This interactive visualization maps the historical development of Buddhist monastic lineages from their original unity to the surviving traditions that guide contemporary Buddhist communities worldwide.

Understanding the Network

This network diagram reveals the complex evolutionary tree of Buddhist monastic traditions from their unified origins to the present day. Beginning with Pre-sectarian Buddhism, the sangha experienced its foundational split into the Mahāsāṃghika (Great Assembly) and Sthavira (Elder) schools, each developing distinctive approaches to Vinaya interpretation and Buddhist doctrine. The Mahāsāṃghika branch proliferated into various sub-schools including the doctrinally innovative Lokottaravāda, while the Sthavira lineage diversified into three major streams: the Pudgalavāda (emphasizing personal continuity), Sarvāstivāda (asserting universal existence of phenomena), and Vibhajyavāda (the analytical discriminators). Remarkably, the diagram illustrates that only three Vinaya lineages survive as living monastic traditions today: Mūlasarvāstivāda (preserved in Tibetan Buddhism with the most extensive textual corpus), Dharmaguptaka (maintained throughout East Asian Buddhist countries), and Theravāda (continuing in Sri Lankan and Southeast Asian communities). The red dashed connections reveal crucial historical cross-pollinations - notably the absorption of migrant [Mahīśāsaka] monks into Sri Lankan Theravāda communities¹, and the disputed origins of Kāśyapīya, which different sources trace to either Sarvāstivāda² or Vibhajyavāda roots³. These cross-lineage connections demonstrate that Buddhist institutional development was not isolated but involved dynamic interactions, migrations, and integrations that shaped the living traditions we inherit today, each preserving unique aspects of the Buddha’s original monastic discipline across different cultural and geographical contexts.