Carl Herman Vetterling (1849–1931), also known by the Tibetan pseudonym of Philangi Dasa,[1] was a Swedenborgian philosopher who converted to Buddhism in 1884 and took the Tibetan name. He was one of the first Americans to officially embrace Buddhism.[1] He founded The Buddhist Ray in Santa Cruz, California in 1887, which was the first Buddhist journal in the United States.[2]
His most well-known work was Swedenborg the Buddhist, or The Higher Swedenborgianism: Its Secrets and Thibetan Origin, published in 1887. It is a fictional spiritual dialogue between Swedenborg, a Buddhist monk, a Brahmin, a Parsi, an Aztec Indian, an Icelander, an anonymous woman, and Vetterling himself. Six years later this work was translated into Japanese.[3]
Due to his eclectic combination of Swedenborgianism, Theosophy, Buddhism, homeopathy and Spiritualism, many scholars of his lifetime questioned his authenticity as a "real" Buddhist.[1]