List of converts to Buddhism

Notable people who converted to Buddhism

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

## From Abrahamic religions[edit]

### From Christianity[edit]

Main article: List of converts to Buddhism from Christianity

### From Islam[edit]

Main article: List of converts to Buddhism 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.
* Napapa Tantrakul (1986–), Thai actress who was raised as Muslim and converted to Buddhism in 2016[1]
* Tillakaratne Dilshan (1976–), Sri Lankan cricket player who converted from Islam to Buddhism at the age of 16, previously known as Tuwan Muhammad Dilshan[2]
* Tillakaratne Sampath (1982–), Sri Lankan cricket player who was previously known as Tuwan Mohammad Nishan Sampath
* Suraj Randiv (1985–), Sri Lankan cricket player who was previously known as Mohamed Marshuk Mohamed Suraj
* Pai Hsien-yung (1937–), son of KMT Muslim General Bai Chongxi, a Chinese American writer of Hui descent[3]
* Wong Ah Kiu (1918–2006), Malay woman born to a Muslim family but raised as Buddhist; her conversion from Islam became a legal issue in Malaysia on her death[4]

### From Judaism[edit]

* Nyanaponika Mahathera (1901–1994), German-born Theravada monk, co-founder and first president of the Buddhist Publication Society[5]
* Bhikkhu Bodhi (1944–), American Theravada Buddhist monk and scholar, founder of the Buddhist Global Relief[5]
* Ayya Khema (1923–1997), German Buddhist teacher and one of the organizers for the first International Conference on Buddhist Women[6]
* Larry Rosenberg (1932–), American Buddhist teacher who founded the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center[7]
* Peter Coyote (1941–), American actor and author[8]
* Surya Das (1950–), lama who founded Dzogchen Foundation and Centers[9][10]
* Tetsugen Bernard Glassman (1939–2018), American Zen Buddhist roshi and co-founder of the Zen Peacemakers[11]
* Zoketsu Norman Fischer (1946–), American poet, writer, and Soto Zen priest and founded the Everyday Zen Foundation[12]
* Zenkei Blanche Hartman (1926–2016), Soto Zen teacher practicing in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki.
* Kittisaro, disciple of Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Sumedho; meditation teacher in the Thai Forest Tradition
* Hozan Alan Senauke (1947–), Soto Zen priest, folk musician and poet.
* Jack Kornfield (1945–), teacher in the Vipassana Movement of American Theravada Buddhism[11]
* Sharon Salzberg (1952–), meditation teacher and co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society[11]
* Goldie Jeanne Hawn (1945–), American actress, producer, dancer, and singer.[13]
* 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[14]

## From Indian religions[edit]

### From Hinduism[edit]

Main article: List of converts to Buddhism from Hinduism

* B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956), Chief architect of the Constitution of India[15]
* Jagdish Kashyap (1908–1976), Buddhist monk[16]
* Bhadant Anand Kausalyayan, Buddhist monk, writer, and scholar[17]
* Balachandran Chullikkadu (1957–), Malayalam language poet from Kerala[18]
* Hansika Motwani, indian actress.[19]
* Rahul Sankrityayan (1893–1963), Hindi author and translator[16]
* Iyothee Thass (1845–1914), Siddha practitioner and leader of the Dravidian movement[20]
* Laxman Mane (1949–), Dalit author and social worker[21]
* Swami Prasad Maurya, politician[22]
* Udit Raj (1958–), prominent Indian social activist and Buddhist polemicist[23]
* Lenin Raghuvanshi (1970–), activist, one of the founding members of People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR)[24]
* Suresh Bhat (1932–2003), Indian poet and writer[25]
* Pracheen Chauhan, Indian television actor[26]
* Tisca Chopra (1973–), Indian actress, author and film producer[27]
* Vinay Jain, Indian television actor[28]
* Poonam Joshi (1980–), Indian television soap opera actress[29]
* Shibani Kashyap, Indian singer[30][31]

## From other or undetermined[edit]

Richard Gere converted to Buddhism.

* Sister Uppalavannā (Else Buchholtz) (1886–1982), German Theravādin Buddhist nun, first European Buddhist nun in modern history[32]
* 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[33]
* Paul Dahlke (1865–1928), German physician and a pioneer of Buddhism in Germany, founder of “Das Buddhistische Haus”[34]
* Sīlācāra (John Frederick S. McKechnie) (1871–1951), former Buddhist monk, lay Buddhist writer and translator
* Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu (Osbert John S. Moore) (1905–1960), British Theravādin Buddhist monk and translator of Pali literature[35]
* Ñāṇavīra Thera (Harold Edward Musson) (1920–1965), British Theravādin Buddhist monk, the author of Notes on Dhamma[36]
* Sāmanera Bodhesako (Robert Smith) (1939–1988), American Theravādin Buddhist monk who founded Path Press
* Robert Baker Aitken (1917–2010), co-founded the Honolulu Diamond Sangha[37][38]
* Reb Anderson (1943–), Zen teacher [39]
* Alistair Appleton (1970–), British television presenter[40][41][42]
* Stephen Batchelor (1953–), writer[43]
* William Sturgis Bigelow (1850–1926), prominent American collector of Japanese art and converted to Tendai Buddhism[44]
* Orlando Bloom (1977–), actor who played Legolas in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit[45][46]
* Kate Bosworth (1983–), American actress[47]
* John Cage (1912–1992), American composer[48]
* Arabella Churchill (1949–2007), English charity founder, festival co-founder, and fundraiser[49]
* Chester Carlson (1906–1968), American physicist and inventor, best known for inventing electrophotography[50]
* Leonard Cohen (1934–2016), Canadian singer/songwriter/poet[51]
* John Crook (1930–2011), British ethologist[52]
* Ruth Denison (1922–2015), Vipassana Meditation teacher in United States, one of four Westerners to receive permission to teach from Sayagyi U Ba Khin[53]
* Chris Evans (1981–), American actor and best known for his role as Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) series of films.[54][55]
* Ernest Fenollosa (1853–1908), American professor of philosophy and political economy at Tokyo Imperial University[56]
* Richard Gere (1949–), actor and activist for Tibetan causes[47]
* Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997), poet[57]
* Natalie Goldberg (1948–), writer [58]
* Herbie Hancock (1940–), jazz pianist who has also released funk and disco albums[47]
* Joseph Jarman (1937–), jazz musician and Jodo Shinshu priest[59][60]
* Miranda Kerr (1983–), model[61]
* k.d. lang (1961–), Canadian singer[62]
* Jet Li (1963–), actor[63]
* Courtney Love, American singer-songwriter[64]
* Menander I (died c. 130 BCE), Greco-Buddhist king (from pre-Christian Hellenistic religion)[65]
* Dennis Genpo Merzel (1944–), abbot of Kanzeon Zen Center[66][67]
* Alanis Morissette, Canadian-American singer [68]
* Ole Nydahl (1941–), lama teacher [69]
* Tenzin Palmo (1943–), nun of Drukpa Kagyu lineage[70]
* Li Gotami Govinda (Ratti Petit) (1906–1988), Indian painter, photographer, writer and composer (from Zoroastrianism)[71]
* Zeena Schreck (formerly LaVey) (1963–), 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.[72][73]
* Oliver Stone (1946–), American film director[74]
* Sharon Stone (1958–), American actress, producer, and former fashion model[75]
* Tan-luan (6th to 7th century), Chinese Buddhist monk important to Pure Land Buddhism (from Taoism)[76]
* Thích Thanh Từ (1924–), Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk (from Caodaism)[77]
* Robert Thurman (1941–), Buddhist priest and writer who has been called "the Billy Graham of Buddhism"[78]
* Tina Turner (1939–2023), American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress who has won eight Grammy Awards[51]
* Philip Whalen (1923–2002), Beat generation poet and Zen monk[79]
* Sister Vajirā (Hannelore Wolf) (1928–1991), German Buddhist convert and former Ten-Precept nun
* Adam Yauch (1964–2012), aka MCA, American rapper (member of Beastie Boys), songwriter, film director, and human rights activist[80]

## See also[edit]

* 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

## References[edit]

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