"The point of this book is not necessarily to make you into a great scholar, or great meditator for that matter. It is to provide an understanding of Buddhist geography. By providing you with the map that Buddha laid out, and that developed throughout the tradition, you will have a complete gift-a package deal, so to speak-in understanding what Buddhism means, what it teaches, and how it applies to you personally and intellectually. It is important to have some understanding of the geography of Buddhism, and how Buddhism becomes an important part of your life and scholarship. If you try to collect highlights alone, there is a strong possibility you might misunderstand or distort things in your own practice"--