This is a list of writers on Buddhism. The list is intended to include only those writers who have written books about

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

, and about whom there is already a Wikipedia article. Each entry needs to indicate the writer's most well-known work. Multiple works should be listed only if each work already has a Wikipedia article.

Early Buddhism

Early Buddhism is the oldest Buddhism, before the split into several sects. The only surviving school is

Theravada ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

. Early Buddhism is still being studied by scholars. * Y. Karunadasa * Hajime Nakamura * C. A. F. Rhys Davids * T. W. Rhys Davids *

A. K. Warder Anthony Kennedy Warder (8 September 1924 – 8 January 2013) was a British Indologist. His best-known works are ''Introduction to Pali'' (1963), ''Indian Buddhism'' (1970), and the eight-volume ''Indian Kāvya Literature'' (1972–2011). Life Wa ...

Theravada Buddhism

Other Theravada writers

Ajahn Amaro Ajahn Amaro (born 1956) is a Theravāda Buddhist monk and teacher, and abbot of the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery at the eastern end of the Chiltern Hills in South East England. The centre, in practice as much for ordinary people as for monasti ...

Bhikkhu Analayo Bhikkhu Anālayo is a bhikkhu (Buddhist monk), scholar, and meditation teacher. He was born in Germany in 1962, and went forth in 1995 in Sri Lanka. He is best known for his comparative studies of Early Buddhist Texts as preserved by the various ...

Bhadant Anand Kausalyayan Bhadant Anand Kausalyayan (5 January 1905 – 22 June 1988) was a Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller and a prolific writer from India. He is considered one of the great activists of Buddhism of the 20th century. He was influenced by the Buddhist ...

* Ananda Metteyya *

Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero ( si, අග්ග මහා පණ්ඩිත බලංගොඩ ආනන්ද මෛත්‍රෙය මහා නා හිමි;23 August 1896 – 18 July 1998; was a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk who was on ...

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served ...

Sayagyi U Ba Khin Sayagyi U Ba Khin ( my, ဘခင်, ; 6 March 1899 – 19 January 1971) was the first Accountant General of the Union of Burma. He was the founder of the International Meditation Centre in Yangon, Myanmar and is principally known as a leadin ...

Samanera Bodhesako Sāmanera Bodhesako (born Robert Smith, 1939–1988; known also as ''Ven. Vinayadhara'' and ''Ven. Ñāṇasuci'' in his early monastic life) was an American Buddhist monk. Born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1939, he studied at the University of Iow ...

Bhikkhu Bodhi Bhikkhu Bodhi (born December 10, 1944), born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk, ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in the New York and New Jersey area. He was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Publ ...

* Ajahn Brahmavamso * Buddhādasa Bhikkhu *

Acharya Buddharakkhita Acharya Buddharakkhita (1922- 2013) was a Buddhist monk and prolific writer who established the Maha Bodhi Society of Bangalore and its sister bodies. It was inspired by the Maha Bodhi Society of Anagarika Dharmapala, but is functionally indepe ...

Ajahn Candasiri Ajahn Candasiri is one of the Theravāda Buddhist monastics who co-founded Chithurst Buddhist Monastery in West Sussex, England, a branch monastery of the Ajahn Chah lineage. She is currently ordained as a ten-precept sīladhārā, the highes ...

* Ven. K. Sri Dhammananda *

Anagarika Dharmapala Anagārika Dharmapāla (Pali: ''Anagārika'', ; Sinhala: Anagārika, lit., si, අනගාරික ධර්මපාල; 17 September 1864 – 29 April 1933) was a Sri Lankan Buddhist revivalist and a writer. Anagarika Dharmapāla is not ...

Ernest Reinhold Rost Lieutenant-colonel Ernest Reinhold Rost (22 August 1872 – 23 June 1930) O.B.E. was an English physician and Buddhist writer. Biography Rost was born at Ealing on 22 August 1872. He was the son of Reinhold Rost. He was educated at Highgate Sch ...

Frank Lee Woodward Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

* S. N. Goenka *

Hammalawa Saddhatissa Hammalawa Saddhatissa Maha Thera (1914–1990) was an ordained Buddhist monk, missionary and author from Sri Lanka, educated in Varanasi, London, and Edinburgh. He was a contemporary of Walpola Rahula, also of Sri Lanka. Early life Saddhati ...

Henepola Gunaratana Bhante Henepola Gunaratana is a Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhist monk. He is affectionately known as Bhante G. Bhante Gunaratana is currently the abbot of the Bhavana Society, a monastery and meditation retreat center that he founded in High Vie ...

Henry Steel Olcott Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (2 August 1832 – 17 February 1907) was an American military officer, journalist, lawyer, Freemason and the co-founder and first president of the Theosophical Society. Olcott was the first well-known American of Euro ...

Jack Kornfield Jack Kornfield (born 1945) is an American writer and teacher in the Vipassana movement in American Theravada Buddhism. He trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, Burma and India, first as a student of the Thai forest master Ajahn Chah and Maha ...

* Ajahn Jayasāro * Joseph Goldstein *

Katukurunde Nyanananda Thera Most Ven. Kaṭukurunde Ñāṇananda Maha Thera (10 July 1940 – 22 February 2018) (sometimes spelled Nyanananda or Nanananda in English, sometimes called Gnanananda in Sinhala, Sinhalese: අති පූජ්‍ය කටුකුර� ...

Ayya Khema Ayya Khema ( 25, 1923 – November 2, 1997) was a Buddhist teacher noted for providing opportunities for women to practice Buddhism, founding several centers around the world. In 1987, she helped coordinate the first-ever Sakyadhita Internationa ...

Ledi Sayadaw Ledi Sayadaw U Ñaṇadhaja ( my, လယ်တီဆရာတော် ဦးဉာဏဓဇ, ; 1 December 1846 – 27 June 1923) was an influential Theravada Buddhist monk. He was recognized from a young age as being developed in both the theory ( ...

* Ajahn Lee *

Mahasi Sayadaw Mahāsī Sayādaw U Sobhana ( my, မဟာစည်ဆရာတော် ဦးသောဘန, ; 29 July 1904 – 14 August 1982) was a Burmese Theravada Buddhist monk and meditation master who had a significant impact on the teaching of vipa ...

* Matara Sri Nanarama Mahathera * Nanamoli Bhikkhu * Nanavira Thera *

Narada Maha Thera Narada Mahathera ( si, නාරද මහා ස්ථවිරයන් වහන්සේ), born Sumanapala Perera (14 July 1898 – 2 October 1983) was a Theravada Buddhist monk, scholar, translator, educator and Buddhist missionary who w ...

Nyanatiloka Mahathera Ven. Nyanatiloka Mahathera (19 February 1878, Wiesbaden, Germany – 28 May 1957, Colombo, Ceylon), born as Anton Walther Florus Gueth, was one of the earliest Westerners in modern times to become a Bhikkhu, a fully ordained Buddhist monk. Ea ...

Nyanaponika Thera Nyanaponika Thera or Nyanaponika Mahathera (July 21, 1901 – 19 October 1994) was a German-born Theravada Buddhist monk and scholar who, after ordaining in Sri Lanka, later became the co-founder of the Buddhist Publication Society and autho ...

Pa-Auk Sayadaw Mawlamyine Township ( my, မော်လမြိုင်မြို့နယ်) is a township of Mawlamyine District in the Mon State of Myanmar. The principal town is Mawlamyine. Demographics 2014 The 2014 Myanmar Census reported that ...

Phra Paisal Visalo Phra Paisal Visalo (born 10 May 1957) is the abbot of Wat Pasukato in Chaiyaphum province of Thailand. He was involved in student activism and human rights protection before entering the monkhood in 1983. He is the co-founder of Sekiyadhamma, a ...

Sayadaw U Pandita Sayadaw U Paṇḍita ( my, ဆရာတော် ဦးပဏ္ဍိတ, ; also ''Ovādācariya Sayādo Ū Paṇḍitābhivaṁsa''; 28 July 1921 – 16 April 2016) was one of the foremost masters of Vipassanā. He trained in the Theravada ...

Ajahn Pasanno Ajahn Pasanno (born Reed Perry, Manitoba, Canada, July 26, 1949) is the most senior Western disciple of Ven. Ajahn Chah in the United States, and most senior in the world after Ajahn Sumedho and Ajahn Khemadhammo. For many years he was the abb ...

* Paul Dahlke * Prayudh Payutto *

Piyadassi Maha Thera Piyadassi Maha Thera ( si, පියදස්සි මහා ස්ථවිරයන් වහන්සේ, 8 July 1914 – 18 August 1998) was a preacher of the Dhamma both in Sinhala and in English. He was born on 8 July 1914 at Kotahena in C ...

Rahul Sankrityayan Rahul Sankrityayan (born Kedarnath Pandey; 9 April 1893 – 14 April 1963) was an Indian writer and a polyglot who wrote in Hindi. He played a pivotal role in giving travelogue a 'literary form'. He was one of the most widely travelled scholars ...

Rerukane Chandawimala Thero Rerukane Chandawimala Thero was a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk and author. A personality of Sri Lankan Buddhism in the 20th century, he has been regarded as one of the finest scholars of Tripitaka, the sacred canon of Theravada Buddhism. He was also a ...

* Sayadaw U Rewata Dhamma *

Sharon Salzberg Sharon Salzberg (born August 5, 1952) is a ''New York Times'' bestselling author and teacher of Buddhist meditation practices in the West. In 1974, she co-founded the Insight Meditation Society at Barre, Massachusetts, with Jack Kornfield and Jos ...

* Sīlācāra * U Sīlānanda * Achan Sobin S. Namto *

Soma Thera Kotahene Soma Maha Thera (December 23, 1898 - February 23, 1960), born as Victor Emmanuel Perera Pulle in Kotahena, Colombo,The Path Of Freedom (Vimuttimagga) of Arahant Upatissa' Translated from the Chinese by Rev. N. R. M. Ehara, Soma Thera, Khe ...

* Stephen T. Asma *

Sylvia Boorstein Sylvia Boorstein is an American author, psychotherapist, and Buddhist teacher. Boorstein studied with Dipa Ma and is a co-founding teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California and a senior teacher at the Insight Meditation Soc ...

Ajahn Sucitto Ajahn Sucitto (Bhikkhu Sucitto, born 4 November 1949) is a British-born Theravada Buddhist monk ('' Ajahn'' is the Thai rendition of ''ācārya'', the Sanskrit word for 'spiritual teacher'). He was, between 1992 and 2014, the abbot of ''Citta ...

Ajahn Sumedho Luang Por Sumedho or Ajahn Sumedho ( th, อาจารย์สุเมโธ) (born Robert Karr Jackman, July 27, 1934) is one of the senior Western representatives of the Thai forest tradition of Theravada Buddhism. He was abbot of Amarava ...

Bhante Sujato Bhante Sujato, known as Ajahn Sujato or Bhikkhu Sujato (born Anthony Best), is an Australian Theravada Buddhist monk ordained into the Thai forest lineage of Ajahn Chah. Life Bhante Sujato identifies as an anarchist. A former musician with ...

* Sujiva *

Ajahn Sundara Ajahn Sundara (born 1946) is a French-born Buddhist sīladhārā in the tradition established by Ajahn Sumedho. Life She studied contemporary dance and worked as a dancer and dance teacher until her early thirties when she had the opportuni ...

* Thanissaro Bhikkhu * Sayadaw U Thittila *

Sister Vajirā Sister Vajirā (Hannelore Wolf) was a dasa sil mata, a Buddhist ten precept-holder nun in Sri Lanka. Lay life Hannelore was looking for religious meanings and in early summer 1949 she came across the teachings of the Buddha. Hannelore was so im ...

* Bhante Vimalaramsi *

Ajahn Viradhammo Ajahn Viradhammo or Luang Por Viradhammo (born Vitauts Akers, April 27, 1947 Esslingen, Germany) is a Canadian monk in the Thai forest tradition of Theravada Buddhism. He was ordained as a monk in 1974 by Ajahn Chah at Wat Nong Pah Pong monaste ...

Walpola Rahula Walpola Rahula Thero (1907–1997) was a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, scholar and writer. In 1964, he became the Professor of History and Religions at Northwestern University, thus becoming the first bhikkhu to hold a professorial chair in the Weste ...

Webu Sayadaw Webu Sayadaw ( my, ဝေဘူ ဆရာတော်, ; 17 February 1896 – 26 June 1977) was a Theravada Buddhist monk, and vipassanā master, best known for giving all importance to diligent practice, rather than scholastic achievement ...

* R. G. de S. Wettimuny

Politics

, religious Leader, jurist, political leader, Buddhist activist, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, writer, economist, scholar, editor, revolutionary and the revivalist of Buddhism in India. He was also the chief architect of the Indian Constitution. *

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to a prime minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2 ...

, political activist

Scholars

Ashin Nandamalabhivamsa Ashin Nandamālābhivaṃsa ( my, အရှင် နန္ဒမာလာ ဘိဝံသ) (born 22 March 1939), commonly known by his position as Rector Sayadaw ( my, ပါမောက္ခချုပ် ဆရာတော်), is a Burmes ...

Benimadhab Barua Benimadhab Barua (31 December 1888 – 23 March 1948) was an Indian scholar of ancient Indian languages, Buddhism and law. He was a prominent educationist and writer. Early life Barua was born on 31 December 1888 in Chittagong. Among the sch ...

David Kalupahana David J. Kalupahana (1936–2014) was a Buddhist scholar from Sri Lanka. He was a student of the late K.N. Jayatilleke, who was a student of Wittgenstein. He wrote mainly about epistemology, theory of language, and compared later Buddhist philoso ...

* K.L. Dhammajoti * K.N. Jayatilleke * Karl Eugen Neumann *

Isaline Blew Horner Isaline Blew Horner OBE (30 March 1896 – 25 April 1981), usually cited as I. B. Horner, was an English Indologist, a leading scholar of Pali literature and late president of the Pali Text Society (1959–1981). Life On 30 March 1896 Horner was ...

L. S. Cousins Lance Selwyn Cousins (7 April 194214 March 2015) was a British scholar who specialised in the field of Buddhist studies, Buddhist Studies. Biography Born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, he studied history and oriental studies at Cambridge Universit ...

Mingun Sayadaw The Venerable Mingun Sayadaw U Vicittasārābhivaṃsa ( my, မင်းကွန်းဆရာတော် ဦးဝိစိတ္တသာရာဘိဝံသ, ; 1 November 1911 – 9 February 1993) was a Burmese Theravada Buddhist ...

* P.D. Premasiri * Polwatte Buddhadatta Thera *

Rajguru Aggavamsa Mahathera Rajguru Aggavamsa Mahathera was one of the delegates from Bangladesh) in the Sixth Buddhist council held in Yangon, Burma in 1956. Boyhood Most venerable Ashin Aggavamsa Sayadaw, Sanghãraja, Aggamahãsaddhammajotikãdhaja, President, and f ...

Richard Gombrich Richard Francis Gombrich (; born 17 July 1937) is a British Indologist and scholar of Sanskrit, Pāli, and Buddhist studies. He was the Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford from 1976 to 2004. He is currently Founder-Presiden ...

Robert Chalmers, 1st Baron Chalmers Robert Chalmers, 1st Baron Chalmers, (18 August 1858 – 17 November 1938) was a British civil servant, and a Pali and Buddhist scholar. In later life, he served as the Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge. Background and education Chalmers was b ...

Rupert Gethin Rupert Mark Lovell Gethin (born 1957, in Edinburgh) is Professor of Buddhist Studies in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies and codirector of the Centre for Buddhist Studies at the University of Bristol, and (since 2003) president of ...

List of Sāsana Azani recipients The Burmese government recognizes Buddhist monks who have successfully passed the Tipitakadhara Tipitakakovida Selection Examinations as "Sāsana Azani" (သာသနာ့အာဇာနည်), from Pali (). Since the examination's initial inc ...

, Buddhist monks who have successfully passed the Tipiṭakadhara (oral) and Tipiṭakakovida (written) examinations in Myanmar and only fifteen monks have been recognized as "Sāsana Azani".

Mahayana Buddhism

Although Mahayana Buddhism is virtually extinct in India, its philosophical systems, namely the

Madhyamaka Mādhyamaka ("middle way" or "centrism"; ; Tibetan: དབུ་མ་པ ; ''dbu ma pa''), otherwise known as Śūnyavāda ("the emptiness doctrine") and Niḥsvabhāvavāda ("the no ''svabhāva'' doctrine"), refers to a tradition of Buddhi ...

and

Yogacara Yogachara ( sa, योगाचार, IAST: '; literally "yoga practice"; "one whose practice is yoga") is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through ...

are still being studied.

Chán/Zen

Teachers

Reb Anderson Tenshin Zenki Reb Anderson (born 1943) is an American Buddhist who is a Zen teacher in the Sōtō Zen tradition of Shunryu Suzuki. He is a Senior Dharma teacher at the San Francisco Zen Center and at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in Marin County, ...

Taisen Deshimaru was a Japanese Sōtō Zen Buddhist teacher, who founded the ''Association Zen Internationale''. Biography Early life Born in the Saga Prefecture of Kyūshū, Deshimaru was raised by his grandfather, a former Samurai before the Meiji Revolution, ...

* Norman Fischer *

Gil Fronsdal Gil Fronsdal (born 1954) is a Norwegian-born, American Buddhist teacher, writer and scholar based in Redwood City, California. He has been practicing Buddhism of the Sōtō Zen and Vipassanā sects since 1975, and is currently teaching the pract ...

Steve Hagen Stephen Tokan "Steve" Hagen, Rōshi, (born 1945) is the founder and head teacher of the Dharma Field Zen Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and a Dharma heir of Dainin Katagiri-roshi. Additionally, he is the author of several books on Buddhism. Am ...

Hsuan Hua Hsuan Hua (; April 16, 1918 – June 7, 1995), also known as An Tzu, Tu Lun and Master Hua by his Western disciples, was a Chinese monk of Chan Buddhism and a contributing figure in bringing Chinese Buddhism to the United States in the lat ...

Nan Huai-Chin Nan Huai-Chin () (March 18, 1918 – September 29, 2012) was a Chinese Buddhist monk, religious scholar, and writer. A well-regarded spiritual teacher in contemporary China, he was considered by many to be the major force in the revival ...

Philip Kapleau Philip Kapleau (August 20, 1912 – May 6, 2004) was an American teacher of Zen Buddhism in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition, a blending of Japanese Sōtō and Rinzai schools. He also advocated strongly for Buddhist vegetarianism. Early life Kapleau ...

* Dainin Katagiri * Long Gen *

Taizan Maezumi Hakuyū Taizan Maezumi ( Maezumi Hakuyū, February 24, 1931 – May 15, 1995) was a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher and rōshi, and lineage holder in the Sōtō, Rinzai, and Sanbo Kyodan traditions of Zen. He combined the Rinzai use of '' kōan ...

Thich Nhat Hanh Thích is a name that Vietnamese monks and nuns take as their Buddhist surname to show affinity with the Buddha. Notable Vietnamese monks with the name include: * Thích Huyền Quang (1919–2008), dissident and activist * Thích Quảng Độ ( ...

* Kitaro Nishida * Shohaku Okumura *

Paul Reps Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

Seung Sahn Seungsahn Haengwon (, August 1, 1927November 30, 2004), born Duk-In Lee, was a Korean Seon master of the Jogye Order and founder of the international Kwan Um School of Zen. He was the seventy-eighth Patriarch in his lineage. As one of the early ...

Seongcheol Seongcheol (April 6, 1912 – November 4, 1993) was a Korean Seon master.원택. (2001). ''성철스님 시봉이야기''. Seoul: 김영사. (Wontek. (2001). ''Seongcheol Seunim Sibong Iyagi''. Seoul: Kimyoungsa.) He was a key figure in mo ...

* Sheng-yen *

Brad Warner Brad Warner (born March 5, 1964) is an American Sōtō Zen monk, author, blogger, documentarian and punk rock bass guitarist. Biography Brad Warner was born in Hamilton, Ohio, in 1964. His family traveled for his father's job and Warner spent ...

Alan Watts Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was an English writer, speaker and self-styled "philosophical entertainer", known for interpreting and popularising Japanese, Chinese and Indian traditions of Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu ...

Hsing Yun Hsing Yun () (born 19 August 1927) is a Chinese Buddhist monk. He is the founder of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist order as well as the affiliated Buddha's Light International Association in Taiwan. Hsing Yun is considered to be one of the most ...

Han Yong-un Han Yong-un ( ko, 한용운; August 29, 1879 – June 29, 1944) was a twentieth century Korean Buddhist reformer and poet. This name was his religious name, given by his meditation instructor in 1905, and Manhae (만해) was his pen name; his ...

Hakuun Yasutani was a Sōtō rōshi, the founder of the Sanbo Kyodan organization of Japanese Zen. Biography Ryōkō Yasutani (安谷量衡) was born in Japan in Shizuoka Prefecture. His family was very poor, and therefore he was adopted by another family. ...

* Peter Levitt *

Gyomay Kubose Gyomay Kubose (June 21, 1905–March 29, 2000), born Masao Kubose was a Japanese-American Buddhist teacher. In 1944, after leaving the Heart Mountain internment camp, he founded the Chicago Buddhist Church, later renamed the Buddhist Temple ...

Marvin Harada Marvin Harada is a Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist minister within the Buddhist Churches of America, and serves as its bishop since 1 April 2020. As bishop of BCA, he also serves as the superintendent of Hongwanji-ha's North American district. On 25 ...

* Kenryu Takashi Tsuji

Scholars

Edward Conze Edward Conze, born Eberhard Julius Dietrich Conze (1904–1979) was a scholar of Marxism and Buddhism, known primarily for his commentaries and translations of the Prajñāpāramitā literature. Biography Conze's parents, Dr. Ernst Conze (1872� ...

* Nishitani Keiji, Japanese philosopher * Nishida Kitaro, Japanese philosopher *

Red Pine ''Pinus resinosa'', known as red pine (also Norway pine in Minnesota), is a pine native to North America. Description Red pine is a coniferous evergreen tree characterized by tall, straight growth. It usually ranges from in height and in trun ...

D.T. Suzuki , self-rendered in 1894 as "Daisetz", was a Japanese-American Buddhist monk, essayist, philosopher, religious scholar, translator, and writer. He was a scholar and author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in s ...

, Japanese scholar * Theodore Stcherbatsky, Russian, wrote ''Buddhist Logic'' * Stephen F. Teiser *

Alfred Bloom Alfred H. Bloom is an American psychologist and linguist. He was the executive vice chancellor of Duke Kunshan University from 2020 to 2021. Before that, he was the vice chancellor of New York University Abu Dhabi from 2008 to 2019 and the presid ...

Other

, American philosopher and lecturer

Humanistic Buddhism (China)

Taixu Taixu (Tai Hsu) (), (January 8, 1890 – March 17, 1947) was a Buddhist modernist, activist and thinker who advocated for a reformation and revival of Chinese Buddhism by drawing upon eclectic domestic and foreign sources and ideologies. Biogra ...

* Yin Shun

Nichiren Buddhism (Japan)

* Tanaka Chigaku *

Daisaku Ikeda is a Japanese Buddhist philosopher, educator, author, and nuclear disarmament advocate. He served as the third president and then honorary president of the Soka Gakkai, the largest of Japan's new religious movements. Ikeda is the founding pre ...

* Nikkyo Niwano

Vajrayana Buddhism

Vajrayana originated as Tantra in India.

Tibetan Buddhism

Vajrayana was introduced in Tibet, preferring Indian Buddhism over Chinese Buddhism, where it still survives.

Religious writers

Pema Chödrön Pema Chödrön (པདྨ་ཆོས་སྒྲོན། ''padma chos sgron'' “lotus dharma lamp”; born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown, July 14, 1936) is an American Tibetan Buddhist. She is an ordained nun, former acharya of Shambhala Buddhism an ...

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current D ...

Anagarika Govinda Anagarika Govinda (born Ernst Lothar Hoffmann, 17 May 1898 – 14 January 1985) was the founder of the order of the Arya Maitreya Mandala and an expositor of Tibetan Buddhism, Abhidharma, and Buddhist meditation as well as other aspects of B ...

Kelsang Gyatso Geshe Kelsang Gyatso (; 19 July 1931 – 17 September 2022) was a Buddhist monk, meditation teacher, scholar, and author. He was the founder and spiritual director of the New Kadampa Tradition-International Kadampa Buddhist Union (NKT-IKBU), a ...

Khyentse Norbu Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche (, born June 18, 1961),Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

Namkhai Norbu Namkhai Norbu (; 8 December 1938 – 27 September 2018) was a Tibetan Buddhist master of Dzogchen and a professor of Tibetan and Mongolian language and literature at Naples Eastern University. He was a leading authority on Tibetan culture, par ...

Thinley Norbu Kyabje Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche ( ) (1931 – December 26, 2011) was a major modern teacher in the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, and patron of the Vajrayana Foundation. He was the eldest son of Dudjom Rinpoche, the former head of the N ...

Ole Nydahl Ole Nydahl (born 19 March 1941), also known as Lama Ole, is a ''lama'' providing Mahamudra teachings in the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Since the early 1970s, Nydahl has toured the world giving lectures and meditation courses. With his ...

Matthieu Ricard Matthieu Ricard (; ne, माथ्यु रिका, born 15 February 1946) is a French writer, photographer, translator and Buddhist monk who resides at Shechen Tennyi Dargyeling Monastery in Nepal. Matthieu Ricard grew up among the perso ...

Sangharakshita Sangharakshita (born Dennis Philip Edward Lingwood; 26 August 192530 October 2018) was a British spiritual teacher and writer, and the founder of the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order, which in 2010 was renamed the ''Triratna Buddhist Commun ...

* Sogyal Rinpoche *

Surya Das Surya Das (born Jeffrey Miller in 1950) is an American lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He is a poet, chantmaster, spiritual activist, author of many popular works on Buddhism, meditation teacher and spokesperson for Buddhism in the West. ...

Thrangu Rinpoche Thrangu Rinpoche ( ) was born in 1933 in Kham, Tibet. He is deemed to be a prominent tulku (reincarnate lama) in the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, the ninth reincarnation in his particular line. His full name and title is the ''Very Venerabl ...

Chögyam Trungpa Chögyam Trungpa ( Wylie: ''Chos rgyam Drung pa''; March 5, 1939 – April 4, 1987) was a Tibetan Buddhist meditation master and holder of both the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, the 11th of the Trungpa tülkus, a tertön, sup ...

Scholars

* Alexander Berzin * Lokesh Chandra *

Alexandra David-Néel Alexandra David-Néel (born Louise Eugénie Alexandrine Marie David; 24 October 1868 – 8 September 1969) was a Belgian–French explorer, spiritualist, Buddhist, anarchist, opera singer, and writer. She is most known for her 1924 visit to Lh ...

Walter Evans-Wentz Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz (February 2, 1878 – July 17, 1965) was an American anthropologist and writer who was a pioneer in the study of Tibetan Buddhism, and in transmission of Tibetan Buddhism to the Western world, most known for publishin ...

Christmas Humphreys Travers Christmas Humphreys, QC (15 February 1901 – 13 April 1983) was a British barrister who prosecuted several controversial cases in the 1940s and 1950s, and who later became a judge at the Old Bailey. He also wrote a number of works on M ...

Robert Thurman Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman (born August 3, 1941) is an American Buddhist author and academic who has written, edited, and translated several books on Tibetan Buddhism. He was the Je Tsongkhapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at ...

* Donald S. Lopez Jr.

Navayana Buddhism

Damodar Dharmananda Kosambi Damodar Dharmananda Kosambi (31 July 1907 – 29 June 1966) was an Indian polymath with interests in mathematics, statistics, philology, history, and genetics. He contributed to genetics by introducing the ''Kosambi map function''. In statist ...

* Iyothee Thass * Shanti Swaroop Baudh

Western Buddhism

* Stephen Batchelor * David Brazier * Mark Epstein *

Vidyamala Burch Prudence Margaret Burch (born 1959), known professionally as Vidyamala Burch, is a mindfulness teacher, writer, and co-founder of Breathworks, an international mindfulness organization known particularly for developing mindfulness-based pain ma ...

Writers of fiction and literature

* Matsuo Bashō, Japanese poet and journalist * Jack Kerouac, US poet and novelist *

Tom Lowenstein Tom Lowenstein (born 1941) is an English poet, ethnographer, teacher, cultural historian and translator. Beginning his working life as a school teacher, he visited Alaska in 1973 and went on to become particularly noted for his work on Inupiaq ( ...

, English poet, cultural historian and translator *

Peter Matthiessen Peter Matthiessen (May 22, 1927 – April 5, 2014) was an American novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer, zen teacher and CIA Operative. A co-founder of the literary magazine ''The Paris Review'', he was the only writer to have won the Nation ...

, US novelist *

Ruth Ozeki Ruth Ozeki is an American-Canadian author, filmmaker and Zen Buddhist priest. Her books and films, including the novels '' My Year of Meats'' (1998), '' All Over Creation'' (2003), '' A Tale for the Time Being'' (2013), and '' The Book of Form ...

, US novelist * Jess Row, short story writer * Gary Snyder, US poet *

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

, US poet

Writing instructors

Natalie Goldberg Natalie Goldberg (born January 4, 1948) is an American popular author and speaker. She is best known for a series of books which explore writing as Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; v ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buddhist writers Lists of writers

Early Buddhism

Theravada Buddhism

Other Theravada writers

Politics

Scholars

Mahayana Buddhism

Chán/Zen

Teachers

Scholars

Other

Humanistic Buddhism (China)

Nichiren Buddhism (Japan)

Vajrayana Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism

Religious writers

Scholars

Navayana Buddhism

Western Buddhism

Writers of fiction and literature

Writing instructors

See also

References