List of former Buddhists explained

The following is a list of former Buddhists who no longer identify as such, organized by their current religious affiliation or ideology.

Christianity

Name	Nationality	Notes	Refs.
Mitsuo Fuchida	Japanese	Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service captain noted for involvement in the attack on Pearl Harbor who later became an evangelist	^[1] ^[2]
Kari Lake	American	politician and former television news anchor, converted from Buddhism to evangelical Christianity	^[3] ^[4] ^[5]
Zack Lee	Indonesian	actor and boxer	^[6]
Jaruvan Maintaka	Thai	former Auditor-General of Thailand	^[7]
Chieko N. Okazaki	American	Relief Society leader, converted from Buddhism to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	^[8]
Talduwe Somarama	Sri Lankan	former Buddhist monk and assassin	^[9]
Charlie Soong	Chinese	businessman and missionary	^[10]
Janice Vidal	Hong Konger	singer	^[11] ^[12]
Paul Williams	British	professor in Indian religions at the University of Bristol	^[13]
Ben Weasel	American	singer and guitarist for the punk rock band Screeching Weasel, converted from Buddhism to Catholicism	^[14]
Vanness Wu	Taiwan	actor and singer	^[15]
Yu Tian	Taiwan	singer-politician	^[16]

Hinduism

• Mihirakula – Huna ruler^[17]
• Rajasinghe I – Sri Lankan king who conquered Kandy^[18]
• Rishabhadatta – Satrap viceroy^[19]
• Rudradaman I – Satrap ruler and conqueror of the Satavahanas^[20]

Islam

• The Barmakid family – originally the guardians of the great Buddhist shrine near Balkh, upon conversion they became "the greatest family" in the early Abbasid caliphate^[21]
• Muhammad ibn Suri – king of the Ghurid dynasty from the 10th-century to 1011
• Mahmud Ghazan – seventh ruler of the Ilkhanate^[22]
• Korguz – was a Uyghur governor of Khorasan^[23] during the reign of the Mongol ruler Ogedei Khan^[24]
• Muhammad Khodabandeh – eighth Ilkhaid dynasty ruler in Iran from 1304 to 1316^[25]
• Mubarak Shah – head of the ulus of the Chagatai Khanate (1252–1260, March–September 1266)^[26]
• Donei Kalaminjaa – king of the Maldives^[27]
• Tarmashirin – Khan of the Chagatai Khanate following Duwa Timur^[28]
• Hussein Ye – Islamic scholar of Chinese Malaysian descent whose lectures are frequently aired on Peace TV^[29]
• Benjamin Liljedahl – Islamic scholar of Swedish descent whose lectures are frequently heard in the Maharishi International University dining hall. Former member of Yiguandao and a practitioner of both Tai Chi and Karate.^[30]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Christianity Today newsletter . Christianitytoday.com . 2012-11-02.
2. From Pearl Harbor to Calvary by Mitsuo Fuchida.
3. Web site: How an Obama-backing Arizona news anchor became Trump's pick for governor . .
4. News: Kari Lake falters in Arizona governorship bid . Phoenix . Keiran Southern .
5. Web site: 24 Individuals Are Now Collecting Petitions for Tennessee's 5th Congressional District as Petition Deadline Looms . 5 April 2022 .
6. Web site: "Kesaksian hidup Zack Lee (suami Nafa Urbach)" at . 30 June 2012 . gmstrueworshippers.wordpress.com . June 30, 2012.
7. Web site: "God's on My Side" at . Nationmultimedia.com . 2012-11-02 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120913004315/http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2005/05/29/headlines/data/headlines_17523472.html . 13 September 2012 . dmy-all .
8. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1990/05/news-of-the-church/new-relief-society-general-presidency-called "New Relief Society General Presidency Called,"
9. Web site: Ceylon: To Find Forgiveness – TIME . https://archive.today/20130204142256/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,827402,00.html . dead . 4 February 2013 . Time.com . 1962-07-13 . 2012-11-02.
10. Web site: The Chinese Revolution and Chinese Communism . Web.ku.edu . 2012-11-02.
11. Janice Vidal . Twins effect inspires Janice Vidal (衛蘭) . interview footage . . . 2009.
12. http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/lifestyle/20100704/00292_001.html Janice: Except God, I trust Leon the Most (Traditional Chinese)
13. Buddhism: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies Edited and with a new introduction by Paul Williams (London: Routledge, 2005). Eight volumes.
14. http://www.1340mag.com/july-2007/interviews/index.html Interviews
15. Web site: Tan. Theresa. Vanness Wu: Christian First, Entertainer Second. City News. March 20, 2009.
16. https://ent.ltn.com.tw/news/breakingnews/2031069 （圖輯影音）余天受洗成基督徒 拋棄過去所有罪孽
17. Thakur, Upendra. The Hunas in India. The Chowkhamba Senskrit, Banaras, 1967.
18. http://www.lankalibrary.com/geo/portu/dona.htm Dona Catherina: the last empress of Lanka
19. Divatia 42
20. Book: Divatia, N. B. . Gujarati Language and Literature . Asian Educational Services . 1993 . 8120606485 .
21. Book: Kennedy, Hugh. Hugh N. Kennedy. The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates. Longman. 2004. 137, 143.
22. http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9365540/Mahmud-Ghazan Mahmud Ghazan
23. Genghis Khan: his life and legacy By Paul Ratchnevsky, Thomas Nivison Haining, pg. 204
24. The Cambridge history of Iran, Volume 5 By University of Cambridge, pg. 204
25. Limbert, J. W. (2004). Shiraz in the age of Hafez: the glory of a medieval Persian city. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p.87
26. A Sketch of the History of Hindustan from the First Muslim Conquest to the Fall of the Mughal Empire by H. G. Keene
27. Maldives By Stefania Lamberti, pg.15
28. Web site: The Chaghadaids and Islam: the conversion of Tarmashirin Khan (1331–34). – Journal, Magazine, Article, Periodical . Goliath.ecnext.com . 2002-10-01 . 2010-04-07.
29. Web site: Peace Tv . Peacetv.in . 2010-04-07.
30. Web site: Peace Tv . Peacetv.in . 2010-04-07.