Importanti esponenti del modernismo Buddista i include Anagarika Dharmapala (1864–1933) e el convertio American Henry Steel Olcott, i modernisti Cinesi modernists Taixu (1890–1947) e Yin Shun (1906–2005), i studiosi Zen D.T. Suzuki, e el Gendün Chöphel Tibetan (1903–1951).