This valuable book provides an excellent overview of the connections between bodhisattva monks who lived in the forest and a clearly discernible current of early Mahāyāna. It is a fully updated work on the Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchā-sūtra, an important primary source for insights into Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism of the early and middle phases. In the introduction, the author reframes the discussion on the origins of Mahāyāna that has been taking place in the last few decades, concluding that Mahāyāna probably became a Pan-Indian phenomenon in a short period of time. (from review by Elsa Legittimo, 2009)