Great Buddhists of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

This is a sequence of short biographies of five individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the fortunes of Buddhism during the 20th century. Two of them - Anagarika Dharmapala and Dr B.R. Ambedkar - were chiefly responsible for bringing Buddhism back to India. The others - Alexandra David-Neel, Lama Govinda and Edward Conze - were Westerners whose commitment to Buddhism, unfashionable at the time, defined them as important trail-blazers. Each of the five left the world they grew up in and went forth to fashion a new world for themselves and others. Their lives are presented here with the aim of demonstrating that those who go for Refuge to the Buddha, the Dharma and and Sangha must be prepared to go beyond themselves, beyond what is expected of them, and beyond even what they think is possible.