organic farm and served in the U.S. Marine Corps as Staff Sergeant in aviation computer technology.
