Gordon Douglas has traditionally been seen as the first European to become ordained as a

Bhikkhu A ''bhikkhu'' (Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics ("nun", ''bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddhist ...

in Southeast Asia, although Laurence Carroll ( U Dhammaloka) and others are now understood to have been earlier. He was ordained in

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

in 1899 or 1900 and assumed the name Bhikkhu Asoka or Ashoka.Stephen Batchelor. 1994. ''The Awakening of the West: The Encounter of Buddhism and Western Culture'', p. 41 There are conflicting accounts of what happened after his ordination. One account is that he died six months later, the cause being cholera. The other account is that he relocated to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and lived there until his death in 1905. The latter is more likely because Dr. Cassius Pereira, later Bhikkhu Kassapa Thera, gives an account of him in Ceylon and interacting with his family.Cassius A. Pereira. 1947. Why Do I Renounce the World. ''Ceylon Daily News'', Vesak 2491 (March 28), Colombo, p. 67.

References

English Buddhist monks Year of birth missing Year of death missing {{UK-reli-bio-stub