“The great Bengali master Atisa, esteemed for his role in restoring the Dharma to Tibet in the eleventh century, has long been a figure more revered than read. This problem is eloquently solved with James Apple’s study, which contains translations of works by Atisa and his followers that had been long forgotten. This single volume reshapes our understanding of the origins of Madhyamaka in Tibet.”

– Donald S. Lopez Jr., Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies, University of Michigan

“In recent years, James B. Apple has established himself as one of the leading scholars of the contributions made by Atisa (d. 1054) and the older Kadampa thinkers to Madhyamaka philosophies and theories of liberation. Apple's scholarship is marked by careful translations and analyses of the relatively little known and only recently published Tibetan works on which he has focused his attention over the last decade. Consisting in part of a revision of his own previously published work, the present volume is a highly welcome addition to the field and adds much to our understanding of the way in which Indian Madhyamaka philosophy and soteriology was introduced in the Tibetan world and how it was received and developed in certain intellectual circles. Jewels of the Middle Way is an excellent introduction to an important phase of Tibetan Buddhist intellectual and religious history.”

– Leonard W.J. van der Kuijp, Harvard University