A complete translation of Asanga's classic work on the distinguishing qualities of bodhisattvas that describes how to awaken, develop, and perfect the mind of enlightenment in the Great Vehicle, or Mahayana, Buddhist tradition.


Arya Asanga, famous for having been the conduit through which the teachings contained in the Five Texts of Maitreya were received and recorded, is also considered to be the author in his own right of several other foundational works of Yogācāra philosophy. One of these, considered the definitive text of the Yogācāra school of Buddhism, is the encyclopedic synthesis of Mahayana Buddhist doctrines and practices known as the Yogācārabhūmi, or "Stages of Spiritual Practice." The Bodhisattvabhūmi, or "Stages of the Bodhisattva Path," is one portion of that massive work, though it is considered a stand-alone text in the Tibetan traditions--for example, it is counted among the six core texts of the Kadampas. However, despite the text's centrality to the Yogācāra school and its seminal importance in the Tibetan traditions, it has remained unavailable in English except in piecemeal translations; Engle's translation will therefore be especially welcomed by scholars and students alike.

ASANGA was a fourth-century Indian adept and philosopher, author of the foundational works of the Yogācāra school of Buddhist philosophy. ARTEMUS B. ENGLE received a PhD in Buddhist studies from the University of Wisconsin and has studied Tibetan Buddhism for more than forty years. He teaches Tibetan language and Buddhist doctrine at the Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Center in Howell, New Jersey, and has published numerous translations of works by Indian and Tibetan masters. He has been a Tsadra Foundation Fellow since 2005.