List of writers on Buddhism

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Buddha's statue near Belum Caves Andhra Pradesh India

This is a list of writers on Buddhism. The list is intended to include only those writers who have written books about Buddhism, 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. Early Buddhism is still being studied by scholars.

Theravada Buddhism[]

Wat Chaiwatthanaram temple in the old city of Ayutthaya in Thailand.

Other Theravada writers[]

Politics[]

• B. R. Ambedkar, 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. ^[1]
• Aung San Suu Kyi, political activist

Scholars[]

• Ashin Nandamalabhivamsa
• Benimadhab Barua
• David Kalupahana
• K.L. Dhammajoti
• K.N. Jayatilleke
• Karl Eugen Neumann
• Isaline Blew Horner
• L. S. Cousins
• Mingun Sayadaw
• P.D. Premasiri
• Polwatte Buddhadatta Thera
• Rajguru Aggavamsa Mahathera
• Rerukane Chandawimala Thero
• Richard Gombrich
• Robert Chalmers, 1st Baron Chalmers
• Rupert Gethin
• List of Sāsana Azani recipients, 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 and Yogacara are still being studied.

Chán/Zen[]

Bodhidharma and Huike

Teachers[]

Scholars[]

• Edward Conze
• Nishitani Keiji, Japanese philosopher
• Nishida Kitaro, Japanese philosopher
• Red Pine
• D.T. Suzuki, Japanese scholar
• Theodore Stcherbatsky, Russian, wrote Buddhist Logic
• Stephen F. Teiser

Other[]

• Alan Watts, American philosopher and lecturer

Humanistic Buddhism (China)[]

• Taixu
• Yin Shun

Nichiren Buddhism (Japan)[]

• Tanaka Chigaku
• Daisaku Ikeda
• Nikkyo Niwano

Vajrayana Buddhism[]

Vajrayana originated as Tantra in India.

Tibetan Buddhism[]

Tibetan Buddhist monks at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim

Vajrayana was introduced in Tibet, preferring Indian Buddhism over Chinese Buddhism, where it still survives.^[2]

Religious writers[]

Scholars[]

Navayana Buddhism[]

Western Buddhism[]

Writers of fiction and literature[]

• Matsuo Bashō, Japanese poet and journalist
• Jack Kerouac, US poet and novelist
• Tom Lowenstein, English poet, cultural historian and translator
• Peter Matthiessen, US novelist
• Ruth Ozeki, US novelist
• Jess Row, short story writer
• Gary Snyder, US poet
• Allen Ginsberg, US poet

Writing instructors[]

• Natalie Goldberg

See also[]

• Access to Insight
• Buddhist Cultural Centre
• Buddhist Publication Society
• Dhamma Society Fund
• Dharma Seed
• Pali Text Society
• Pariyatti (bookstore)
• List of Buddhists
• List of modern scholars in Buddhist studies

References[]