The Concept of God, the Image of the Human Person, and the Origin of the World in Buddhism

Abstract

Our concern is “God, the human person, and the world,” considered from a religious perspective. This involves a threefold articulation of the subject-matter of the religion’s ontic thought. It involves Boundlessness (the Absolute or Absolutes, or the Transcendental), “we humans” (not the human being as a subject of examination or research), and the world, considered as the place where we humans are situated — and these three in their dynamic relationship with one another. What and how does Buddhist ontology think about this triad? We would like to ask the question in this modified way, since Buddhism does not recognize the concept of God as it is expressed by Christianity and Judaism.