Genealogies of Mah¿y¿na Buddhism offers a solution to the monumental problem that some have called the "holy grail" of Buddhist studies: the problem of the "origins" of Mah¿y¿na Buddhism. As much as it contributes to a theory of origins for religious studies and Buddhist Studies, the book argues that that it is the neglect of political power in the scholarly imagination of Buddhism in history that has made the origins of Mah¿y¿na an intractable problem. Walser challenges commonly-held assumptions, offering a fascinating new take on the genealogy of Mah¿y¿na that traces its doctrines of emptiness and mind-only from the present day back to the time before Mah¿y¿na was "Mah¿y¿na."