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RE: The Early Schools of Indian Buddhism
This post was full of things that are new to me and some that I have no idea about ( I seriously need to sit down and start learning).
But I came across something really interesting. I never knew that Mahasamghika was the forerunner of Mahayana branch. Maybe you mentioned it before and I missed it or I forget but this fact seems really important. Given the fact that Mahayana is the largest existing tradition of our times (more than half, if internet is right).
I actually thought that Mahayana tradition existed since the times before Samrat Ashoka. Thanks for sharing all this information and of course thanks to your husband as well!
@hashcash, this is controversial because Theravada says they are the oldest surviving school. However, as more archeological discoveries are translated, it seems Mahayana like schools pre-existed the school called Theravada. Many canons have been lost forever so we may never know what the original teachings contained for each school. One point that can't be argued the sutta's in the Theravada Pali Canon, the Chinese Agamas, and Tibetan Canons are almost identical. That in itself is remarkable.