Home > List of Buddhists

A number of noted individuals have been Buddhists.

1 Historical Buddhist thinkers and founders of schools

• the Buddha
• Ananda, Siddhartha's cousin and one of his chief disciples
• An Shih Kao, a Parthian monk and the first known Buddhist missionary to China, in 148 CE.
• Asanga
• Atisha (indirect founder of the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism)
• Bodhidharma (legendary first patriarch of Zen in China)
• Buddhaghosa ( Theravadin commentator)
• Chandrakirti
• Dharmakirti
• DharmaraksaDharmaraksa was one of the greatest translators of Mahayana Buddhist scriptures into Chinese. Of Yueh-Chih origin, his family lived at Dunhuang, where he was born around 230 CE. Dharmaraksa came to the Chinese capital of Loyang in 266 CE, where he made th, a Yueh-Chih Buddhist monk, the first known translator of the Lotus SutraThe Lotus Sutra or Sutra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma (Sanskrit: Saddharmapundarika-sutra; Chinese: or Miaof Lianhu Jing Japanese Myoho Renge Kyo is one of the most popular and influential Mahyna sutras in East Asia and the basis on which the into Chinese.
• DharmaraksitaDharmaraksita ( Pali: Dhammarakkhita was one of the missionaries sent by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka to proselytize the Buddhist faith. He is described as being a Greek ( Pali: " Yona", lit. Ionian") in the Mahavamsa, and his activities are indicative of t, a Greek Buddhist missionary of Emperor AshokaThis article is about Ashoka, the emperor. For alternate usages: see Ashoka (disambiguation). Ashoka the Great (also Asoka Asoka pronounced as Ashok-uh, not Ashokaa; reigned 273 BC 232 BC) was the ruler of the Mauryan empire from 269 BC to 232 BC. A conve, and a teacher of NagasenaNgasena was a Buddhist sage who lived about 150 BCE. His answers to questions about Buddhism posed by Menander I ( Pali: Milinda), the Indo-Greek king of northwertern India, are recorded in the Milinda Panha''. The text mentions that Nagasena learned the.
• DogenDogen Zenji (; January 19, 1200 September 22, 1253) was a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher and founder of the Soto school of Zen in Japan. He was a leading religious figure and important philosopher. Zenji" is a title meaning zen master, and the name Dogen m Zenji (founder of Soto Zen, based upon the Chinese Caodong tradition)
• Eisai ( 12th century Japanese monk, travelled to China and returned to found the Japanese Rinzai sect of Zen)
• Fazang
• Fa Xian (translator and pilgrim)
• Gampopa Dagpo Lharje, a student of Jetsun Milarepa and founder of the Karma Kagyü lineage of Tibetan Buddhism
• Gihwa (1376-1433) Korean Seon monk; wrote commentaries on the Diamond Sutra and Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment
• Hakuin (Rinzai Zen)
• Huineng (6th Patriarch of Zen in China)
• Ingen ( 17th century Chinese Zen monk, founder of the Obaku sect of Zen)
• Jinul Korean Seon monk (1158-1210); founder of modern Korean gong'an meditation system
• Jnanagupta (translator)
• Jnanayasas (translator)
• Joshu ( 9th century Chinese Zen monk)
• Khandro Kalpa Zangmo
• Khungpo Nyaljor , founder of the Shangpa Kagyü lineage
• Kukai ( 9th century Japanese monk, founder of Shingon)
• Linji ( 9th century Japanese monk, founder of the Linji sect of Zen)
• Lokaksema, a Kushan monk, the first translator of Mahayana scriptures into Chinese, around 180 CE.
• Longchenpa
• Luipa
• Mahakashyapa, a disciple of the Buddha
• Mahadharmaraksita (A Greek Buddhist master during the time of Menander)
• Marpa Lotsawa (Marpa the Translator, Marpa of Lhobrag), a student of Naropa and first Tibetan founder in the Kagyü lineage of Tibetan Buddhism
• Menander (Pali: Milinda, 2nd century BCE, an Indo-Greek king of northwestern India, who questioned Ngasena about Buddhism in the Milinda Pañha)
• Jetsun Milarepa, a student of Marpa Lotsawa and one of Tibet's most famous yogis
• Nagarjuna (influential Buddhist philosopher)
• Ngasena ( 2nd century BCE Buddhist sage questioned about Buddhism by Milinda, the Greek king of Bactria in the Milinda Pañha)
• Nagpopa
• Naropa, Tilopa 's primary disciple, teacher of Marpa the Translator and Khungpo Nyaljor
• Nichiren (founder of Nichiren Buddhism)
• Nikko (founder of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism)
• Padmasambhava (semi-legendary founder of Nyingma school of Tibetan_Buddhism)
• Roben ( 8th century Japanese monk, invited Simsang to Japan and founded the Kegon tradition, based upon the Korean Hwaeom school)
• Ryokan ( 18th century Japanese Zen monk and poet)
• Saicho ( 9th century Japanese monk, founder of Tendai tradition, based upon the Chinese Tiantai school)
• Sariputta ( Pali. Shariputra Sanskrit. One of two chief disciples of the Buddha.)
• Shantideva (8th century Indian)
• Shinran
• Simsang ( 8th century Korean monk, who at the request of Roben helped transmit Hwaeom to Japan, thereby founding the Japanese Kegon tradition)
• Takuan Soho (Zen teacher, and, according to legend, mentor of the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi)
• Tilopa , recipient of four separate transmissions from Nagarjuna, Nagpopa , Luipa , and Khandro Kalpa Zangmo ; Naropa's teacher
• Tsongkhapa (14th century Tibetan monk, founder of the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism, based upon the Kadam tradition)
• Uisang ( 7th century Korean monk, founder of Hwaeom tradition, based upon the Chinese Huayan school)
• Vasubandhu
• Weonhyo (617-668) Korean monk; prolific commentator on Mahayana sutras
• Wonchuk
• Xuanzang (brought Yogacara to China to found Faxiang school, significant pilgrim, translator)
• Yi Jing (pilgrim and translator)
• Zhiyi (founder of Tiantai school)
• Zongmi (WG: Tsung-mi; fifth patriarch of Chinese Huayan school)