Reddit mentions of Transformation and Healing: Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness

Anyone can adopt Buddhist mindfulness, no matter what their religion, just don't try to shoehorn Jesus into the Buddhist dharma, it won't work.

Mindfulness is explained thus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satipatthana

You can read the original sutras like The Satipatthana Sutta
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/soma/wayof.html

but without a commentary and examples it will be tough going.

I have this book in my shelves and it is almost worn out.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Heart-Buddhist-Meditation-Satipatthna/dp/0877280738

Since you found Thich Nhat Hanh useful, I see that he also has a book on this topic.
http://www.amazon.com/Transformation-Healing-Sutra-Establishments-Mindfulness/dp/book-citations/1888375620

I suggest the Satipatthana Sutta with a practice-oriented commentary. It's probably the most comprehensive sutta.

Here are a couple good ones:

Transformation and Healing: Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening (Joseph Goldstein)

Then there's the Anapanasati Sutta, which is also considered to be very authentic and comprehensive. In it the Buddha shows how he used the breath to practice the four establishments of mindfulness to achieve full awakening. Here are a couple good commentaries:

Breathe, You Are Alive: The Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing (Thich Nhat Hanh)


Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation (Larry Rosenberg)

Hmm, good question. I can't claim to have read a lot of Thay's work (because as you said, there's quite a bit), but my hunch based on what I have read is that where you should start depends on your current knowledge of Buddhism.

Thay seems to write two types of books: a "general audience" type book that draws on Buddhism, but only to the extent that the teachings can be practiced by anyone regardless of their background. The Miracle of Mindfulness might be an example of this, or his "one-word-title books" as I call them: Power, Savor, Fear, etc.

The other type of book he writes seems to be intended for readers who either are already Buddhist or interested in going more deeply into Buddhist teachings. To know where to start with these works, a lot depends on how familiar you already are with the Buddha's teachings. I can tell you the order I read them, which seemed to work quite well:

Started with: The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: This is Thay's overview of the core teachings of Buddhism. I see this book like this: if Buddhism was a country, this would be a map of it. It shows you all the major points of interest, and the roads connecting all of them together. After reading this, you'll have a good grasp of what the different pieces of Buddhism are and how they work together to help you toward awakening/enlightenment.

But if you've never read anything about Buddhism at all before, I'm personally not sure if this is a good first book as it's not exactly a light read. Don't get me wrong: it's written with Thay's usual elegance and clarity, but it's packed with a lot of stuff (in the best sense). I was already somewhat familiar with the basics of Buddhism, so for me it was easy to build on that; but for someone brand new, I think the "general audience" books would still be a better start.

After that first book: In the first book itself, Thay recommends three sutras every serious practitioner should study regularly: the Bhaddekaratta Sutra, the Anapatasati Sutra, and the Satipatthana Sutra. Thankfully, Thay has translated and written commentaries on all three sutras and my links go to his books on these sutras.

Not much more I can share given that I'm about halfway through Thay's book on the Anapanasati Sutra. What I can say is that I can see why he says these are sutras to be studied throughout your life. They have some really powerful teachings that I have no doubt will take me years to grasp and practice properly.

Hope that helps. I'm sure others have read far more of Thay's work than I have, and can either correct my attempt here or give better recommendations.

research a bit before reading each of his books. while he's done some really solid translation-work with real buddhist texts, he has also written some 'pop' books that are arguably misleading.

you'll be fine as long as you research before diving in