| Abbreviations | |
| Acknowledgments | |
| Introduction | 1 |
| Ch. 1 | The Story of the Asuras' Cave | 11 |
| Ch. 2 | The Structure of Bhavaviveka's Thought | 22 |
| Philosophy as a Cognitive Quest | 23 |
| The Three-Part Structure of Bhavaviveka's Argument | 29 |
| Points of Transition from One Stage in the Argument to Another | 42 |
| Bhavaviveka's Ironical Point of View | 44 |
| Ch. 3 | Interpreting the Signs of the Buddha | 51 |
| Hsuan-tsang's Encounter with the Indian Landscape | 51 |
| The Buddha as a Place Where an Absence Is Present | 65 |
| Ch. 4 | The Diachronic Dimension of the Buddha's Absence | 73 |
| The Buddha's Previous Vows | 74 |
| The Buddha's Manifestations | 84 |
| The Buddha's Sustaining Power | 90 |
| Ch. 5 | The Synchronic Dimension of the Buddha's Absence | 95 |
| The Dharma Body | 97 |
| The Eternal Buddha | 109 |
| Ch. 6 | Bhavaviveka's Theory of the Buddha | 114 |
| The Ultimate Buddha: A Negative Version of the Two-Body Theory | 115 |
| The Conventional Buddha: A Positive Version of the Two-Body Theory | 122 |
| The Three-Body Theory | 125 |
| Ch. 7 | Buddhahood and the Language of the Senses | 131 |
| Hsuan-tsang's Encounter with the Pirates | 131 |
| Bhavaviveka and the Philosopher's Eyes | 137 |
| Structural Similarities Between Different Kinds of Vision | 141 |
| The Ranking of the Different Senses | 147 |
| Translation: Bhavaviveka's Account of the Buddha in Chapter III of The Verses on the Essence of the Middle Way with the Commentary in The Flame of Reason | 153 |
| 1 | The Ultimate Buddha | 158 |
| 2 | The Bodhisattva Path | 172 |
| 3 | The Conventional Buddha | 189 |
| Notes | 197 |
| Bibliography | 242 |
| Index | 259 |
