Stairway to Nirvāna: A Study of the Twenty Saghas Based on the Works of Tsong kha pa

by James B. Apple

James B. Apple examines one of the formative subjects in traditional Buddhist studies, the Twenty Varieties of the Saṃgha. The Saṃgha (community) is one of the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Saṃgha) universally revered by all Buddhists. While the Saṃgha is generally understood as the community of Buddhist ordained monks and nuns, along with lay adherents, the Twenty Varieties of the Saṃgha concerns an exemplary community of the twenty types of Noble Beings (ārya-pudgala) who embody the Buddha's teachings. Focusing on the interpretation of the Saṃgha given by the fourteenth-century Tibetan scholar Tsong kha pa, Apple provides a comprehensive typology and analysis of the stages through which Noble Beings pass in their progress toward enlightenment through multiple lifetimes in various cosmological realms. He explains the cosmographic formations and complex structures of Buddhist spiritual cultivation, illustrating how Tibetan and Indian Buddhists conceptualize all possible states on the path to enlightenment.

287 pages, Hardcover

First published March 6, 2008