A number of noted individuals have been Buddhists.
Major Buddhist thinkers, historical figures and founders of schools
- the Buddha
- Ananda, Sakyamuni Buddha's brother and one of his chief disciples
- Asanga
- Ashoka the Great, Mauryan Emperor of Ancient India
- Atisha (founder of the Gelugpa school
of Tibetan Buddhism)
- Bodhidharma (legendary first patriarch of Zen in China)
- Buddhaghosa (Theravadin
commentator)
- Chandrakirti
- Dharmakirti
- Chih I (founder of Tien Tai
school)
- Dogen 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)
- Fa-Tsang
- 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 Ōbaku sect of Zen)
- Jinul Korean Seon monk (1158-1210); founder of
modern Korean gong'an meditation system
- Jetsun Milarepa, a student of
Marpa Lotsawa and one of Tibet's most famous
yogis
- 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)
- Luipa
- Longchenpa
- Mahakashyapa, a disciple of the Buddha
- Marpa Lotsawa (Marpa the Translator, Marpa
of Lhobrag), a student of Naropa and first Tibetan founder in the Kagyü lineage of
Tibetan Buddhism
- Milinda (2nd century
BCE Greek king of Bactria, questioned
Nāgasena about Buddhism in the Milinda Pañha)
- Nagarjuna (influential Buddhist philosopher)
- Nāgasena (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 Daishonin (founder of Nichiren Buddhism)
- Nikko (founder of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism)
- Padmasambhava (semi-legendary founder of Nyingma school of Tibetan_Buddhism)
- Rōben (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 Rōben helped transmit Hwaeom to Japan, thereby founding the Japanese Kegon tradition)
- Tilopa, recipient of four separate
transmissions from Nagarjuna, Nagpopa, Luipa, and Khandro Kalpa Zangmo;
Naropa's teacher
- Tsongkapa
- 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
- Yi Jing (pilgrim and translator)
- Xuanzang (brought Yogacara to
China to found Faxiang school, significant
pilgrim, translator)
Recent or contemporary figures
Zen teachers
- Robert Aitken,
Roshi (1917- )
- Tenshin Reb
Anderson
- Zentatsu
Richard Baker, Roshi
- Jan Chozen Bays
- Charlotte Joko
Beck
- John Crook (1930- )
- Zoketsu
Norman Fischer
- Tetsugen Bernard Glassman, Roshi
- Joan Halifax
- Daiun Harada, Roshi
(1871-1961)
- Sandra Jishu
Holmes
- the Ven. Hsu Yun (1840-1959)
- Phillip Kapleau, Roshi
(1912-2004)
- Dainin Katagiri
- Jiyu Kennett, Roshi
(1924-1996)
- Geri Larkin
- John Daido Loori,
Roshi
- Taizan Maezumi,
Roshi
- Kyozan Joshu
Sasaki, Roshi (1907- )
- Seung Sahn, Soen Sa (1927- )
- the Ven. Sheng-yen (1931- )
- Eido Shimano, Roshi
- Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki (1870-1966)
- Shunryu Suzuki, Roshi (1904-1971)
- Haku'un Yasutani,
Roshi (1885-1973)
Scholars and teachers in other traditions
Celebrity Buddhists
Infamous Buddhists
See also: List of people by belief, list of people
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