Preface to the New Edition, 2023 ix
About the Author xiv
Preface to the 2000 Edition, by Sangharakshita xv
Author's Acknowledgements for the First Edition xx
Publisher's Acknowledgements xxi
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 The Refuge Tree of the Triratna Buddhist Order, and the Prostration Practice 5
Chapter 2 Visualization and Imagination 17
Chapter 3 Going for Refuge 29
Chapter 4 The Refuge Tree, Bodhicitta, and 'Other-power' 37
Introduction 49
Chapter 5 The Buddhas of the Three Times 53
Chapter 6 The Five Jinas 71
Chapter 7 The Arhants 89
Chapter 8 The Bodhisattvas 113
Chapter 9 Vajrasattva 135
Chapter 10 The Dharma texts 141
Chapter 11 The Teachers of the Past 149
India 153
Tibet 171
China 191
Japan 207
Chapter 12 The Teachers of the Present 229
Conclusion 285
Notes and References 287
Selected Reading 293
Index 298