List of converts to Buddhism from Christianity

This is an incomplete list that may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

This is a list of notable converts to Buddhism from Christianity.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Pema Chödrön
Steve Jobs
Name Former Denomination Nationality Notes Refs.
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje N/A British actor [1]
Roberto Baggio Roman Catholicism Italian retired footballer [2][3]
Solomon Bandaranaike Anglicanism Sri Lankan former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and founder of Sri Lanka Freedom Party [4]
Helena Blavatsky N/A Russian philosopher and occultist and founder of the Theosophical Society
Orlando Bloom Church of England English actor [5][6]
Ajahn Brahm N/A English religious teacher and student of the late Thai monk Ajahn Chah [7]
Ajahn Candasiri N/A Scottish Thai Theravada Buddhist nun [8][9]
Pema Chödrön Roman Catholicism American Tibetan Buddhist nun [10]
Thomas William Rhys Davids Congregationalism British scholar of the Pāli language [11]
Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle Society of Jesus German religious teacher [12]
Junius Richard Jayewardene N/A Sri Lankan first President of Sri Lanka and former Prime minister [13]
Steve Jobs Lutheranism American co-founder of Apple Computer, Inc. [14][15]
Charles R. Johnson African Methodist Episcopal Church American political cartoonist, novelist and Buddhist writer [16]
Irvin Kershner N/A American film director [17]
Henry Steel Olcott Presbyterianism American co-founder of Theosophical Society at New York and first well-known example of conversion to Buddhism [18]
Wayne Shorter N/A American saxophonist [19]
Ajahn Sumedho N/A American most senior representative of the Thai Forest Tradition in the Western hemisphere and abbot of the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in the UK
Tina Turner Baptist Swiss singer and actress. [20]
Herman Vetterling Swedenborgianism American mystic but he retained elements of Swedenborg thought after his conversion [21][22]
Mario Balotelli N/A Italian footballer [23]

References

  1. ↑ "60 SECONDS: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje". Metro.co.uk. 2006-08-30. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  2. ↑ Planet Sport: Roberto Baggio returns ponytail for Italian federation Guardian – August 8, 2010
  3. ↑ "Buddisti Soka Gakkai. Una Sabina vi convertirà" (in Italian). Chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  4. ↑ New York Times
  5. ↑ Orlando Bloom 'converts to Buddhism'
  6. ↑ Interview with Orlando Bloom
  7. ↑ "I Kidnapped a Monk!". Buddhistdoor International. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
  8. ↑ BBC
  9. ↑ Ajahn Candasiri's website
  10. ↑ PBS
  11. ↑ "Buddhist India, by T.W. Rhys Davids". Fsnow.com. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  12. ↑ "Sanbokyodan Zen and the Way of the New Religions by Robert H. Sharf, Terebess Asia Online (TAO)". Terebess.hu. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  13. ↑ de Silva, K. M.; William Howard Wriggins (1988). J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press. p. 133. ISBN 0-8248-1183-6.
  14. ↑ What do Steve Jobs’s final words mean?
  15. ↑ The spiritual side of Steve Jobs
  16. ↑ Charles R. Johnson interview at Monsters&Critics: "Buddhism has been my refuge (as it was intended to be for practitioners) since I was 14-years-old, and first sat in formal meditation."
  17. ↑ Once Upon a Galaxy: A Journal of The Making of The Empire Strikes Back by Alan Arnold (1980, Sphere Books) p.238.
  18. ↑ McMahon, David L. (2008). The Making of Buddhist Modernism. USA: Oxford University Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-0195183276.
  19. ↑ "Footprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter". allaboutjazz.com. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
  20. ↑ Orth, Maureen (2004). "Proud Tina: Tina Turner". The Importance of Being Famous. Henry Holt and Company. p. 42. ISBN 9780805075458. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  21. ↑ The Dharma of Emanuel Swedenborg: A Buddhist Perspective
  22. ↑ Imagining Tibet : Perceptions, Projections, and Fantasies by Thierry Dodin
  23. ↑ Jerry Lawton (29 May 2012). "Mario turns to religion". dailystar.co.uk (Daily Star). Retrieved 7 January 2013.