All forms of Buddhism--The Theravada, the Mahayana and the Vajrayana--affirm the
perfectability of the person, and one finds this notion of perfection embodied
in three images; the arahant, the bodhisattva and the mahasiddha. Reader also
finds, in scholarly treatments of Buddhism, much made of the perceived
differences among these three `vehicles` (yana). By close textual analysis as
well as by extensive field work, Katz criticizes this emphasis on difference and
prefers to treat Buddhism as a whole, a position he finds in accord with the
teachings of both Buddhists and Buddhist texts. By a close examination of these
three images of human perfection, bridges among the Theravada,