Dhamma Books - where do you get yours?

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

I've purchased Dhamma books before from...

Buddhist Publication Society
http://www.bps.lk/

... before and found them to be very good... seemingly only charging "cost price" or thereabouts for texts and postage.

I've ordered Wisdom Publications translations of certain Nikayas (as translated by Bodhi, Nanamoli, Walshe) from Amazon because for texts like that, the discount offered by Amazon was enough to offset their ridiculous postage rates to Australia.

Where do you get yours?

Metta,
Retro.

[jcsuperstar]

amazon. wisdom cost WAAAAY too much for postage so i only use them if i can't find the book in america.

[stuka]

Ebay, Fetchbook, Alibris, and a few from Barre Center and Santikaro.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings stuka,

How do you order books from Santikaro, and know what they have available?

Metta,
Retro.

[jcsuperstar]

Greetings stuka,

How do you order books from Santikaro, and know what they have available?

Metta,
Retro.

i think he only sends them out in north america... but you can contact suan mokh for books as well.

[Cittasanto]

I get mine from Wisdom books (not the publisher) in the uk mainly, http://www.wisdom-books.com/
but quite often I get free books from monestaries I visit, and as gifts, but nowadays I tend to not bother unless it is a book I want, such as a comentary or something I mainly focus on the Suttas which I have for the most part!

[David N. Snyder]

I have found from my own readings, that the cheaper the book, the better the quality.

The usual thinking in this day and age is that you get what you pay for, but with the Dhamma it is different. Some authors who charge hefty fees are making a living off the selling of Dhamma. Some will even gloss over the material and 'save' some info for later books.

Free books on the other hand, are usually written by bhikkhus and bhikkhunis (and sometimes some lay people who make a living in other ways) who have only good intentions and want to teach and spread Dhamma. They pour their hearts into the books they write and do not try to 'leave anything behind' for publishing in some later book. They usually try to write the book so that the complete Dhamma is presented in one book and in readable language.

The only exception would be direct sutta translations, which because of their size must be at the higher prices, but they are worth it, such as the Wisdom publications of the Canon by Bhikkhu Bodhi.

[Will]

For those in N. America this is a good source: http://www.pariyatti.org/ But I also make use of abebooks, amazon & several comparision shopping engines like addall or fetchbook etc. to get the cheapest.

[Jason]

Mostly I get used books from my local used book store. Every once in a while there's a gem waiting to be discovered. For example, I have found books such as the Samyutta Nikaya, Muller's Vinaya Texts, the Visuddhimagga, the Vibhanga, the Abhidhamma Sangaha, Nyanaponika Thera's The Life of the Buddha, Nanananda Bhikkhu's The Magic of the Mind, and Prof. Gombrich's Theravada Buddhism: A Social from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo all at the used book store. I missed out on the Jataka with commentary, though. Too expensive at the time.

[Dhammanando]

Hi Jason,

I missed out on the Jataka with commentary, though. Too expensive at the time.

It is available online now, though I forget where.

Best wishes,
Dhammanando Bhikkhu

[Ben]

I remember about 20 years ago sending a cheque in US dollars to BPS Kandy and waited several years for my books to arrive. It was an exercise in patience! I finally plucked up the courage and sent a letter asking what happened whereupon they promptly sent one back telling me that the post office returned the parcel, despite my redirection notice at the post office!
In the last few years I have purchased most of my books via www.dhammabooks.com in Australia where I've developed a bit of a relationsip with the owners who are good people providing an excellent service. I ordered Gombrich's 'How Buddhism Began' from an Indian clearinghouse and it arrived in record time. While I have not used them, I would not hesitate to also use www.pariyatti.org or go direct to BPS or other publishers. Occassionally its worthwhile investigating amazon as they do stock out-of-print second-hand books.
Cheers

Ben

[retrofuturist]

Greetings Ben,

I remember about 20 years ago sending a cheque in US dollars to BPS Kandy and waited several years for my books to arrive. It was an exercise in patience!

It's much easier now... BPS take PayPal.

Metta,
Retro.