James B. Apple is University Lecturer in the Interdisciplinary Religious Studies Program at the University of Alberta.

List of Figures and Tables
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations

1. The Topic of the Twenty Samghas

        Methodological Considerations
        Tsong kha pa’s Hermeneutical Strategy
        Hermeneutical Strategies in Approaching the Twenty Samghas

2. Tsong kha pa and the Abhisamayalamkara Commentarial Tradition

        Indian Predecessors in the Abhisamayalamkara Tradition
        Tsong kha pa’s Tibetan Predecessors in the Abhisamayalamkara Tradition
        The Abhisamayalamkara and Twenty Samghas in Tsong kha pa’s Life and Works
        Summary

3. Contextual and Doctrinal Presumptions

        Locating the Twenty Samghas in the Abhisamayalamkara
        Samgha in Early Buddhism and in the Abhisamayalamkara
        Avaivartika-Samgha as Refuge in the Abhisamayalamkara
        Path and Yogic Systems of the Abhisamayalamkara
        Cosmological Factors
        Summary

4. Analysis of the Twenty Samghas

        An Introduction to the Topic from the Root Texts
        The Allegorical Samgha of Sravakas

5. An Assembly of Irreversible Bodhisattvas

        The Actual Samgha of Bodhisattvas
        Enumerating Bodhisattvas in the Prajñaparamita
        Relationship between the Actual Samgha and the Allegorical Samgha

Conclusion
Notes
Glossary
References
Index