Priority Acquisition Documents 119 texts to procure, scan, and digitize for the collection
This is a prioritized wish list of texts that are not freely available online as clean
digital text and would need to be acquired as physical books, scanned, and OCR'd. They
represent the most significant gaps in the library — texts whose absence would be noticed by any
serious scholar or practitioner of these traditions.
Texts already in the library (from Sefaria, Gutenberg, Access to Insight, avesta.org,
Wikisource, terebess.hu, BaniDB) are excluded from this list.
Want to help? If you have access to any of these texts and can help with
scanning, OCR, or digital preparation, please
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Tiers at a Glance Tier Description Count ★ Tier 1 Absolute Essentials — absence noticed immediately by any serious scholar 28 ◆ Tier 2 Major Scholarly Works — complete the core canon or provide essential interpretive context 29 ● Tier 3 Deepening the Collections — move each library from good to excellent 29 ◉ Tier 4 Scholarly Depth — make the library genuinely comprehensive for researchers 33
The List 124 texts shown
★ T1: 28 ◆ T2: 31 ● T3: 32 ◉ T4: 33
Tier ★ Tier 1 ◆ Tier 2 ● Tier 3 ◉ Tier 4
Religion All / None
Buddhist 25 Christian 16 Confucian 10 Hindu 18 Jain 8 Jewish 3 Sikh 19 Tao 11 Zoroastrian 14
1 Buddhist The Middle Length Discourses (Majjhima Nikaya) tr. Bhikkhu Nanamoli & Bhikkhu Bodhi (Wisdom)
+ 2 Buddhist The Connected Discourses (Samyutta Nikaya) tr. Bhikkhu Bodhi (Wisdom)
+ 3 Buddhist The Numerical Discourses (Anguttara Nikaya) tr. Bhikkhu Bodhi (Wisdom)
+ 4 Buddhist The Long Discourses (Digha Nikaya) tr. Maurice Walshe (Wisdom)
+ 5 Sikh Sri Guru Granth Sahib (complete, 4 vols) tr. Manmohan Singh
+ 6 Hindu The Rig Veda tr. Stephanie Jamison & Joel Brereton (Oxford, 2014)
+ 7 Hindu The Principal Upanishads tr. Patrick Olivelle (Oxford, 1996)
+ 8 Hindu The Bhagavad Gita tr. Barbara Stoler Miller (Bantam, 1986)
+ 9 Christian New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Bible NRSV Translation Committee
+ 10 Buddhist The Lotus Sutra tr. Burton Watson (Columbia, 1993)
+ 11 Confucian The Analects of Confucius tr. Edward Slingerland (Hackett, 2003)
+ 12 Sikh Sri Guru Granth Sahib Darpan (10 vols) Professor Sahib Singh
+ 13 Jewish Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures (JPS, 1985) Jewish Publication Society
+ 14 Tao Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings tr. Brook Ziporyn (Hackett, 2009)
+ 15 Tao Tao Te Ching tr. D.C. Lau (Penguin, 1963)
+ 16 Buddhist Visuddhimagga (The Path of Purification) tr. Bhikkhu Nanamoli (BPS)
+ 17 Zoroastrian The Gathas of Zarathushtra tr. Helmut Humbach (Universitätsverlag, 1991)
+ 18 Hindu The Mahabharata (complete) tr. Bibek Debroy (Penguin, 2010–2014, 10 vols)
+ 19 Jain Tattvartha Sutra (That Which Is) tr. Nathmal Tatia (HarperCollins, 1994)
+ 20 Buddhist The Bodhicaryavatara (Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life) tr. Padmakara Translation Group or Vesna Wallace & B. Alan Wallace
+ 21 Confucian Mencius tr. D.C. Lau (Penguin, 1970)
+ 22 Hindu Ramayana of Valmiki (complete) tr. Robert Goldman et al. (Princeton, 1984–2017, 7 vols)
+ 23 Buddhist The Heart Sutra & Diamond Sutra tr. Red Pine (Counterpoint)
+ 24 Zoroastrian Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism ed. Mary Boyce (U Chicago, 1984)
+ 25 Zoroastrian A History of Zoroastrianism (3 vols) Mary Boyce (Brill, 1975–1991)
+ 26 Christian Early Christian Writings: The Apostolic Fathers tr. Andrew Louth / Maxwell Staniforth (Penguin)
+ 27 Sikh Dasam Granth (complete) Attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, tr. various
+ 28 Jain Jaina Sutras (SBE vols 22 & 45) tr. Hermann Jacobi
+ 29 Buddhist The Dhammapada tr. Gil Fronsdal (Shambhala, 2005)
+ 30 Buddhist Mulamadhyamakakarika (Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way) Nagarjuna, tr. Jay Garfield (Oxford, 1995)
+ 31 Buddhist The Lankavatara Sutra tr. Red Pine (Counterpoint, 2012)
+ 32 Buddhist Shobogenzo Dogen, tr. Kazuaki Tanahashi (Shambhala)
+ 33 Buddhist The Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol) tr. Robert Thurman or Francesca Fremantle & Chogyam Trungpa
+ 34 Buddhist Lamrim Chenmo (Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path) Tsongkhapa, tr. Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee (Snow Lion, 3 vols)
+ 35 Sikh Bhai Gurdas Vaaran (complete) Bhai Gurdas, tr. various
+ 36 Sikh Suraj Prakash Granth Bhai Santokh Singh (1843), tr. various
+ 37 Sikh A History of the Sikhs (2 vols) Khushwant Singh (Oxford, 1963–1966)
+ 38 Sikh Faridkot Tika (4 vols) Court scholars of Maharaja Bikram Singh (1883)
+ 39 Christian The Philokalia (complete, 4 vols) tr. G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, Kallistos Ware (Faber)
+ 40 Christian Institutes of the Christian Religion John Calvin, tr. Ford Lewis Battles (Westminster John Knox)
+ 41 Christian The Cloud of Unknowing ed. James Walsh (Paulist Press)
+ 42 Christian Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis
+ 43 Confucian Sishu Zhangju Jizhu (Collected Commentaries on the Four Books) Zhu Xi
+ 44 Confucian Sources of Chinese Tradition (2 vols) ed. Wm. Theodore de Bary (Columbia)
+ 45 Confucian Instructions for Practical Living (Chuanxilu) Wang Yangming, tr. Wing-tsit Chan
+ 46 Hindu Brahma Sutras tr. S. Radhakrishnan (Allen & Unwin, 1960)
+ 47 Hindu Yoga Sutras of Patanjali tr. Edwin Bryant (North Point, 2009)
+ 48 Hindu Bhagavata Purana (Srimad Bhagavatam) tr. Edwin Bryant (Penguin) or Bibek Debroy
+ 49 Hindu The Devi Mahatmya (Markandeya Purana, ch. 81–93) tr. Thomas Coburn
+ 50 Tao The Taoist Body Kristofer Schipper (U California, 1993)
+ 51 Tao Original Tao: Inward Training (Nei-yeh) tr. Harold Roth (Columbia, 1999)
+ 52 Tao Early Chinese Mysticism Livia Kohn (Princeton, 1992)
+ 53 Zoroastrian The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism R.C. Zaehner (Weidenfeld, 1961)
+ 54 Zoroastrian Zurvan: A Zoroastrian Dilemma R.C. Zaehner (Oxford, 1955)
+ 55 Jewish The Guide for the Perplexed Maimonides, tr. Shlomo Pines (U Chicago, 1963)
+ 56 Jain The Jaina Path of Purification Padmanabh Jaini (U California, 1979)
+ 57 Jain Samayasara (The Self) Kundakunda, tr. A. Chakravarti
+ 120 Zoroastrian The Gathas of Zarathustra tr. Stanley Insler (Brill, 1975)
+ 121 Zoroastrian The Hymns of Zoroaster tr. M.L. West (Oxford, 2010)
+ 58 Buddhist The Flower Ornament Scripture (Avatamsaka Sutra) tr. Thomas Cleary (Shambhala, 1993)
+ 59 Buddhist The Blue Cliff Record (Biyan Lu) tr. Thomas & J.C. Cleary (Shambhala)
+ 60 Buddhist The Vimalakirti Sutra tr. Burton Watson (Columbia, 1997)
+ 61 Buddhist Abhidhammattha Sangaha tr. Bhikkhu Bodhi (BPS, 2012)
+ 62 Buddhist The Record of Linji (Linji Lu) tr. Ruth Fuller Sasaki (U Hawaii, 2009)
+ 63 Buddhist What the Buddha Taught Walpola Rahula (Grove, 1959)
+ 64 Christian On the Incarnation Athanasius, tr. John Behr (St. Vladimir's)
+ 65 Christian Proslogion Anselm, tr. Thomas Williams
+ 66 Christian Mystical Theology Pseudo-Dionysius, tr. Colm Luibheid (Paulist)
+ 67 Christian The Interior Castle Teresa of Avila, tr. Mirabai Starr or Kieran Kavanaugh
+ 68 Christian Dark Night of the Soul John of the Cross, tr. Mirabai Starr
+ 69 Confucian The Analects tr. Simon Leys (W.W. Norton, 1997)
+ 70 Confucian Xunzi: The Complete Text tr. Eric Hutton (Princeton, 2014)
+ 71 Confucian Reflections on Things at Hand (Jinsilu) tr. Wing-tsit Chan (Columbia, 1967)
+ 72 Sikh Parasaraprasna (The Baisakhi of Guru Gobind Singh) Kapur Singh (Guru Nanak Dev University, 1989)
+ 73 Sikh The Sikh Rahit Maryada SGPC (official edition)
+ 74 Sikh Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion W.H. McLeod (Oxford, 1968)
+ 75 Sikh The Construction of Religious Boundaries Harjot Oberoi (U Chicago, 1994)
+ 76 Hindu Shankara's Crest-Jewel of Discrimination (Vivekachudamani) tr. Swami Prabhavananda
+ 77 Hindu The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna tr. Swami Nikhilananda (Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1942)
+ 78 Hindu The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (8 vols) Swami Vivekananda
+ 79 Hindu The Life Divine Sri Aurobindo (Sri Aurobindo Ashram)
+ 80 Hindu Tantra in Practice ed. David Gordon White (Princeton, 2000)
+ 81 Tao The Encyclopedia of Taoism ed. Fabrizio Pregadio (Routledge, 2008)
+ 82 Tao Taoism: The Enduring Tradition Russell Kirkland (Routledge, 2004)
+ 83 Tao The Secret of the Golden Flower tr. Thomas Cleary (HarperOne, 1991)
+ 84 Zoroastrian Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices Mary Boyce (Routledge, 2001)
+ 85 Zoroastrian The Spirit of Zoroastrianism tr. Prods Oktor Skjaervo (Yale, 2011)
+ 86 Jain The A to Z of Jainism Kristi Wiley (Scarecrow, 2004)
+ 122 Zoroastrian The Divine Songs of Zarathushtra tr. Irach J.S. Taraporewala (1951)
+ 123 Zoroastrian The Gathas: The Hymns of Zarathushtra tr. Piloo Nanavutty (1999)
+ 124 Zoroastrian The Zend-Avesta Part III: The Yasna, Visparad, Afrinagan, Gahs, and Miscellaneous Fragments tr. L.H. Mills (SBE vol. 31, 1887)
+ 87 Buddhist In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon ed. Bhikkhu Bodhi (Wisdom, 2005)
+ 88 Buddhist The Experience of Insight Joseph Goldstein
+ 89 Buddhist The Jewel Ornament of Liberation Gampopa, tr. Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen
+ 90 Buddhist The Life of Milarepa tr. Lobsang Lhalungpa (Penguin)
+ 91 Buddhist Buddhacarita (Acts of the Buddha) Ashvaghosha, tr. Patrick Olivelle (NYU, 2008)
+ 92 Christian The Cost of Discipleship Dietrich Bonhoeffer
+ 93 Christian Systematic Theology Paul Tillich (3 vols)
+ 94 Christian The Meaning of Icons Leonid Ouspensky & Vladimir Lossky
+ 95 Christian The Orthodox Way Kallistos Ware (St. Vladimir's)
+ 96 Christian Jesus Christ, Sun of God (or similar Christology) Various
+ 97 Confucian A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy Wing-tsit Chan (Princeton, 1963)
+ 98 Confucian Confucius and the Analects: New Essays ed. Bryan Van Norden (Oxford, 2002)
+ 99 Hindu The Laws of Manu (Manusmriti) tr. Patrick Olivelle (Oxford, 2005)
+ 100 Hindu Arthashastra Kautilya, tr. Patrick Olivelle (Oxford, 2013)
+ 101 Hindu A Survey of Hinduism Klaus Klostermaier (SUNY, 2007)
+ 102 Hindu Kashmir Shaivism: The Secret Supreme Swami Lakshman Joo
+ 103 Tao Daoism Handbook ed. Livia Kohn (Brill, 2000)
+ 104 Tao To Live as Long as Heaven and Earth Robert Ford Campany (U California, 2002)
+ 105 Tao Taoism and Chinese Religion Henri Maspero, tr. Frank Kierman (U Massachusetts, 1981)
+ 106 Zoroastrian The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism ed. Stausberg & Vevaina (Wiley, 2015)
+ 107 Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism: An Introduction Jenny Rose (I.B. Tauris, 2011)
+ 108 Jain Collected Papers on Jaina Studies Padmanabh Jaini (Motilal Banarsidass, 2000)
+ 109 Jain The Doctrine of the Jainas Walther Schubring, tr. Wolfgang Beurlen (Motilal, 2000)
+ 110 Jain Dravyasangraha (Collection of Substances) Nemichandra, tr. S.C. Ghoshal
+ 111 Sikh Pracheen Panth Prakash Rattan Singh Bhangu (1841)
+ 112 Sikh Mahan Kosh (Encyclopaedia of Sikh Literature) Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha (1930)
+ 113 Sikh Bhai Nand Lal: Complete Persian Works Bhai Nand Lal Goya, tr. various
+ 114 Sikh The Spirit of the Sikh (2 vols) Puran Singh (1920s)
+ 115 Sikh Ham Hindu Nahin (We Are Not Hindus) Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha (1898)
+ 116 Sikh Sikhism: Its Ideals and Institutions Teja Singh (Orient Longmans, 1951)
+ 117 Sikh Encyclopedia of Sikhism (4 vols) ed. Harbans Singh (Punjabi University, 1992–1998)
+ 118 Sikh Guru Granth Sahib: Canon, Meaning, and Authority Pashaura Singh (Oxford, 2000)
+ 119 Jewish Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism Gershom Scholem (Schocken, 1941)
+ Acquisition Strategy Notes Format Priority
Clean scans with good OCR. Prefer recent editions with good typesetting. Avoid reprints of
19th-century editions where modern translations exist.
Multi-Volume Works
Several items above are multi-volume sets (Bhikkhu Bodhi's Nikayas, Debroy's Mahabharata,
Goldman's Ramayana, Boyce's History of Zoroastrianism). Budget for complete sets — partial
acquisition of multi-volume works is rarely useful.
Language Priority
English translations first, then original language (Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese, Hebrew, Avestan,
Pahlavi) where the English is already covered.
Copyright Note
Most items in Tiers 1–2 are in-copyright academic translations published by university presses
(Oxford, Princeton, Columbia, Wisdom Publications, Penguin Classics). Items in Tier 4 trend
toward more recent scholarship. A few texts (Jacobi's Jain translations, older SBE volumes)
are already public domain and may just need better-quality versions than what Gutenberg provides.
