[Buddha-l] Buddhist Saints in India

[Leigh Goldstein]

Regarding Reginald Ray's _Buddhist Saints in India: A Study in Buddhist Values and Orientations_.

Is there any scholarly consensus or schools of thought on the validity of his thesis, which as I understood it is that the Mahayana form is not a later development but possibly represents a tradition that was prior to the monastic one expressed in the Pali suttas?

What is thought of the degree to which monastic institutions and rules post-date the Buddha rather than being the original form of Buddhist practice, and the status of forest saints or practitioners during Buddha's lifetime?

Have refutations of his arguments been published?