List of converts to Buddhism

The following people are all converts to Buddhism, sorted alphabetically by family name.

From Abrahamic religions

From Christianity

From Islam

• Princess Mother Sri Sulalai (1770–1837), the consort of Phra Phutthaloetla Naphalai, Rama II of Siam and was the mother of Nangklao, Rama III.
• The Bunnag family, powerful noble family of Mon-Persian descent of the early Rattanakosin Kingdom of Siam, the descendants of Sheikh Ahmad who converted to Buddhism.
• Wong Ah Kiu (1918–2006), Malaysian woman born to a Muslim family but raised as Buddhist; her conversion from Islam became a legal issue in Malaysia on her death[1]
• Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sri Lankan cricket player who converted from Islam to Buddhism at the age of 16, previously known as Tuwan Muhammad Dilshan[2]
• Kenneth Pai, son of KMT Muslim General Bai Chongxi, a Chinese American writer of Hui descent[3]

From Judaism

• Nyanaponika Mahathera (1901–1994), German-born Theravada monk, co-founder and first president of the Buddhist Publication Society[4]
• Bhikkhu Bodhi (1944–), American Theravada Buddhist monk and scholar, founder of the Buddhist Global Relief[4]
• Ayya Khema (1923–1997), German Buddhist teacher and one of the organizers for the first International Conference on Buddhist Women[5]
• Larry Rosenberg (1932–), American Buddhist teacher who founded the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center[6]
• Peter Coyote (1941–), American actor and author[7]
• Surya Das (1950–), lama who founded Dzogchen Foundation and Centers[8][9]
• Tetsugen Bernard Glassman (1939–2018), American Zen Buddhist roshi and co-founder of the Zen Peacemakers[10]
• Zoketsu Norman Fischer (1946-), American poet, writer, and Soto Zen priest and founded the Everyday Zen Foundation[11]
• Zenkei Blanche Hartman (1926–2016), Soto Zen teacher practicing in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki.
• Hozan Alan Senauke (1947-), is a Soto Zen priest, folk musician and poet.
• Jack Kornfield (1945–), teacher in the Vipassana Movement of American Theravada Buddhism[10]
• Sharon Salzberg (1952–), meditation teacher and co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society[10]
• Goldie Jeanne Hawn (1945–), American actress, producer, dancer, and singer.[12]
• Steven Seagal (1952–), American actor, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and musician who holds American, Serbian, and Russian citizenship.
• Robert Downey Jr. (1965–), American actor and producer[13]

From Indian religions

From Hinduism

• Ashoka, Emperor of Maurya Empire, India's largest empire[14] [15]
• Aśvaghoṣa (80?–150 CE?), Indian Buddhist figure, philosopher- poet[16]
• B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956), The Founding Father of Republic of India, converted from Hinduism[17]
• Jagdish Kashyap (1908–1976), Buddhist monk[18]
• Bhadant Anand Kausalyayan, Buddhist monk, writer, and scholar[19]
• Balachandran Chullikkadu (born 1957), Malayalam language poet from Kerala[20]
• Rahul Sankrityayan (1893–1963), Hindi author and translator[18]
• Iyothee Thass (1845–1914), Siddha practitioner and leader of the Dravidian movement[21]
• Lalai Singh Yadav (1921–1993), social justice activist and play writer. He translated Periyar E. V. Ramasamy's The Key To Understanding True Ramayan from Tamil to Hindi as Sachi Ramayan Ki Chabi[22]
• Laxman Mane (1949–), Dalit author and social worker[23]
• Rupa Kulkarni-Bodhi, social activist[24]
• Swami Prasad Maurya, politician[25]
• Udit Raj (1958–), prominent Indian social activist and Buddhist polemicist[26]
• Lenin Raghuvanshi (1970–), activist, one of the founding members of People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR)[27]
• S. N. Goenka (1924–2013), One of the foremost lay teacher in Vipassanā Meditation, played an important role in establishing Vipassanā meditation centers globally, was raised in a staunch conservative Hindu family in Burma. [28] [29]
• Suresh Bhat (1932–2003), Indian poet and writer[30]
• Kabir Bedi (1946–), Indian film actor[31]

• Pracheen Chauhan, Indian television actor[32]
• Tisca Chopra (1973–), Indian actress, author and film producer[33]

• Barkha Madan, former Indian model, film actress, ordained a Buddhist nun and changed her name to Ven Gyalten Samten[34]
• Vinay Jain, Indian television actor[35]
• Poonam Joshi (1980–), Indian television soap opera actress[36]
• Shibani Kashyap, India singer[37][38]
• Sweta Keswani (1980–), Indian actress, dancer and model[36]
• Manav Gohil, Indian television actor[39]

From other or undetermined

Richard Gere converted to Buddhism.

• U Dhammaloka (Laurence Carroll) (1856–1914) Irish-born migrant worker turned Theravādin Buddhist monk and an active role in the Asian Buddhist revival around the turn of the twentieth century[40]
• Sīlācāra (John Frederick S. McKechnie) (1871–1951), former Buddhist monk, lay Buddhist writer and translator
• Paul Dahlke (1865–1928), German physician and a pioneer of Buddhism in Germany, founder of “Das Buddhistische Haus”[41]
• Sister Uppalavannā (Else Buchholtz) (1886–1982), German Theravādin Buddhist nun, first European Buddhist nun in modern history[42]
• Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu (Osbert John S. Moore) (1905–1960), British Theravādin Buddhist monk and translator of Pali literature[43]
• Ñāṇavīra Thera (Harold Edward Musson) (1920–1965), British Theravādin Buddhist monk, the author of Notes on Dhamma[44]
• Sister Vajirā (Hannelore Wolf) (1928–1991) German Buddhist convert and former Ten-Precept nun
• Sāmanera Bodhesako (Robert Smith) (1939–1988), American Theravādin Buddhist monk who founded Path Press
• Li Gotami Govinda (Ratti Petit) (1906–1988), Indian painter, photographer, writer and composer (from Zoroastrianism)[45]
• Robert Baker Aitken (1917–2010), co-founded the Honolulu Diamond Sangha[46][47]
• Ruth Denison (1922–2015), Vipassana Meditation teacher in United States, one of four Westerners to receive permission to teach from Sayagyi U Ba Khin[48]
• Reb Anderson (1943–), Zen teacher [49]
• Chester Carlson (1906–1968), American physicist and inventor, best known for inventing electrophotography[50]
• Alistair Appleton (1970–), British television presenter[51][52][53]
• Stephen Batchelor (1953–), writer[54]
• Orlando Bloom (January 13, 1977–), actor who played Legolas in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit[55][56]
• Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu (Noah Herschell Greenspoon) (1979–), Canadian Theravādin Buddhist monk[57]
• Kate Bosworth (1983–), American actress[58]
• John Cage (1912–1992), American composer[59]
• Arabella Churchill (1949–2007), English charity founder, festival co-founder, and fundraiser[60]
• Leonard Cohen (1934–2016), Canadian singer/songwriter/poet[61]
• John Crook (1930–2011), British ethologist[62]
• Ernest Fenollosa (1853–1908), American professor of philosophy and political economy at Tokyo Imperial University[63]
• Richard Gere (1949–), actor and activist for Tibetan causes[58]
• Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997), poet[64]
• Khantipalo (1932-), Western Buddhist teacher and former Buddhist monk
• Natalie Goldberg (1948–), writer [65]
• Herbie Hancock (1940–), jazz pianist who has also released funk and disco albums[58]
• Joseph Jarman (1937–), jazz musician and Jodo Shinshu priest[66][67]
• Miranda Kerr (1983–), model[68]
• k.d. lang (1961–), Canadian singer[69]
• Jet Li (1963–), actor[70]
• Courtney Love, American singer-songwriter[71]
• Menander I (died c. 130 BCE), Greco-Buddhist king (from pre-Christian Hellenistic religion)[72]
• Dennis Genpo Merzel (1944–), abbot of Kanzeon Zen Center[73][74]
• Alanis Morissette, Canadian singer-songwriter
• Ole Nydahl (1941–), lama teacher [75]
• Tenzin Palmo (1943–), nun of Drukpa Kagyu lineage[76]
• Zeena Schreck (formerly LeVey) (1963–), a Berlin-based American visual and musical artist, author, the spiritual leader of the Sethian Liberation Movement (SLM), Tantric Tibetan Buddhist yogini and second daughter of the late Church of Satan's founder Anton LaVey.[77][78]
• Oliver Stone (1946–), American film director[79]
• Sharon Stone (1958–), American actress, producer, and former fashion model[80]
• Tan-luan (6th to 7th century), Chinese Buddhist monk important to Pure Land Buddhism (from Taoism)[81]
• Robert Thurman (1941–), Buddhist priest and writer who has been called "the Billy Graham of Buddhism"[82]
• Tina Turner (1939–), American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress who has won eight Grammy Awards[61]
• Philip Whalen (1923–2002), Beat generation poet and Zen monk[83]
• Adam Yauch (1964–2012), aka MCA, American rapper (member of Beastie Boys), songwriter, film director, and human rights activist[84]

See also

• List of Buddhists
• Dalit Buddhist Movement
• List of converts to Buddhism from Christianity
• List of converts to Buddhism from Hinduism
• List of converts to Buddhism from Islam
• Jewish Buddhists
• Index of Buddhism-related articles

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