Tricycle | Awake in the World

THE UNITED STATES produced its fair share of cranky religious characters throughout the 19th century, but the self-named Philangi Dasa was surely one of the most original. In 1887 he published The Buddhist Ray, the first Buddhist journal in the United States, and announced that it was "the first Buddhist baby born in Christendom."

Dasa vowed that for seven years he would publish this" Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Lord Buddha's Doctrine of Enlightenment," and he accomplished his mission with zealous dedication from the mountains above Santa Cruz. He named his cabin Buddharay and championed his beliefs passionately from this remote outpost. Delivering his unorthodox views with self-righteous conviction, he offended readers regularly but his outspoken brand of sincerity made the The Buddhist Ray one of the liveliest Buddhist journals ever.