Ebooks and printed books can both be powerful tools for transformation — if you read with genuine presence. The question “which is better” actually obscures a far more important question: Are you reading, or merely skimming the words?
Perhaps you held a print book, smelled its pleasant paper, read three pages, then began thinking about an unanswered message. Or perhaps you opened an e-reading app at midnight and a passage touched exactly what you needed. Both are real. Which, then, is “better”?
1. The Truth About the Brain When Reading Printed Books and E-books
Neuroscience researchers find that when reading print books, the brain tends to process information differently, especially works requiring deep understanding, linear thinking, and structural memory. Physical sensations—the pages in your hands, a paragraph's position on the page, the thickness of the book remaining—create cognitive anchors that help memory retain information.
Ebooks, by contrast, offer considerable convenience: hundreds of titles on one device, adjustable font sizes, instant dictionary lookup, and reading anytime, anywhere. For busy people, this is a practical bridge to maintaining a reading habit.
The medium does not determine depth. The reader's mindset does.
Yet ebooks themselves — on a phone or tablet — sit beside dozens of other apps waiting to pull at your attention. A small notification. An unconscious swipe. And you are no longer reading — even though your eyes are still on the screen.
2. Printed Books Are Not Perfect — Neither Are E-books
Some revere print books as a sacred ritual, which is beautiful but can become a kind of formalism. You own the book, place it on a lovely shelf, and photograph it, yet its contents have not truly entered you.
Conversely, some people are proud to “have 500 books on Kindle” — but read for fifteen minutes before being pulled into social media. The number of books you own is not the knowledge you have absorbed.
Reading without presence is like eating without chewing: the stomach works, but the body is not nourished.
Both formats can be “means that do not truly reach the goal” if the reader lacks awareness on each page.
3. A More Important Question: What Mindset Are You Reading With?
Instead of asking “Are e-books or print books better?”, try asking:
- When you read, are you truly there—or is your mind running into the past or future?
- You read to understand, or to complete?
- After closing the book (or turning off the screen), can you retell what you just read?
- Is that knowledge changing how you see, think, and live—or merely sitting in memory like an unopened file?
These are questions of mindful awareness, not reading technique. They matter far more than whether you read on paper or a screen.
4. When Should You Choose Printed Books?
Printed books have real advantages in certain contexts:
- When you need to read deeply — major works of philosophy, spirituality, and literature. A printed page has no notifications. Nothing competes for your attention except the book itself.
- When you want to take handwritten notes — underlines and margin notes are ways for the brain to process information again. Handwriting activates a different level of memory than electronic highlighting.
- When you want a break from screens — before sleep, during a quiet morning of meditation. Printed books emit no blue light and do not pull you into a swirl of notifications.
- When you need a ritual space for learning — sit down, make tea, pick up a book. This physical action signals to the brain: “Now is reading time.”
5. When Do E-books Show Their Value?
Ebooks are not the enemy of depth — if you use them properly:
- When you travel frequently — one device, an entire library. Not everyone can carry printed books everywhere.
- When you want to search and look things up quickly — especially with specialist books and academic materials.
- When you read on an e-ink device (not a phone) — an e-ink screen emits no light and has no notifications, making the experience much closer to reading on paper.
- When you have turned off notifications and chosen a dedicated reading app — separate from the social media environment. This is digital discipline, not chance.
The medium does not create awareness. You bring awareness to the medium.
6. A Spiritual Perspective: Means and Ends
In Awakening Buddhism, the approach I apply in my own journey, there is an important principle: the means is not the end. The raft is used to cross the river. Once you reach the other bank, you do not keep carrying it.
Books — printed or digital — are a raft. The knowledge within them is also a raft. The real purpose is not owning books or finishing many of them, but inner transformation — how you see life differently, treat yourself and others differently, and live more deeply.
Perhaps one book, just one, completely changed how you saw yourself. Not because it was printed on paper or appeared on a screen, but because at that moment, you truly ready to hear.
Practice Now: a 5-Minute Exercise in Reading with Presence
Whether holding a print book or opening a reading app, try this practice before reading:
- Step 1 (1 minute): Put the book or device down. Close your eyes. Take three long breaths, exhaling fully. Let your mind settle; nothing more is needed.
- Step 2 (30 seconds): Ask yourself gently: “What do I want to receive from this reading session?” No need to answer right away—just plant the question.
- Step 3 (3 minutes): Open the book. Read 30% more slowly than usual. When you encounter a sentence that makes you pause — truly pause. Do not rush to read on. Close your eyes for a moment and let that sentence sink in.
- Step 4 (30 seconds): After finishing a short passage, ask yourself: “How does this relate to my life right now?”
That is all. No speed-reading technique or complicated notes. Just presence, allowing knowledge to truly touch you.
Reading Is a Form of Meditation
When you read with presence—each page is a moment of sitting with yourself. Every good idea is a question the universe places in your hands. Every time you close the book and sit quietly for a few seconds to digest it—that is a real moment of meditation.
Printed books or ebooks is not the most important question.
Are you truly reading — or merely skimming words?
That is a question worth pausing for.
It is not easy. But it is possible.
Tạ Minh Tuấn (Saga)
Frequently asked questions
Are ebooks as good as printed books?
Both have their own value. Print supports deeper reading and better recall in some contexts; e-books are more convenient and accessible. What matters most is not format but your presence while reading.
Do ebooks affect memory?
Research suggests reading printed books may support deeper recall of structure and content in some cases. With ebooks on a phone, distraction from notifications can reduce reading quality — because of the surrounding environment, not the format.
Is reading on a phone harder on the eyes than reading paper books?
Blue light from phone screens can cause eye strain during prolonged reading, especially at night. E-ink devices, such as a Kindle without a backlight, offer a visual experience closer to paper. Whatever the format, take regular breaks to rest your eyes.
How can I read more effectively, whether on paper or electronically?
Create dedicated reading time and space, silence notifications, and read slowly and intentionally. Before reading, ask, “What do I want from this session?” This helps the brain read attentively rather than merely to finish.
Should I buy both print and electronic editions?
Not necessarily. Choose according to your habits and circumstances. Many people use e-books to sample titles and print books for those they want to read deeply, annotate, and keep. The most important thing is to start reading—instead of endlessly worrying about the format.
