Introduction
0. 1. The Purpose of the Study, and the Significance of the Lankavatara-sutra within Buddhist Doctrinal History
0. 2. Dating the Text: Problems of Form and Interpretation
0. 3. Methodology and Outline of the Study
Part One: Concepts of Being
1. 0. The Nature of Buddhist Ontology
General considerations • The practical aim of the Yogacara Philosophy
1. 1. The Threefold Meaning of Tathagata-garbha and its Relation to Alaya-vijnana : the Essence of Being
Preliminary considerations • Tathagata-garbha as essential, supramundane, pure dharma, and its contrast with the Hindu Atman • Tathagata-garbha as embryo, and the dynamics of Buddhahood • Tathagata-garbha as womb or matrix of Buddhahood • Conclusion
1. 2. The Five Skandhas: the Temporal Manifestation of Being
Introduction • Brief overview of the Atman controversy prior to the Lankavatara-sutra • Rupa, or the formative elements of the five Skandhas • Nama, or the formless elements of the five Skandhas • The Skandhas and the empirical self, or personality • The Skandhas and the trans-empirical Self, the Tathagata • The five Skandhas and the denial of metaphysical dualities • Concluding remarks on the notion of Self and its varieties
1. 3. Dharmadhatu : the Spatial or Cosmic Dimension of Being
Introductory remarks • Dharmadhatu as cosmic Law: the fundamental structure of the universe • Dharmadhatu as universal Void: the ground of Being • Concluding observations

Part Two: Concepts of Knowing
2. 0. Buddhist Epistemology, Buddhist Dialectics
Truth, untruth, half-truth, "the truth" • The tetralemma logic: a thousand years of Buddhist dialectics • The early use of the tetralemma in the Pali canon • Rationality and irrationality in Nagarjuna's relativistic logic • Epistemology in the Lankavatara-sutra : a radical critique of language, logic, and knowledge • Conclusions and preview of part two
2. 1. The Epistemological Reduction of the Citta-matra (Mind-only) Doctrine
Preliminary considerations • Citta as the empirical mind Citta as the transcendental Mind • Citta-matra as explanation for the triple world (Tribhava) • Concluding words and the connection between Lankavatara and Zen
2. 2. From Mind to No-mind: the Transcendental Leap beyond Empirical Cognition
Introduction • The five Dharmas or epistemic categories • The three Svabhavas or modes of cognition • The attainment of Aryajnana : transcendental Wisdom or Gnosis • Concluding remarks
2. 3. The Conjunctive System of the Eight Vijnanas : the Integration of Both Mind and No-mind States of Consciousness
Introductory remarks • Jnana and Vijnana : abstract intuition versus concrete knowledge • Khyati- and Vastuprativikalpa-vijnana : the perceptual and the object-discriminating knowledge • The inner revolution (Paravrtti ): the return to the tranquil state of pure consciousness (Alaya-vijnana ) • Conclusion
2. 4. The Disjunctive Theory of Causation: Things are Neither this, Nor that, for They Are All Subject to Causes and Conditions (Hetu-pratyaya)
Introduction • The expansion of the relevance of causation: from the psychological to the cosmic-philosophical principle • Causation as a possible theoretical basis for a monistic view of the world • Causation as a teaching device • Excursus: highlighting Nagarjuna's thought in respect to causation • The soteriological value of the theory of causation • Concluding observations

3. 0. Final Overview
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index