Question about Early Buddhist history...

ecdrewello1

I'm trying to create a chart that shows the development of the early (20 schools) of Buddhism and how that developed into Mahayana/Theravada. I have found several sources with really good info on the very early parts of Buddhism up until about the third council, but then it seems like there's this gap that doesn’t pick up until Yogacara, and then mentions of Nagarjuna and then tangenting off into the development of Tibetan Buddhism. I'm assuming that Yogacara came out of the Mahasanghikas, but I don't know if it's a direct split from that group or if it grew out of a different sub school of Masanghikas. I know that it was a reaction to the overly academic monastic schools of its time, but that doesn’t help me place it in a lineage chart.

Does anyone have books they recommend on the subject? I've flipped through come of Edward Conze's early stuff, and the Christian terminology turned me off. I also read a few chapters in Oriental Philosophies by Koller (I ordered the updated version) and I'm currently working with a book called The Foundations of Buddhism by Gethin. Internet sources that already have this sort of thing done would be great too, mostly I can find schools that trace their thought to Yogacara but are vauge about it's origins. It might be a little nit-picky, but I just really want to know the "why" behind the split in sects and how they all interacted.

lobster

A lot of Buddhist Scholars hang out here
http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l

. . . they should be able to help/advise you

Takuan

There is a commentary on the Diamond Sutra by Soeng that goes into great detail about the schisms in early buddhism. There's also a book called "Nagarjuna and the Philosophy of Openess" which goes into the origins of the Mahayana interpretation of sunyata through the writings of Nagarjuna. About half of the book deals with early Indian Buddhism.

As far as Yogacara goes, it was founded as a direct opponent to Madhyamika, though some say that it's merely an off shoot of Madhyamika. There's a book called "Buddhist Philosophies", which briefly describes both schools of thought.

Oh and there's also a book called "Madhyamika and Yogacara: A Study of Mahayana Philosophies" by Nagao. I've yet to read it, but it's on my list!