- Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from ancient India and the historical founder of Buddhism. He is universally recognized by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddha of our age. The time of his birth and death are uncertain: a majority of 20th century historians date his lifetime from "circa" 563 BCE to 483 BCE, while some more recent scholars have suggested dates around 410 or 400 BCE for his death. - Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma was the Buddhist monk traditionally credited as founder of Zen. Very little contemporary biographical information on Bodhidharma is extant, and subsequent accounts became layered with legend, but most accounts agree that he was a South Indian monk who journeyed to southern China and subsequently relocated northwards. The accounts differ on the date of his arrival, … - Nichiren
Nichiren (日蓮) (February 16, 1222 - October 13, 1282), born Zennichimaro (善日麿), later Zeshō-bō Renchō (是聖房蓮長), and finally Nichiren (日蓮), was a Buddhist monk of 13th century Japan. A controversial figure during his lifetime, he is the founder of Nichiren Buddhism, a major Japanese Buddhist stream encompassing several schools of often widely conflicting doctrine. - Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts (January 6, 1915 - November 16, 1973) was a philosopher, writer, speaker, and expert in comparative religion. He was best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Asian philosophies for a Western audience. He wrote more than twenty-five books and numerous articles on subjects such as personal identity, the true nature of reality, consciousness, and the pursuit of happiness, … - Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi ; born 19 June 1945 in Yangon (Rangoon), is a nonviolent pro-democracy activist and leader of the National League for Democracy in Myanmar (Burma), and a noted prisoner of conscience. A Buddhist, Suu Kyi won the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990 and in 1991 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful and non-violent struggle under a military dictatorship. - Naropa
Naropa (Tibetan; Sanskrit: "Nadaprada", 1016-1100) was an Indian Buddhist mystic and monk, the pupil of Tilopa and brother, or some sources say partner, of Niguma. Naropa was the main teacher of Marpa. Naropa is part of the Golden Garland, meaning a lineage holder of the Tibetan Buddhist Kagyu lineage, and was considered an accomplished scholar. A great meditator, he is best known for having enumerated and developed the six yogas of Naropa. - Tenzin Gyatso
Tenzin Gyatso (born 6 July 1935) is the fourteenth and current Dalai Lama. As such, he is often referred to in Western media simply as the Dalai Lama, without any qualifiers. The fifth of sixteen children of a farming family in the Tibetan province of Amdo, he was proclaimed the "tulku" (rebirth) of the thirteenth Dalai Lama at the age of two. On 17 November 1950, at the age of fifteen, … - Sangharakshita
Sangharakshita (1925-) is the founder of the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO), and the Western Buddhist Order (WBO). He is a prodigious author and public speaker on the subject of Buddhism, especially Buddhism in the West. He is a somewhat controversial figure, admired by his followers for his work in India and the West as well as for his efforts to make the Buddha's teachings accessible to many people throughout the world, … - Robert Thurman
Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman (born August 4, 1941) is an American Buddhist writer and academic. He is the Je Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University. He also is the co-founder and president of Tibet House New York and currently holds the first endowed chair in this field of study in the United States. Thurman was born in New York City to Elizabeth Dean Farrar, a stage actress, and Beverly Reid Thurman, Jr., … - Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam Trungpa was a Buddhist meditation master, scholar, teacher, poet, artist, and a Trungpa tülku. Widely recognized, both by Tibetan Buddhists and by other spiritual practitioners and scholars (Midal, 2005), as a preeminent teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, he was a major figure in the dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism to the West, founding Vajradhatu and Naropa University and establishing the Shambhala Training method. - Surya Das
Lama Surya Das is a trained and authorized American-born lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He is a poet, chantmaster, spiritual activist and author of many popular works on Buddhism; and a respected teacher and spokesperson for Buddhism in the West. He has long been involved in charitable relief projects in the Third World and in interfaith dialogue. Born Jeffrey Miller in 1950, and raised on Long Island, an honors graduate of the University at Buffalo, New York, … - Daisaku Ikeda
Daisaku Ikeda , President of Soka Gakkai International, Japan - Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher. He is most famous for his work "The World as Will and Representation". - Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong (b. November 14 1944 in Wildmoor, Worcestershire, England) is an author who writes on Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. Armstrong is a former nun, now a "freelance monotheist". She has advanced the theory that fundamentalist religion is a response to and product of modern culture. She was born into a family with Irish roots who after her birth moved to Bromsgrove and later to Birmingham. - Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet (originally, often associated with the Beat Generation), essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Since the 1970s, he has frequently been described as the 'laureate of Deep Ecology'. From the 1950s on, he has published travel-journals and essays from time to time. His work in his various roles reflects his immersion in both Buddhist spirituality and nature. - Ole Nydahl
Lama Ole Nydahl (b. 19 March 1941 in Copenhagen, Denmark) is a Buddhist teacher and a Lama of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Since the 1970s he has travelled the world teaching and founding meditation centres. - Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu was an Indian Buddhist scholar-monk, and along with his half-brother Asanga, one of the main founders of the Indian Yogācāra school. Vasubandhu is one of the most influential figures in the entire history of Buddhism. Born in Gandhāra in the fourth century, he was at first a Sarvāstivādin when he initially studied Sarvāstivādin Abhidharma, as presented in the Mahā-vibhāsa. - Seung Sahn
Seung Sahn Haeng Won Soen-sa (1927-2004) was a Korean Zen Buddhist monk, and the 78th patriarch in his lineage of Korean Zen (or Korean S?n) Buddhism.(See Buddhist Patriarch) He was the founder of the Kwan Um School of Zen, an international Buddhist organization and order. - Sheng-Yen
Venerable Master Sheng-yen is one of the more famous living teachers of Chan (Japanese: Zen) Buddhism. Master Sheng Yen is the 57th generation descendant of Linji in the Linji (Japanese: Rinzai) School and a 3rd generation descendant of Master Hsu Yun. In the Caodong (Japanese: Soto) lineage, Master Sheng Yen is the 52nd generation descendant of Master Tung Shan (807-869), and the direct descendant of Master Tung Chu (1908-1977). - Thomas Cleary
Thomas Cleary (b. 1949) is a prolific, and somewhat reclusive, author and translator of Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian and Muslim religious literature, and of the Chinese Art of War tradition of strategy and statecraft. He received a PhD in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University, but has had minimal involvement with the academic world. - Anagarika Dharmapala
Anagarika Dharmapala (1864 - 1933) was a leading figure in initiating two outstanding features of Buddhism in the twentieth century. He was a pioneer in the revival of Buddhism in India after it had been virtually extinct there for several centuries, and he was the first Buddhist in modern times to preach the Dharma in three continents: Asia, North America, and Europe. Dharmapala was the first "anagarika" - that is, a celibate, … - Tina Turner
Tina Turner (born November 26, 1939) is a 11 time Grammy Award-winning (sharing three), American Singer, Dancer, Record Producer, Executive Producer, Film Producer, Actress, Writer, Performer, Songwriter, Author and occasional Painter whose career has spanned from 1956 to present. Turner's success, dominance and popularity in Rock and Roll garnered her the title, … - B. Alan Wallace
"B. Alan Wallace" is an author, translator, teacher, researcher, interpreter and Vajrayana practitioner interested in the intersections of consciousness studies and scientific disciplines such as Contemplative Neuroscience. Stated simply, Wallace endeavours to chart relationships and commonalities between Eastern and Western thought and traditions. Since 1976, Wallace has taught Buddhism, philosophy and meditation. - Hsuan Hua
Venerable Master Hsuan Hua (Traditional Chinese: 宣化上人; Hanyu Pinyin: "Xuān Huà Shàng Rén", literal meaning:"proclaim and transform") (16 April, 1918 - 7 June, 1995), also known as An Tzu and Tu Lun, was a Buddhist monk and an important figure in Western Mahayana Buddhism. Master Hsuan Hua was the founder of the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association (DRBA), a Buddhist organization with chapters in the United States, … - Hsu Yun
Venerable Master Hsu Yun (Traditional Chinese: 虛雲大師, Simplified Chinese: 虚云大师, Pinyin: Xū Yún Dà Shī, "empty cloud") (1840-1959) was a renowned Ch'an master and one of the most influential Buddhist teachers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Although many aspects of his life (particularly his great longevity) are disputed by historians and Zen scholars, this article attempts to give an accurate biography, … - Ajahn Sumedho
American-born Ajahn Sumedho is a seminal figure in the Thai Forest Tradition and Western Theravada Buddhism. The word "Ajahn" is not a proper name, but a title which means "Teacher" in Thai. He is also affectionately known among his students as "Luang Por" which means "Venerable Father" in Thai. He has been an ordained bhikkhu for 40 years, and is perhaps the most senior living Western Theravadan bhikkhu. - Pico Iyer
Pico Iyer (born 1957) is a British-born essayist and novelist. Iyer was born in Oxford, England, to Indian parents, who were both teachers of philosophy. When he was seven, his family moved to California, and for more than a decade he moved back and forth several times a year between schools and college in England and his parents' home in California. He won academic scholarships to Eton, Oxford University and Harvard, graduating with a Congratulatory Double First at Oxford, … - Sakya Trizin
Sakya Trizin is the head of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. The spiritual leadership of the Sakya school is controlled by the descendants of the Köhn family, who around 750, when Khön Jekundag was a minister of Trisong Detsen, got into contact with Buddhism and who were taught by Padmasambhava. The family were viceroys of the Tsang province of Tibet at the time. After they received the teaching of masters like Sachen Kunga Nyingpo, … - Ashoka The Great
Ashoka (Devanāgarī: अशोकः, IAST: ',, Prakrit Imperial title: Devanampriya Priyadarsi"', "He who is the beloved of the Gods and who regards everyone amiably") (304 BCE – 232 BCE) was an Mauryan emperor, who ruled the Maurya Empire across the Indian subcontinent from 273 BCE to 232 BCE. After a number of military conquests, Ashoka reigned over most of India, Pakistan, South Asia and beyond, … - Hsing Yun
Venerable Master Hsing Yun (July 22, 1927-) is a Chinese Buddhist monk. He is an important figure in modern Mahayana Buddhism. Known best as the founder of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order, the largest religious and humanitarian organization in Taiwan, he is well known and recognized around the world for his humanitarian work, calligraphy, his talent in speaking the Dharma, and his talent in writing. - Walpola Rahula
The venerable Prof Walpola Sri Rahula Maha Thera (1907-1997) was a Buddhist monk, scholar and writer. He is considered to be one of the top Sri Lankan intellectuals in the 20th century. 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 western world. - Yeshe Tsogyal
Yeshe Tsogyel (rhymes with "may say so well"), also known in the Nyingma tradition as the Great Bliss Queen, is a semi-mythical female deity or figure of enlightenment (dakini) in Tibetan Buddhism. She lived from 757 to 817, and is most identified as the mystic consort of the great Indian tantric teacher Padmasambhava ("the Lotus-Born One"), who was invited to Tibet by the Emperor Trisong Detsen. :From the mouth of a lotus was born :The swift goddess, … - Ayya Khema
Ayya Khema (August 25, 1923 - November 2, 1997), a Buddhist teacher, was born as "Ilse Kussel" in Berlin, Germany, to Jewish parents. Khema dodged the Nazis during World War II, but was interned by the Japanese. She eventually moved to the United States. After travelling in Asia she decided to become a Buddhist nun in Sri Lanka in 1979. She was very active in providing opportunities for women to practice Buddhism, founding several centers around the world. - Subhuti
Subhuti was one of the Buddha Shakyamuni's Ten Major Disciples, according to some Mahayana sources, a contemporary of such famous arhats as Sariputra, Mahakasyapa, Maudgalyayana, and Vimalakirti. He is perhaps best known as the disciple with whom the Buddha speaks when imparting the Diamond Sutra (Skt: Vajracchedika), an important teaching within the Prajnaparamita texts. This, along with the Heart Sutra (Skt: Hridaya), is one of the most well-known sutras, … - Dharmakirti
Dharmakirti (circa 7th century), was an Indian scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian philosophical logic. He was one of the primary theorists of Buddhist atomism, according to which, the only items considered to exist are momentary Buddhist atoms, and states of consciousness. - Joanna Macy
Joanna Rogers Macy, Ph.D. (sometimes listed as Joanna R. Macy or Joanna Marie Macy; b. May 2, 1929), is a scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. She is a voice in movements for peace, justice, and a safe environment. She has created a theoretical framework for personal and social change, and a workshop methodology for its application. Her work addresses psychological and spiritual issues, Buddhist thought, and contemporary science. - Brad Warner
Brad Warner is a Zen Buddhist priest, ordained in the Sōtō school by Gudo Wafu Nishijima. He is also a published author, musician, film maker, and blogger. He began practicing Zen under Ohio-based teacher Tim McCarthy in the early 1980s while also playing bass guitar for the hardcore punk band 0DFx (also known as Zero Defex), and by the time he moved to Tokyo in 1994 to work for Tsuburaya Productions, … - Longchenpa
Longchenpa or Longchen Rabjampa (1308 - 1364 possibly 1369) was a major teacher in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Along with Sakya Pandita and Je Tsongkhapa, he is commonly recognized as one of the three main manifestations of Manjushri to have taught in Central Tibet. His major work is the "Seven Treasures", which encapsulates the previous 600 years of Buddhist thought in Tibet. - Michael Roach
Geshe Michael Roach is an American teacher of Tibetan Buddhism and the founder of Diamond Mountain University, the Asian Classics Institute, the Asian Classics Input Project , the Three Jewels Outreach Center, the Enlightened Business Institute, the Yoga Studies Institute, and the Godstow Retreat Center. He was born in Los Angeles in 1952 and was raised in Phoenix, AZ. - Ba Khin
Sayagyi U Ba Khin was born in Rangoon, Burma. He was a student of Saya Thetgyi and was the first Accountant General of Burma. U Ba Khin was a notable teacher of Buddhist vipassana meditation. There are six International Meditation Centres in the Sayagyi U Ba Khin Tradition. Each of the centres in the West is a direct offshoot of the International Meditation Centre of Yangon, Myanmar (formerly Rangoon, Burma), which was founded by Sayagyi U Ba Khin.
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