This is a list of notable converts to Buddhism from Christianity.
Name | Former denomination | Nationality | Notes | Refs. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nyanatiloka Mahathera (Anton Walther Florus Gueth) | Catholic Church | German | one of the earliest western Buddhist monks and founder of Island Hermitage | [1] |
Anthony Lee | Baptist | American | actor and activist | [2] |
Ananda Metteya (Charles Henry Allan Bennett) | Catholic Church | British | one of the earliest western Buddhist monk and established the first Buddhist Mission in the United Kingdom | [3] |
Chris Evans | Catholic Church | American | actor and producer | [4][5] |
Thomas William Rhys Davids | Congregationalism | British | scholar of the Pāli language and founder of Pali Text Society | [6] |
Colonel Henry Steel Olcott | Presbyterianism | American | military officer, lawyer and first well-known American to make a formal conversion to Buddhism | [7] |
Lokanatha (Salvatore Cioffi) | Catholic Church | Italian | Theravadin Buddhist missionary monk | [8] |
Roberto Baggio | Catholic Church | Italian | footballer | [9][10] |
Kotahene Soma Maha Thera | Catholic Church | Sri Lankan | Theravadin Buddhist monk, translator and missionary | [11] |
Aliana Lohan | Catholic Church | American | actress, singer and fashion model | [12][13][14][15][16] |
Alanis Morissette | Catholic Church | American | singer, songwriter and musician | [17] |
Solomon Bandaranaike | Anglicanism | Sri Lankan | former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and founder of Sri Lanka Freedom Party | [18] |
Dewi Lestari | Catholic Church | Indonesian | writer, singer, and songwriter | [19] |
Prince Esper Esperovich Ukhtomsky | Russian Orthodox Church | Russian | poet, publisher and Oriental enthusiast | [20] |
Helena Blavatsky | Russian Orthodox Church | Russian | philosopher, occultist, founder of the Theosophical Society | [21] |
Richard Tiffany Gere | Methodism | American | Famous actor and producer, co-founder of Tibet House US | [22] |
Jimmy Barnes | Protestantism | Australian | Singer and rapper | [23] |
Orlando Bloom | Church of England | English | Famous actor and leading man in Hollywood films | [24][25] |
Ajahn Sumedho (Robert Karr Jackman) | Episcopal Church (United States) | American | the one who introduced Thai Forest Tradition to the West and most senior western disciple of Ajahn Chah | [26] |
Ajahn Viradhammo (Vitauts Akers) | Lutheranism | Canadian | senior western disciple of Ajahn Chah, founder & abbot of Tisarana Buddhist Monastery | [27] |
Ajahn Brahm | Not specific | English | senior western disciple of Ajahn Chah and abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery | [28] |
Ajahn Candasiri | Not specific | Scottish | Theravada Buddhist nun of Thai Forest Tradition and one of the senior monastics in western Buddhist circle | [29][30] |
Ayya Nirodha (Elizabeth Gorski) | Catholic Church | Austrian, later Australian | Theravada Buddhist nun of Thai Forest Tradition, former Abbess of Santi Forest Monastery | [31] |
Tara Brach | Unitarianism | American | psychologist and founder of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, D.C. (IMCW) | [32] |
Belinda Carlisle | Southern Baptist Convention | American | singer (the Go-Go's), songwriter | [33][34] |
Houn Jiyu-Kennett | Church of England | English | Soto Zen rōshi and founder of Shasta Abbey | [35] |
John Daido Loori | Catholic Church | American | Zen Buddhist rōshi, abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery | [36] |
Ananda Claude Dalenberg | Dutch Reformed Church | American | Zen priest ordained by Shunryū Suzuki | [37] |
Michael D. ("Mugaku") Zimmerman | Episcopal Church (United States) | American | prominent attorney and former justice of the Utah Supreme Court | [38] |
William Oliver Stone | Episcopal Church (United States) | American | film director, producer, and screenwriter | [39] |
Pema Chödrön | Catholic Church | American | Tibetan Buddhist nun | [40] |
Fabian Fucan | Catholic Church (Society of Jesus) | Japanese | writer of tracts, at first supporting Christianity and then criticizing it | [41] |
Ko Ye Lwin | Not specific | Burmese | prominent musician, guitarist and peace activist | [42] |
Alfred Bloom | Evangelicalism | American | professor and dean of the Institute of Buddhist Studies | [43] |
Seungsahn Haengwon | Presbyterianism | Korean | Seon master and the founder of Kwan Um School of Zen | [44] |
Junius Richard Jayewardene | Not specific | Sri Lankan | first President of Sri Lanka and former Prime minister | [45] |
Steve Jobs | Lutheranism | American | co-founder of Apple Computer, Inc. | [46][47] |
Charles R. Johnson | African Methodist Episcopal Church | American | political cartoonist, novelist and Buddhist writer | [48] |
Dewi Lestari | Pentecostalism | Indonesian | singer and writer | [49][50] |
Tsai Chih Chung | Catholic Church | Taiwanese | famous cartoonist, well-known in both Taiwan and mainland China | [51] |
Leung Man-tao | Catholic Church | Chinese | writer, critic and host | [52] |
Christine Rankin | Catholic Church | New Zealander | politician and former civil servant who served as head of the Ministry of Social Development | [53] |
Seta Manoukian | Armenian Apostolic Church | Armenian | Armenian painter | [54] |
Tina Turner | Baptist | Swiss | singer and actress | [55] |
Herman Vetterling | Swedenborgianism | American | mystic but he retained elements of Swedenborg thought after his conversion | [56][57] |
Michael Imperioli | Catholicism | American | actor, writer, director, and musician. | [58][59] |
Sam Lao | Church of the East | Chinese | Rishi, Dalit Buddhist and New Age Scientist. | [60][61] |
See also
editReferences
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'Ironic' singer Alanis Morissette has been practicing Buddhism many years.
- ^ Melkonian, Neery. "Lebanon in the Armenian Imaginary: So Close with a Distance". Seismopolite: Journal of Art and Politics. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
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