 In the Gateway to Learning (D. Jackson 1987 and Gold 2007), Sapaṇ made his case for the importance of scholastic learning for Tibetans, and provided a clear program of study so that anyone with sufficient diligence could attain the expertise necessary to be a defender of the dharma like himself.  The work is a rare example of a medieval treatise on the goals and means of education, and it is articulated with philosophical precision from a Buddhist perspective and with a remarkable awareness of the social- and historical-locatedness of Tibet of Sapaṇ’s time. The Gateway is divided into three chapters, each dedicated to a category of scholarly learning: composition, exposition, and debate. Over the course of these chapters, Sapaṇ provides introductory sketches of and occasional excurses into the topics that, in his view, make up the model of Indian paṇḍityam and the most important practices of scholarship. The work draws upon the Vyākhyāyukti of Vasubandhu in the first two chapters and the Vādanyāya of Dharmakīrti in the debate chapter, and roughly follows an outline from the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra, but it is unique in its scope, its Buddhist philosophical bent, and its selection of topics precisely targeted to the needs of Tibetans.